Town show Cobblers a clean pair of heels

Despite two thrashings in their previous league games, Town looked confident and fully deserved the three points which lifted them out of the division's bottom three.

Gary Alexander's winning goal and a clean sheet at the other end mysteriously coincided with the appearance of two former England internationals at Northampton's Sixfields Stadium.

Perhaps the presence of Jimmy Greaves and Terry Butcher provided inspiration for Town's attackers and defenders respectively.

Chairman Terry Brady hammered the players following the dire spectacle against Stoke City and called on them to start proving themselves worthy of the Swindon shirt.

The Town chairman was not at Sixfields to see Alexander's winning goal but his mood will have been lifted considerably after a gutsy display.

Town fans packed the visitors end and provided the vocal encouragement which has been lacking at the County Ground on occasions this season.

However, the Town boss said this was probably because the players had given the supporters a performance worth shouting about. Following the Stoke debacle, Andy King carried out his threat to make changes and alter the system.

Town lined up in a 4-5-1 formation, with Alexander as the lone striker.

Adam Willis and Martin Williams were sacrificed as part of the manager's shake-up.

Whether it was this change of formation or the chairman's rebuke, this was a different Town to the shambles on show the previous week.

The visitors looked sharp, focused and committed from the first whistle.

The sloppy defensive lapses of recent weeks were nowhere to be seen as Town rarely looked like conceding a goal.

Richard Dryden made a solid if unspectacular return to Sixfields and was superbly aided by skipper Alan Reeves.

The Cobblers' Jamie Forrester has netted 14 goals this season but he had few opportunities to add to that total.

Whenever the home side did manage to break forward the Town players were quickly back in numbers to snuff out the danger.

The visitors battled and won control of the midfield, with Bobby Howe's bite and Ian Woan's silky passing skills complementing each other. Keith O'Halloran also worked tirelessly throughout the 90 minutes.

Howe has taken some dreadful stick from Town fans but the Geordie midfielder produced his finest performance for several weeks at Sixfields.

Town started brightly but there was little for the crowd to really get excited about during the opening exchanges.

The home side enjoyed the first real opportunity. In the 12th minute, Northampton skipper John Frain floated a free kick into the Town box which just eluded the head of Daryl Clare at the far post.

However, the same player almost made amends just seven minutes later when he pounced on a loose ball in the Town penalty area.

With the visiting fans behind the goal baying for offside, the Northampton striker blasted goalwards, only for Bart Griemink to make a fine block.

Andy King has bemoaned his team's inability to take the initiative in games this season.

Week after week Town have fallen behind and found it impossible to retrieve the situation. Revelling in his lone role up front, Gary Alexander ensured there would be no uphill battle on this occasion.

In the 23rd minute, Keith O'Halloran picked up the ball in the centre circle and split the Northampton defence with a superb ball to Danny Invincible.

The Aussie striker raced down the right before cutting into the box. He attempted to round keeper Keith Welch but the veteran former Bristol City man appeared to block his effort.

Despair quickly turned to delight as the ball squirted clear and into the path of Alexander.

The young striker made no mistake from 10 yards, sparking delirium in the away end.

David Duke and Danny Invincible swapped flanks to cause further torment to the visitors' defence and the latter player should have done much better just three minutes before the break.

He motored towards goal and only a last-ditch tackle prevented him from extending Town's lead.

The only blots on Town's first half performance were bookings for O'Halloran (for a foul on Hunt) and Alan Reeves. The skipper was penalised for tugging back Forrester and was lucky to only receive a yellow card in the 44th minute.

The referee had barely finished blowing his whistle to start the second half when he booked Northampton's Steve Howard for a foul on Woan.

A long range effort from Clare sailed over Griemink's bar in the 50th minute as the home side failed to show the imagination needed to unlock the Town defence.

A clumsy tackle by Richard Dryden on Howard led to a third Town booking and ensured their continued presence in the lower reaches of the division's fair play league table.

Alexander had the chance to net his second goal in the 52nd minute. He connected with David Duke's cross but saw his volley flash just wide of Welch's right hand post.

Bart Griemink was finally called into action just two minutes later. The lively Forrester found space to curl in a shot but Town's Dutch keeper dived to his left to make a comfortable save.

This proved to be the Cobblers most dangerous spell. Forrester curled another effort wide in the 56th minute but Griemink had to react quickly again just moments later to keep out a Daryl Clare strike.

Just past the hour, the home fans thought their side had finally drawn level.

Jamie Forrester met Savage's cross from the right but saw his header whistle inches wide of the left upright.

Andy King brought off David Duke midway through the second half which meant a rather unorthodox role on the left flank for Antoine Van Der Linden.

Invincible's afternoon came to an end on 76 minutes, when he was replaced by Martin Williams.

The Australian showed flashes of skill but failed to add to his tally for the season.

Both sides' strikers worked hard throughout the game but neither keeper had to really break sweat with so few shots on target.

Griemink was called upon to make one final stop in the 78th minute when he moved quickly to stop Howard connecting with a through ball.

The home fans realised it was not going to be their day and began streaming away before the final whistle.

It was a different story in the visiting end as the fans bellowed their support for Andy King and gave the players a tremendous ovation at the final whistle.

The players acknowledged the tremendous backing they had received throughout the afternoon and they will be hoping for similar vocal support during Saturday's FA Cup second round clash with non-league Gateshead.