One issue we’ve seen with City is inconsistency between two halves. We’d bossed the first half in terms of chances, we’d dealt with the minor threat they’d posed and we’d taken our chance. That meant, in my warped mind at least, that we’d miss second half chances and they’d finally get a breakthrough. That was reinforced when they brought on Fosu, another player I’d admired for a while. Looking at their squad, they’ve got some real quality in some areas, but first, Jon Brady and now Kevin Nolan don’t seem to be able to get a tune from them.
The second half did belong to the hosts, but it wasn’t without a bit of controversy. Firstly, TJ Eyoma was booked, but Craig Hicks decided against a second booking late on. The first he couldn’t really complain about, and in fairness, I thought TJ had a decent game for them. However, when he wrestled Makama to the ground, two arms around him, in the middle of the park, he should have been given a yellow. It was a stonewall yellow (if there is such a thing) but Hicks kept it 11 v 11. Do I have a problem with that? No, absolutely not. I might have if we’d been 1-0 down, or if TJ had scored a late leveller, but it’s the sort of sense showed by Declan Bourne when not sending off Mal Benning against Shrewsbury. Ross Joyce, take note please.
Hicks didn’t get a lot of love from the home support, and one second half moment probably decided that. The natives weren’t happy with the battle between Paudie and Eaves which was often adjudged to be in our favour, and I can’t really see their reasoning. However, Fosu has every right to be annoyed after dispossessing McGrandles. Our midfielder slipped to the floor as Fosu made towards goal, only for a free kick to be awarded in our favour. Even those wearing rose-tinted glasses would have struggled to see an offence, and then to add insult to injury, Fosu slammed the ball into the ground in (rightful) disgust, earning himself a yellow. Neither were game-changing moments, but both gave the teams a right to perhaps feel mildly aggrieved.
The Cobblers are on a bad run, just like we were. They had won two in 14 in all competitions (us three in 14) and so they absolutely needed a result as much as we did. I think that showed in the second period as they were better, and had the most notable chances. TJ Eyoma came close with a shot that just missed the mark, and Tom Eaves had his header stopped by Zach Jeacock as the Cobblers pushed hard for an equaliser. Pinnock delivered a beautiful curling cross to set up Eaves, who later tried an ambitious dipping half-volley from 25 yards, only to see Jeacock backpedal and make another great save.
Jeacock stayed busy, stepping up once again to deny Eaves with another header, this time off a well-placed cross from Fosu. In fact, after a wobble in midweek against Bolton, I thought the stand-in keeper was solid again. His saves were relatively routine, but he had to make them, and he remained alert all afternoon. There was one backpass he had to come out quickly to rescue, and his kkcing was decent as well. Having been sat on Southend’s bench a couple of weeks ago, he’ll be delighted to be in the sticks and putting in decent performances in the league, following on from his solid outing at St Andrews. I do feel we’re in safe hands with him as Wickens recovers from his injury.
We did have a glorious chance late on, Ben House rescuing a ball and sliding it across goal, only for nobody to be on the end of it. There were some half-moments as well as the Cobblers pushed for a leveller, times when a pass got overhit, or when a run was just timed wrong. A team in form playing with swagger and confidence probably get a second and finish things off towards the end, but that’s not us. We will take confidence from the fact we saw out the final few minutes with relative ease, and eventually, snuck away from an improving Sixfields with three points our performance just about deserved.
The win has placated a few. It’s settled a few nerves; it’s given us something to build upon and move forward with. It’s lifted us to within two wins of the top six, and 14 points between us and the bottom four (something I hadn’t looked at until the regular new year ‘sleepwalking into relegation’ social media comment appeared). But, here’s the brutal truth: we didn’t do anything significantly different in this game to the game against Stevenage a couple of weeks ago. This performance wasn’t as good as Huddersfield and Wrexham, games we took a single point from. I haven’t seen the xG stats, but I dare wager this wasn’t as convincing a performance as draws against Exeter and Bristol Rovers. Now, you may think this is me being negative, but actually, it’s a positive.
It’s a positive because we’ve done the same thing as we have on much of the recent run (not Shrewsbury, Bolton and Rotherham). Our approach was similar, but in this instance, our chance went in and the opposition were not handed something on a plate. It’s a positive because it tells me that the run we’ve been on has not just been bad form but, in places, bad luck, something we shrugged off today.
I feel this win almost vindicates the standpoint I took after the recent handful of games. Nothing has changed – we still need a striker who might have been on the end of that late Ben House ball, we still need some cover at the back for when injuries pop up. But, it proves that to a degree, result bias is evident in perception. I imagine the overall score for this game on the player rater will be higher than Tuesday night, when we probably played better across the board on Tuesday.
That said, winning 1-0 and fighting for it, perhaps getting the rub of the green and not being at your best, is better than losing 1-0 and blaming an errant offside and a keeper error. Three points obtained ugly is better than a single point earned by playing attractive football. So, for tonight, I’ll put everything else aside and just be happy we’re up and running in 2025.
Up the Imps.
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