Northampton battled back from a goal down to share the points with playoff rivals Cheltenham in a disjointed clash at the PTS Academy Stadium.

Conor Thomas fired the Robins in front from the penalty spot within three minutes of kick-off, but Jordan Turnbull tapped in his fifth goal of the season to level the contest just before half-time. In a feisty conclusion to proceedings, Cheltenham midfielder Alex Addai was dismissed for violent conduct after a scrap with Cobblers skipper Charlie Goode.

Northampton boss Keith Curle rotated his side heavily after their disastrous 4-0 drubbing away at Crawley Town on Boxing Day, but they remained hampered by the continued absences of influential midfield pair Alan McCormack and Shaun McWilliams. Cheltenham were also missing an important duo in the form of sidelined strikers Luke Varney and Reuben Reid, as Michael Duff made three changes to the team narrowly edged out by Plymouth in their previous match.

George Lloyd was one of the those brought back into the fray for the Robins and quickly vindicated his manager’s decision after winning a penalty in the opening three minutes, courtesy of an uncharacteristically poor tackle from Jordan Turnbull. Conor Thomas made no mistake from the spot to give Cheltenham an early lead, whilst Turnbull was relieved to receive just a booking for his challenge, to the dismay of a hopping-mad Duff on the sidelines.

The Cobblers came close to equalising minutes later when Vadaine Oliver headed a high ball to the well-placed Andy Williams, but his shot crept just wide of the target.

Clear-cut chances were hard to come by as the first half wore on, but Turnbull made amends for his earlier sloppiness when tapping home Northampton’s equaliser just before the interval. A sweetly-struck Nicky Adams free-kick was parried at full stretch by Cheltenham keeper Scott Flinders, but only into the path of the onrushing Vadaine Oliver, who smartly squared the ball for Turnbull to slot between the sticks.

Northampton stepped up a gear on the attacking front after the break in search of a winner, with Andy Williams’ effort clouting the post before Sam Hoskins rustled the side-netting with a shot of his own. Ryan Watson had the Cobblers’ best chance to snatch all three points against their floundering rivals, but his thumping strike was well-blocked by Flinders to maintain the deadlock.

A fractious epilogue saw Robins substitute Alex Addai receive a straight red card in injury time for an off-the-ball altercation with Charlie Goode, having already been booked for a poor tackle on the Northampton captain.

Cheltenham’s failure to clinch all three points resulted in Plymouth leapfrogging them into the playoff positions, whilst Northampton remain in ninth spot and still within striking distance of the top seven.

Northampton manager Keith Curle was satisfied with the progression his side showed, saying:

“[It was] a spirited performance. [We showed] good character from going a goal down very early in the game. I don’t really think they troubled us, apart from the penalty. I can’t really remember Dai [Cornell] making a save.

“We had a twenty, twenty-five-minute spell where we had them, and we just needed that ball to break. We got good balls into the box, things just weren’t dropping for us… we want to have that tiered attack with our forward play, if one option doesn’t come when the ball comes out, then we land on the second ball. In the first half we didn’t do that enough, if anything we were getting too many people forward at the wrong time.

“Some of the combinations didn’t quite come off. I think Vadaine [Oliver] won a lot of headers, but we didn’t make second contact enough.

“I think we’ve improved, but there’s still a long way to go. That’s not only from within the changing room, I think on the field of play there still needs to be a level of improvement. I think the attitude in the changing room has massively changed, the attitudes towards games, and performances, and training, has definitely changed. There’s still room for improvement quality-wise, [but] we’re on an upward curve.”

Cheltenham boss Michael Duff lambasted referee Martin Coy’s decision-making after seeing his side drop points again, saying:

“The way Northampton want to play, they want to buy free-kicks and load the ball in the box, and I thought the referee got conned a lot of the time today. I think it’s a red card [for Jordan Turnbull], stonewall red card, I’m not sure how they can try and justify the fact that it wasn’t.

“Even at the end there, their lad’s rubbing Alex [Addai]’s head from the byline to the halfway line, he does react, but just blow the whistle, we’re a minute and a half over, so he can just diffuse the whole situation.

“Other than that, I thought we showed a lot of resilience, a lot of determination, a lot of what we already have – that’s why we’ve only conceded five goals in six months on our travels. They’d won six on the spin at home, so that’s a tough place to come. Lots of positives within a really difficult and tough afternoon.

“We were a threat on the counter-attack… we wanted to pick them off, because they do commit a lot of bodies forward. I thought the defenders, the back five in particular, dealt with loads of balls into the box, and have dealt with it really well, generally.

“I’ll have to go and see him [the referee] in a minute, because there’s too many things that I feel have gone against us, over ninety-five, ninety-six minutes, because it was constant, in my opinion. I’ll go and have a chat with the referee now and I’ll probably walk out more frustrated, but I’m going to have to do it, I’ve not done it before.”

Teams and Player Ratings

Northampton Town: Cornell 7/10, Goode 8, Wharton 7, Turnbull 7, Harriman 6, Anderson 6, Watson 6, Adams 5, Hoskins 5, Oliver 7, Williams 6

Sub: Pollock (for Hoskins, 88′) 6

Cheltenham Town: Flinders 7, Raglan 7, Tozer 6, Greaves 6, Long 7, Sheaf 6, Thomas 6, Doyle-Hayes 6, Hussey 6, Broom 6, Lloyd 7

Subs: Ince (for Doyle-Hayes, 31′) 8, Addai (for Sheaf, 65′) 6, Campbell (for Lloyd, 81′) 6

Referee: Martin Coy

Attendance: 5090 (367 away fans)

Star Men: Charlie Goode for Northampton and Rohan Ince for Cheltenham.

words Toby Foster, Northampton Town fan & writer