WILLIAMS NAILS IT FOR COBBLERS
KEITH Curle was thrilled with the way his Northampton side withstood everything thrown at them to claim a dramatic victory against Stevenage at the Lamex Stadium.
Andy Williams’ injurytime winner saw the Cobblers throw a spanner in the works of Stevenage’s play-off push, leaving them six points off the top six.
Curle said: “We knew how they wanted to play, how they try to intimidate and give you a barrage with balls going forward.
“They’ve got good energy and they try and get on the front foot quickly – but again, we stood up to that challenge.
“Ok, we conceded a goal, we’re professional footballers and we’re going to concede goals, but the mentality didn’t change within the group.”
Stevenage manager Dino Maamria reckons that Northampton have underachieved this season, but was also left thoroughly frustrated by his side’s failure to make the most of opportunities.
“Northampton – look at their players, look at their squad. No disrespect to my players, but if I have their squad, I get promotion there,” Maamria said.
“This was a game we could not afford to lose. We had to win. We didn’t, for many reasons, the main one being we didn’t defend well enough.
“I can’t believe we only scored one goal. I thought we were a threat throughout the game, but defensively we were very poor.
“If you’re serious about the ambition and the chance of promotion, you can’t make those mistakes.
“Those big games, and there will be bigger games, if you don’t deal with that situation, then you’ll end up mid-table, where we are.”
The visitors took the lead after pouncing on Luther James-Wildin’s mistake in the 19th minute. Forward Sam Hoskins won the ball deep in the Stevenage half before finding Joe Powell, who slotted the ball home.
The Cobblers maintained their dominance shortly after the goal, with Hoskins finding space on the edge of the area before curling his effort wide of the far right post.
Boro pressed for an equaliser, with James-Wildin’s cross causing problems for David Cornell before Northampton cleared their lines.
The home side eventually got their equaliser after 79 minutes. January loan-signing Ilias Chair, who looked Stevenage’s most dangerous player, saw his free-kick headed in at the back post by Alex Revell, taking his tally to six goals for the season. And despite Stevenage’s second-half dominance, Williams nicked the ball off Michael Timlin before driving at goal and chipping the ball past Paul Farman at the death.