Report: Cobblers draw with ten man Bury

There was no end of season drama down at Sixfields as the Cobblers late equaliser wasn’t enough against 10 man Bury.

Before the game, 16 goal top scorer, Adebayo Akinfenwa was awarded Northampton Town Player of the Year, behind John Johnson and Ryan Gilligan in second and third place respectivley.

The wet and windy weather didn’t raise the fans hopes, but played its part with a number of both teams players slipping in different situations which could of proved costly.

Under no pressure, a Peter Gilbert back pass could of founds its way in as Jason Steele slipped on his run up to clear the ball forward, at the other end a slip by a Bury defender allowed Billy Mckay to fire from a tight angle, his effort hitting the side netting.

The first half didn’t see many clear cut chances, and against the run of play, the ball fell forward into Ryan Lowe’s path on the stroke of half time, who poked the ball home from 10 yards out.

Half Time: Northampton 0-1 Bury

Northampton applied a good spell of pressure early in the first half, however a number of corners created, failed to make any real efforts on goal.

On 66 minutes, James Poole saw red for a high tackle on John Johnson, this didn’t raise the home fans hopes, Dagenham were comfortably in the lead away at Darlington.

Late on, the Cobblers made their man advantage count, as a Adebayo Akinfenwa, deflected effort, found the back of the net, to the muted cheers of the home supporters.

Full Time: Northampton 1-1 Bury

In other results, Dagenham were winners over Darlington and Morecambe won at home to Aldershot. This meant a victory for either side would still have meant no play off place.

Grimsby fell out of the football league, after defeat at Burton, a victory would have still sent them down, Barnet won at home to Rochdale, commiserations to them.

So Morecambe, Aldershot and Dagenham completed the play off picture, a fantastic achievement for all three sides, all recentley being promoted from the Conference in recent years.

Despite no end of season play offs, Cobblers fans should be very pleased with the progress we have made this season, considering the awful start they had under Stuart Gray.

Under Ian Sampson, sitting 20th on Boxing Day, we have made exceptional ground on the League Two table, going on two unbeaten runs, and at one stage, not one goal passing Chris Dunn’s net in five consecutive games, almost a club record.

Should Gray have gone at before the start of the season? After all the success under Ian Sampson, could we have progressed further under a full season with him at the helm?

I am excited and look forward to next season already! Hopefully we can keep the majority of our squad together, and push on further then we have this season. Bayo will be key to our teams success next season, if he signs, that is.

A top three finish should be our start of season target for next season, or maybe, just maybe, Northampton could be engraved on that League Two trophy this time next year. Why not?

Lets see this summer!