THE COBBLERS NEVER SAY DIE
NORTHAMPTON Town boss Rob Page believes his side’s hard-fought point at Scunthorpe United typifies the sort of team he is trying to build at Sixfields.
The Cobblers made light of being both a goal and a man down against the League One leaders to fight back for a deserved draw.
Jak McCourt fired in Northampton’s equaliser with 16 minutes to go – not long after Matt Taylor had been sent off – to cancel out another exquisite effort from in-form Iron Josh Morris.
“We never seem to know when we’re beaten. We have a never-say-die attitude which is something we’ve brought in and pride ourselves on,” enthused Page – who felt the Cobblers could have even gone on and won the game.
“The characters we’ve brought in have improved us not only in terms of ability, but also mentality. Players like Alex Revell, Matty Taylor and Lewin Nyatanga want to win every game.
“It’s highlighted in the changing room in big, bold letters – ‘one more round’ – and we keep going right to the end. That game typified what we are about.
“It’s all about what we do and if every one of us reaches the standards we set ourselves both collectively and individually we shouldn’t fear anybody.”
Unbeaten in front of their fans since December, the Iron started like an express train, with only a brilliant one-handed save by Cobblers keeper Adam Smith, from a Morris free-kick, denying them an early lead.
Northampton though grew into the game, with veteran midfielder Taylor forcing Luke Daniels into a smart stop with a similar set piece.
Morris broke the deadlock a minute before half-time, curling a brilliant, left-footed free-kick right into the top corner for goal No.13 of an increasingly incredible campaign. When Taylor lunged in late on United’s Neal Bishop and was shown a red card by referee Darren Handley with an hour gone, most would have expected the league leaders to march on.
But instead the Cobblers grew in confidence and when the home side were caught pushing too many bodies upfield, broke and played in McCourt, who fired home at the second attempt. Iron manager Graham Alexander has become accustomed to winning this season and was clearly frustrated at his side’s failure to build on their lead. “I thought we started ever so well, caused Northampton all sorts of problems and deservedly took the lead,” he said. “We should have built on that, but we didn’t and then slowly we lost control of the game.
“When they went down to ten men we should have really asserted our authority on the game, but we didn’t and it cost us.”