Northampton 1 Swindon 1

Let`s start with the positives. Andy Kirk scored a good goal after 8 minutes. Larkin supplied a good cross from the right and Kirk scored with a well-placed header. Henderson played with style, his movement and positional sense is excellent; his thinking is 3 seconds ahead of his teammates. We can hope the rest of the team catches him up, bitter experience points to him being dragged down to the lowest common denominator. Jason Crowe played a steady game. Poul Hubertz looked a useful acquisition when he came on. Oh and the sun was shining.

Now for the negatives, apart for the goal we showed very little creativity or tenacity in midfield. Brad Johnson and Andy Holt were not involved enough. Gilligan did nothing to justify his selection. Larkin`s contribution was to supply a good cross for the goal and then blatantly handle the ball in the penalty area.

Kirk should have done much better with two other chances that came his way. Why have we signed a vertically challenged left back? Peacock played him like a mug. The teamed to decide that at 1-0 up after 8 minutes the game was won and so they would sit back. Finally Swindon were a poor side, if we can`t beat them who will we be able to beat in this league? We still look two or three players short of being able to push for mid-table.

And I did so want to be able to say we`re going to storm the league this year!