Top…of…the…league!

It’s happened. After weeks of three points being packed into our points bag, the Cobblers are top of League Two as this incredible form continues to show no sign of letting up thanks to a comfortable victory over a Morecambe side who showed little resistence after going a goal behind. This is fast becoming one of those seasons that goes down in folklore and with Town now eleven points clear of fourth spot even a horrible run of form at some point in the remaining nineteen games shouldn’t derail us enough to stop a promotion challenge by the time we get to the final furlong.

There really is something special about this group of players and they showed on Saturday a new side to themselves. Having been beaten at MK Dons on Tuesday in a replay that could have set us up against Chelsea, you’d forgive them for letting it play on their minds but instead it was a determined Cobblers side that took to the field looking to clear those cobwebs in the only way they know how.

The fifth win in a row and tenth in eleven league games looked all but wrapped up by half time thanks to James Collins sweeping home a second in two games since joining from Shrewsbury on the half hour mark and John-Joe O’Toole deflecting in Ricky Holmes’ cross shot. Collins was quiet for most of the game but he’s someone that can have an impact with one moment in a game and such was the case here. O’Toole’s renaissance season goes on meanwhile – who would have imagined that he’d be a shoe in for a starting berth week in, week out when he was being offered around back in August.

Another to completely turn around public opinion is Rod McDonald. At the start of the season, McDonald was being shown up for his rawness and inexperience but since coming in to cover injuries has forced Ryan Cresswell out of the side and offered that bit of pace at the back that was missing. His header at the back post sealed this win a few minutes after the break, showing another new threat to his game at the other end.

Morecambe pulled one back when the bustling Kevin Ellison forced the ball to break to Paul Mullin who finished well to put a few doubts in our minds but this Town side knows how to see out games and snuffed out any further chances.

With Plymouth and Bristol Rovers drawing at the Memorial Stadium, the result gives us this beauty of a picture…

We go into a couple of week’s break now with scheduled opponents Oxford involved in the FA Cup next weekend but the pressure is on Plymouth going into their game at home to Wycombe which will mean they will have played two games more than us by the time we host York in two weeks’ time.

That particular race for top spot is a huge bonus with the gap on fourth place the one to watch in the coming weeks. It really is mind blowing after the genuine thought that we were going to our last games watching the Cobblers in their current form back in November. Once again, as superlatives run out, we march on and on and on.

EIEIEIO…