Cobblers defeat a missed opportunity, admits Exiles skipper David Pipe

Due to FA Cup commitments and postponements County were the only side in the top eight in action on Saturday and could have moved up to fifth with a win.

But goals from Hallam Hope and Darren Carter, either side of Harry Worley’s header, plus Matt Duke’s late penalty save from Andy Sandell were enough for the Cobblers to seal a league double over Justin Edinburgh’s men.

“I’m not one to study the table but when the other teams around you are not playing because of cup or postponements you want to turn the screw on them,” said Pipe.

“We missed that chance and it’s definitely a missed opportunity. They are the bottom side in the league and they have taken six points off us.

“That’s no disrespect to them, fair play to them they’ve gone and done it, but when you look at those games especially at home you want to go and win them or get at least a draw.

“I’ve played against Matt Duke a couple of times and he always seems to shine,” he added.

“I don’t know if he’s just a jinx on me but he played well again.”

But Pipe is certain that the Exiles have the quality to recover from the shock home defeat, just like they did last January against Barrow and Forest Green Rovers before going on to win promotion.

“We want to bounce back as quick as we can,” said the skipper. “We’ve got the character here to turn it around – on and off the pitch.

“I didn’t think we were that poor (against Northampton) but in both boxes we didn’t do what we should have done.

“It wasn’t a poor performance it was just a poor result.”

Pipe added: “I’d never say it was just one of those days. We put it down to us conceding two very sloppy goals. I’m not going to make excuses.

“We were all waiting a long time for the game and it’s a lot harder for me as a player to wait for the game because you prepare, you’re ready and the game is called off.

“But I’m sure they’ve had a few games called off and they approached it in both boxes better than we did.”