Goal hero Hoskins hails Cobblers' 'never-say-die attitude' after another late, late show

Sam Hoskins praised the 'never-say-die attitude' of the Cobblers after they salvaged a precious point from their Sky Bet League Two clash with Newport County on Saturday.

A weary-looking Town were miles off their best during the clash with the south Wales side, and had goalkeeper Lee Burge to thank for the fact they were only 1-0 down at half-time, following Omar Bogle's second-minute opener.

Burge produced a string of superb saves to keep the score down before the break, and that allowed boss Jon Brady to reshuffle his threadbare pack at the interval, making three changes to try and get back in the game.

Town were far from convincing in the second half either, but they did at least nullify Newport's attacking threat.

They kept plugging away, kept themselves in the game and that meant that when Hoskins hammered home his 12th goal of the season two minutes into time added on, they were able to snatch an unlikely share of the spoils.

It was the sixth time this season the Cobblers have scored in the 87th-minute or later to claim a win or a draw.

Ryan Haynes set the tone with an 89th-minute winner on the opening day against Colchester, and that has been followed up by winner after 90+2 minutes from Kieron Bowie at Crawley, a Hoskins leveller on 90+6 minutes at Crewe, Mitch Pinnock’s 88th-minute winner at Swindon and Shaun McWilliams’ dramatic 87th-minute strike to see off Stevenage last weekend.

It is certainly a good habit to have, and one that is down to the team spirit and belief at Sixfields.

"Everybody knows we weren't at our best," said Hoskins, who returned from injury and illness to make his first start since the 1-0 defeat to Salford City on October 8.

"To go behind so early was obviously disappointing, but it shows the character we have in the team, and the subs as well who made a real impact after they came on.

"It was good to take a point in the end.

"We have that never-say-die attitude, and we have spoken about it before, and the importance of getting points from losing positions.

"Last season we only took two points, and this season it has been loads more than that already.

"It shows a lot of character, we never give up and that can go a long way, so it was a good point for us."

The in-form Hoskins' late strike ensured he grabbed most of the headlines following the Newport clash, but he was quick to praise the efforts of Burge, who was rightly named the sponsors' man of the match.

"We said at half-time that if it wasn't for Burgey we would probably have been fighting an uphill battle that would have been too much for us," admitted the striker. "He made a couple of great saves.

"It was one of those where we didn't start the game the way we wanted to, and teams are going to come here and cause us problems.

"It is about trying to break them down, and then in the second half we did control the game a lot more without causing their defence or goalkeeper too many problems.

"But it is the attitude to never give up that counts, and we didn't so we will take a point after the way we started."