As the season rolled on to September, the Cobblers still hadn’t gained any points at Sixfields, so it was perhaps a relief that the first two games of the month saw us back on the road.
The first port of call was Millmoor, Rotherham, in our first Friday night fixture of the season and our first game against the Millers since that famous night in 2004 when the Cobblers won 2-1 to set up a FA Cup Fourth round tie with Manchester United. Things had changed a lot since then though and Rotherham were in deep trouble after starting the season on -10 points following their fall into administration. After a strong start to the season, victory against us would have taken them back into the plus figures but Scott McGleish’s late double meant it was the Cobblers who came away with the points. Dave Hibbert gave Rotherham the lead after just 7 minutes before McGleish struck in the 74th and 82nd minutes to turn it around.
Next up was the trip to Carlisle and after last season’s Mr Bean marathon on the trip north whilst on board Sixfields Travel Club, Tim thought it best to play safe and drive this time around! Though Tim took time to discover which way was left and which right, we were safely in Carlisle before midday. That left us to wander around aimlessly in the city centre and take in some quite unusual street performers and bagpipe players before tucking into a KFC before the game. Scott McGleish continued his superb start to the season with the opening goal just after half time but Karl Hawley’s solo run and finish sent us home with just the solitary point in a 1-1 draw.
The following Tuesday saw us finally pick up our first point at home in a 1-1 draw with Yeovil Town. Jason Crowe’s first half goal put us in front but the much travelled Marcus Stewart frustrated us and our efforts for a first home win with a second half header.
The next home game brought more Sixfields despair as Tranmere Rovers were the visitors and they stormed into a 3-0 lead with goals from Calvin Zola, Gareth Taylor and a penalty from John Mullin. McGleish got one back with fifteen minutes to go but despite a late charge it was too little too late.
The contrasting home and away form continued in late September as a trip to Millwall resulted in a loanee’s first goal for the club, a manager losing his job and protest outside the ground. I remember feeling the tension as I walked around Bermondsey station in my Cobblers shirt and every single Millwall fan I crossed paths with gave me the same evil look. Luckily more Town fans arrived and we made a safe walk down the special away supporters’ entrance from the station. After some fish and chips in the sun, we entered to see the angry ‘Wall faithful gathering in the stand to our right, ready to punch their fists and shout abuse at any king of decision that went against them. They were made even angrier when Cobblers loanee Mitchell Cole broke down the left and powered a shot into the corner to score the only goal of the game! After the game, I was ambling along in my Cobblers shirt with all the away fans heading back one way to Northampton and me having to walk with/through the Millwall fans in order to get back to the south! This defeat for Millwall cost manager Nigel Spackman his job and sparked angry scenes outside the New Den as fans confronted Ray Wilkins in the car park, protesting about their poor start to the season.
Following up that trip to London was a Tuesday night game at Cheltenham Town and a ground where we previously had bad memories of dour defeats and disallowed goals but this particular hoodoo was laid to rest as second half goals from Andy Kirk and a Scott McGleish penalty gave us a second successive victory.
With the away form so good, it was even more desperate that we couldn’t find a first home success of the season and the trend continued as Port Vale came to town. First half goals from George Pilkington and Stefan Moore, on loan from QPR, killed us off in a 2-0 defeat.
So all in all a superb month away from home as we picked up ten points from a possible twelve on the road but still we were searching for home win number one following two defeat and a draw in September at Sixfields.
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