SONNY Bradley sees red & FLARE!
SONNY BRADLEY lost his head as 10-man Derby became their own worst enemies at Sixfields.
A Sam Hoskins winner for Northampton – his 15th goal of the season – meant the Rams missed a chance to close the gap on League One leaders Portsmouth to two points, and go seven clear of Bolton.
It also gave the Cobblers, who had taken just two points from their previous five games, their first ever win over Derby at the 14th attempt.
A miserable afternoon got worse for the visitors, who also suffered an injury blow to Nathaniel Mendez-laing, when Bradley got himself sent off for violent conduct in stoppage time after lashing out at Manny Monthe.
Derby boss Paul Warner said: “We got an injury to Nat. Sonny got sent off.
“As bad days go, it’s right up there.
“We didn’t have enough calm on the ball or cutting edge to our play.
“We played too slow at times. You can’t waste 45 minutes and I felt we did.
“The longer it went on the more frustrated we got.
“We’re not going to march to the promotion party. We’re going to have days like this.
“Maybe it’s an overspill from the lads being so desperate to do well. But we didn’t show enough character.
“It’s disappointing but not catastrophic. We have six games left to get the points we need.”
Riding high after their successful recent run of form, Derby quickly dominated possession and should have gone ahead. Louie Sibley cut in from the left and centred for Martyn Waghorn but the Rams forward took his eye off the ball and skied it.
It was a bad miss and Northampton punished it when Hoskins latched on to a simple long ball from Louis Appere and placed an ice-cool volley past Joe Wildsmith.
Derby thrashed the Cobblers 4-0 earlier in the season and certainly had a lot more to play for.
While Northampton secured their League One status with seven games to play this season, their opponents are still battling it out for automatic promotion. Ebou Adams had an effort cleared off the line by Sam Sherring before half-time but it was Northampton who went into the interval happier.
Derby came out fired up and quickly caused problems, with Mendez-laing meeting a cross from Kane Wilson and Louie Moulden spilling it before Northampton hacked clear.
At the other end, Monthe let fly with a blistering effort from 25 yards that clattered off the far post.
Sherring then cleared off the line again from Waghorn as Derby and their fans grew frustrated.
That boiled over in stoppage time when Bradley was sent off after sparking a goalmouth melee.
Northampton boss Jon Brady said: “People said we were on holiday already but we showed our fight, our passion and commitment today.”