Win·ning noun
- The act of a person or thing that wins.
Cobblers fans could be forgiven for looking up with word ‘winning’ in the dictionary after a welcome success this weekend that sent hysteria around the country for those with a claret and white background. So long have we been waiting for three points to be yielded from a League Two game it was a strange feeling when it did actually happen and the Cobblers were victorious.
The first victory in over three months came about thanks to some clinical finishing and solid defending that helped us to not only get ahead in the game but also to survive another onslaught from the opposition. A similar backs to the wall feel to the hard earned point at Shrewsbury though but this time the greater reward of three points.Some notable team news found its way to our ears to kick off the afternoon. Shane Higgs ruptured his Achilles in training and will likely be missing for a large majority, if not all, of 2012 after only signing a couple of weeks back so we’re back to square one goalkeeping wise with a new Number One probably now taking priority over another January signing that would have been lined up. Freddy Hall took the jersey for this one. Added to that, there was a return to the bench for Ryan Gilligan. Aidy Boothroyd didn’t go as far as throwing the midfielder – cast out by Gary Johnson and in part Ian Sampson – onto the pitch but did state afterwards that he may still have a part to play if his certain ‘off the field’ activities cool down.
There appeared to be a heavy wind affecting the early going but John Johnson nodded the Cobblers in front from a Michael Jacobs corner on twenty minutes and with Hall saving the only other decent chance of the half from Phil Jevons’ header we went into the break in front. Crucially, there was more to come and Akwasi Asante made it 2-0 with his first goal in Cobblers colours – a superb solo effort taking the ball past his man on the left and hammering it into the corner.
The Cobblers had won 2-1 at the Globe Arena in the final game of last season and there was to be another late goal to halve the deficit and put doubts in our mind. It didn’t come from the usual source of bother against Town in Jevons but from Kevin Ellison who added another goal to his growing tally this term.
But hold on we did and celebrations began…it’s far too early to be toasting safety but the psychological nature of a win will work wonders for this team. A couple more like this and we can start talking of the promised land of mid-table! Careful now…
A Load Of Cobblers 