Apologies for the lack of a midweek review last week but I was struck down with man flu and couldn’t make it to my computer! But I’m back again this week with more musings from Sixfields and a much brighter outlook than last time after a spirited fight back at Forest gives us fresh hope for the Christmas period!
If any game can signify the grand old saying of “it’s a game of two halves” then it’s the one on Saturday up at the City Ground. Making my first appearance at a game since Crewe, I wasn’t expecting a great deal from what reports I had heard in the last couple of weeks and the first half was as dismal as the conversations I’ve had following the last few games.
Hoobs was all alone up front, a tactic designed for the draw and for protecting us against the quick Forest break. Forest were, in fact, playing us off the park and the frustrating thing was that we had no answer at the other end. It was no surprise when the home side took the lead through Lewis McGugan.
Every Cobblers attack was breaking down as Hoobs stood a lonely figure up front. It’s all well and good having one man up top but you must give him support and the big man was trying to do it all himself. The half-time whistle was a blessing and it was a relief that despite their quality play, Forest weren’t really testing Bunny as much as they should have been.
The smug singing of “we stole your manager” from the Forest fans was as annoying as what was going on on the pitch so it was with even greater delight that the second half brought on an incredible change in the game.
The second half saw the formation as it was in the first, with Hoobs still alone up front but this time he was getting support from the midfield. We had also suddenly woken up to the second balls and every single time it dropped, we were there fighting for it, winning tackles and generally showing the spirit that had been vitally lacking in the opening exchanges.
Hoobs grabbed an equaliser and it was game on. The home fans sat silently and were even more quiet when Daniel Jones got his first goal for the club. Jones’ crossing and general wing play was outstanding and it finally looks like he’s becoming the player that Stuart Gray knew he was when he signed him on loan in the summer.
So the Cobblers were suddenly in front and the chant was now coming from the Cobblers end of “you stole our manager” after many a game when CC tried to hold onto a 1-0 lead by defending when manager at Sixfields. The scenes were jubilant, the players were battling for everything and we were so, so close to recording our biggest win of the season so far.
But cruel luck struck again. Brad Johnson was take off injured and his replacement, namesake Brett, lost his man, Junior Agogo, from the corner in the 90th minute and all the hard work was undone by an agonising equalising header. After five minutes of injury time, we were forced to incredibly go home disappointed that we could only draw away at Nottingham Forest!
Now that the dust has settled, we can look back at a quite superb second half of football but now we must put that behind us and do exactly the same for ninety minutes against Bournemouth on Friday night at Sixfields. The Bournemouth game could partly decide which way our season is going to go from here on in and it’s vital that we play like we did in the second half on Saturday for the entire game on Friday, if only to keep the fans’ belief that we weren’t just rising to the occasion at the City Ground.
Bournemouth at home is as big, if not bigger, a game than Forest away and we desperately need to record our first win in eight games to start building that gap up again between ourselves and the bottom four.
Up The Cobblers!
If any game can signify the grand old saying of “it’s a game of two halves” then it’s the one on Saturday up at the City Ground. Making my first appearance at a game since Crewe, I wasn’t expecting a great deal from what reports I had heard in the last couple of weeks and the first half was as dismal as the conversations I’ve had following the last few games.
Hoobs was all alone up front, a tactic designed for the draw and for protecting us against the quick Forest break. Forest were, in fact, playing us off the park and the frustrating thing was that we had no answer at the other end. It was no surprise when the home side took the lead through Lewis McGugan.
Every Cobblers attack was breaking down as Hoobs stood a lonely figure up front. It’s all well and good having one man up top but you must give him support and the big man was trying to do it all himself. The half-time whistle was a blessing and it was a relief that despite their quality play, Forest weren’t really testing Bunny as much as they should have been.
The smug singing of “we stole your manager” from the Forest fans was as annoying as what was going on on the pitch so it was with even greater delight that the second half brought on an incredible change in the game.
The second half saw the formation as it was in the first, with Hoobs still alone up front but this time he was getting support from the midfield. We had also suddenly woken up to the second balls and every single time it dropped, we were there fighting for it, winning tackles and generally showing the spirit that had been vitally lacking in the opening exchanges.
Hoobs grabbed an equaliser and it was game on. The home fans sat silently and were even more quiet when Daniel Jones got his first goal for the club. Jones’ crossing and general wing play was outstanding and it finally looks like he’s becoming the player that Stuart Gray knew he was when he signed him on loan in the summer.
So the Cobblers were suddenly in front and the chant was now coming from the Cobblers end of “you stole our manager” after many a game when CC tried to hold onto a 1-0 lead by defending when manager at Sixfields. The scenes were jubilant, the players were battling for everything and we were so, so close to recording our biggest win of the season so far.
But cruel luck struck again. Brad Johnson was take off injured and his replacement, namesake Brett, lost his man, Junior Agogo, from the corner in the 90th minute and all the hard work was undone by an agonising equalising header. After five minutes of injury time, we were forced to incredibly go home disappointed that we could only draw away at Nottingham Forest!
Now that the dust has settled, we can look back at a quite superb second half of football but now we must put that behind us and do exactly the same for ninety minutes against Bournemouth on Friday night at Sixfields. The Bournemouth game could partly decide which way our season is going to go from here on in and it’s vital that we play like we did in the second half on Saturday for the entire game on Friday, if only to keep the fans’ belief that we weren’t just rising to the occasion at the City Ground.
Bournemouth at home is as big, if not bigger, a game than Forest away and we desperately need to record our first win in eight games to start building that gap up again between ourselves and the bottom four.
Up The Cobblers!
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