Cowley up for a fight

DANNY COWLEY believes Lincoln’s fighting spirit bodes well for their promotion push after a battling draw against Northampton.

The Imps had to play the majority of the game with 10 men after Harry Anderson was sent off three minutes before the break.

League leaders Lincoln were already ahead by that stage through

Bruno Andrade’s well-taken strike.

However, Aaron Pierre (above right) equalised deep into first-half added time. “I feel pride in the way we battled against adversity,” said Imps boss Cowley (inset).

“When our backs are against the wall, we’re pretty good, aren’t we? I don’t think you would have realised it was 10 v 11 in the second half.

“The fact they were settling for a draw with 15 minutes to go shows you how well we played in the second half.

“We lost our captain Lee Frecklington after 25 minutes following a collision which happened in the first minute.

“Then Harry gets sent off and then we concede just before half-time.

“When all those things go against you, it gets really tough.

“In that situation, you’re either a victim or a fighter and, luckily for us, we’re a group of

Lincoln 1 Northampton 1

fighters. The players responded brilliantly in the second half.”

Northampton boss Keith Curle admitted he was disappointed not to see the Cobblers go back home with all three points.

“There are not too many times when you come away to the league leaders and you are a little bit disappointed to be leaving with just a point,” he said. “I don’t think we used the extra man advantage as much as we could have done.

“We weren’t quite smart enough with the ball at times and we didn’t work their goalkeeper enough.”