Cobblers to the Tuesday jinx!
We produced one of our best home displays of the season in what was a crucial win.
Two headed goals from Bradley from free-kicks taken by Fox and Carey was the difference against a poor Northampton team. Bradley was dominant in defence and attack and could have had a hat trick or better when two other headers whistled just wide. Bradley plays better when he has Songo'o alongside him instead of Edwards and I think they are our best centre-back pairing. Edwards is a good defender but Songo'o makes Bradley a better defender.
The fans were fantastic throughout the game and once the loud pre-match music did its best to kill the atmosphere the fans took over and backed the team once they saw the players were up for it tonight.
We had another injury before the game and two injuries during the game. Reserve keeper Mike Cooper missed the game and 16 year old Max Childs took over on the bench - on a school night as well.
Our only fit professional keeper picked up an injury during the game and soldiered on with a limp, hopefully Matthews will be ok for Saturday.
Jervis suffered an injury in the groin area in the opening minutes of the match when he was man-handled on his man-tackle during a tackle but was able to continue after giving himself a rub down!
We were nervous during the opening minutes and Bradley and Songo'o were hesitant - giving the ball away in dangerous positions.
We slowly got to grips with Northampton and put them under pressure, it looked at first that we would start another home game by sitting back and containing the opposition but today we pushed forward more.
The runs of Jervis down the channels caused problems - once again he's not a target man and will not hold up the ball, a point lost on some fans but his running brings a different attacking dimension to the team.
We had a couple of free flowing moves where the ball was moved around the team and one particular move ended with Carey hitting the side netting.
We got our deserved goal when Fox floated a free-kick into the box and there was Bradley to easily head in. Just like the old days!
Northampton retaliated and pushed forward and forced the half-fit Matthews into an excellent low save.
We started the second half again on the front foot and scored through another Bradley header. This time it was Carey who dinked a cross to the far post and the unmarked Bradley headed in. The whole team minus Matthews, who probably couldn't run that far anyway, joined Bradley in front of the Spion Kop to celebrate the goal.
Soon after a Carey low cross just evaded the diving Jervis and two Bradley headers just went wide, it seemed everytime he came forward for a corner or free-kick he would score and the crowd knew it!
After those close chances we contained Northampton, some fans became nervous but Northampton were allowed to have the ball on the halfway line and once they came towards us we snuffed them out and stopped any clear cut chances except for one which shot just wide.
The game plan reverted to type - contain, stifle and play on the counter attack, which is fine when 2-0 up but not when losing a game which has happened in other games.
We easily closed down the game and claimed the deserved win.
Northampton were poor, which was either due to them actually being that poor or we made them play like that with our energy and football.
Many fans want Adams replaced but would another manager get the wins and play good football just as Adams and his team did tonight? Credit where it's due.
The bottom of League One is now bunched up and we would be out of the relegation zone on Saturday.
When either Carey or Bradley play well the team usually plays well and both players had good games, especially Bradley.
Fox was consistent as ever, he slotted into the Songo'o role at the base of the midfield which allowed Sarcevic and Diagouraga to push forward.
Diagouraga has been an excellent signing and his passing and quick feet was a feature tonight. Sarcevic is still struggling to find his place in the team and at times it shows.
Taylor-Sinclair was close to being man of the match, he hardly put a foot wrong and showed he can push forward.
Grant did a job for the team and once again got into some promising positions without finding the killer final ball.
It's a pity we didn't score more goals but it seemed the clean sheet was of more importance during the closing stages.
When we score first Adams' tactics work and tonight they worked a treat!
Man of the Match - Bradley.
Matthews 7, Sawyer 7, Songo'o 7, Bradley 8, Taylor-Sinclair 7, Fox 7, Diagouraga 7, Sarcevic 6, Carey 7, Grant 6, Jervis 7. Subs Fletcher n/a, Ainsworth n/a.
A special mention for the referee, what a relief to have a good ref, you can see why he's been fast tracked from non-league.
