Cobblers Verdict: Striker confident Town squad has the character to survive
Northampton Town Football Club v Barnet at Sixfields.
ADEBAYO AKINFENWA admits only wins will suffice for the Cobblers after this defeat to fellow strugglers Barnet left them in sink-or-swim territory.
The sinking – relegation out of the Football League – does not even bear contemplation but will be on the minds of a few more of even the most optimistic Northampton followers following the 2-1 loss.
In the games that preceded it, there were glimmers of hope. They certainly did not deserve to lose 5-2 to Southend last weekend and maybe didn’t even deserve to lose at all.
Prior to that, the team won at Morecambe and gained a good draw at Shrewsbury.
They were even pretty decent against Swindon on New Year’s Eve, only losing to an injury-time goal to a side with automatic promotion within their sights and capabilities.
But this was a major step backward. It is one thing to play well and lose to Swindon or Southend but quite another to play badly and be defeated by Barnet.
For the supporters and, more worryingly, the players, this loss could have a debilitating impact on a morale level which was gradually being raised by recent results and the overwhelming positivity of their manager Aidy Boothroyd.
They are only inside the bottom two by a one-point margin, although the gap to the team fourth-bottom – Hereford – is now five and there are concerns a chasm will soon open up.
Akinfenwa, who scored on his return to the starting line-up but ultimately ended the game on the losing side, feels the near future will provide a major test of character for the players.
“It’s human nature,” he said. “Our last win was at Morecambe and confidence does get chipped away.
“Nervousness comes into play as the games go on but we’ve got a tough bunch of lads here and you have to show your character at times like this.
“This is when your true character comes out. It’s either sink or swim and none of us want to sink so we’ll have to swim.
“I’ve got mad love for Northampton and I don’t like seeing the club in the position we’re in so I do put the onus on myself to help put that right.
“It’s only us that can turn that around and I try to put a bit of confidence into the boys and tell everyone to keep believing.”
Town fans attending this game can be forgiven a feeling of deja-vu.
Their team has led in all but one of their games under Aidy Boothroyd but only seen out the victory in one of them, and so it was perhaps no surprise that Sixfields was strangely muted with the team 1-0 ahead.
Barnet boss Lawrie Sanchez was aware of the pattern and put together a tactical blueprint to prey on it.
Akinfenwa too, knows all about the routine of recent Cobblers matches and is at a loss to explain why the team crumbles to defeat after finding themselves in a winning situation so often.
“We know we’re right in the thick of things and it’s not a nice place to be,” he said. “I guess we’re following the same pattern every week.
“We’ve got in at half-time winning and finished the game losing for the past two weeks and it’s not nice but only we can turn it around.
“I don’t know why it’s happening, I couldn’t tell you, but there are 19 games to go and it’s down to us to turn it around.
“Draws are not going to help us now, we need wins. All we can do is go again on Monday.”
After leading 1-0 at the interval, Town conceded twice to lose the game, but while Mark Byrne’s equalising goal was excellent, there was a hint of controversy over Ricky Holmes’ winner.
Izale McLeod, retreating from an offside position, clearly impeded Kelvin Langmead as he attempted to get to striker Holmes, who went on to fire past debutant Chris Weale at his near post.
Akinfenwa was furious that the goal stood, especially as he felt referee Jock Waugh should have awarded the home side a spot-kick moments earlier.
“I think we should have had a penalty, 100 per cent,” he said.
“Two of their players took out Crackers (Michael Jacobs) and it was a blatant foul on Langers (Kelvin Langmead).
“It is what it is.
“We can’t fixate and focus on the referee, we contributed to our own downfall and what’s done is done.
“We can’t change that, we’ve just got to go back to working hard and looking to put all these things right.”
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Saturday 26 May 2012
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Comments
There are 3 comments to this article
Page 1 of 1
mkhornet2
Tuesday, January 24, 2012 at 09:07 AMKeep the faith Cobblers fans, when AB came to us and we were fighting relegation he had a bad start and we lost most of our first 6 or 7 games under him while he sorted things out. But once he sussed things out the team was much better organised and played to their strengths and we stayed up. The next year you could see the faith the players had in him and we were promoted. So get behind Aidy and who knows! Good luck for the rest of the season. A local Watford fan.
.~* JEZ *~.
Monday, January 23, 2012 at 03:59 PM"I get increasingly tired of reading reports from the opposition's sources" - Don't come on here then and do yourself a favour!!
barnetstatto
Monday, January 23, 2012 at 02:03 PM"It is one thing to play well and lose to Swindon or Southend but quite another to play badly and be defeated by Barnet." Hmmm. Nothing bitchy about that statement, is there? You only had to look at the current form table going into the game to see who the favourites were. No surprise that the favourites won then. The better team on the day does not necessarily win games. A case in point being the reverse fixture earlier this season where, on chances created and overall play, Town were distinctly second-best yet they managed to win 2-1. I get increasingly tired of reading reports from the opposition's sources that express surprise and disappointment that a club with less League history and a smaller fan base has the gall to actually try and compete with them.
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