It was down to the nitty gritty in March as the Cobblers closed in on a playoff place but knew that there were games in hand for other sides around them that could still halt a dramatic playoff charge.
The first game of the month saw a terrific performance at Port Vale end with a 3-1 victory. Bayo stuck us in front after just a couple of minutes but that effort was cancelled out by Vale's Doug Loft on five. But in a remarkable end to the first half, Abdul Osman and Billy McKay scored within a minute of each other and despite a second half onslaught we took home another precious win.
A home game with Darlington was always going to be a must win and the Cobblers duly delivered the following weekend. John Johnson volleyed us into the lead and Abdul Osman doubled the advantage just before half time to see us cruise to victory against the league's bottom side.
The same scoreline a week later was more impressive against fellow playoff hopefuls Morecambe. But an early goal from Liam Davis had Town up and running once more with Ryan Gilligan finishing off a fine move involving Peter Gilbert and Akinfenwa to propel us into thinking that even a top three finish wasn't beyond us!
The winning streak was halted at Lincoln in the final game of March but at least we picked up a point at Sincil Bank, never a happy home for the Cobblers. Matthew Saunders looked like he'd won it for Chris Sutton's men but John Johnson scored a dramatic late equaliser to earn a point.
All the games in hand were caught up on by the end of the month and the Cobblers were in eighth place but just a point below the playoffs with a make or break April looming.
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