Boro midfielder says Cobblers 'thought they had won the league' after win over Stevenage

Stevenage midfielder Alex Gilbey says his side will use Northampton’s supposedly excessive post-match celebrations after Saturday’s dramatic League Two encounter as extra motivation for the reverse fixture later in the season.

Gilbey himself looked to have rescued a point for Boro when levelling with only five minutes to play, an instant response to Kieron Bowie making it 2-1, but Town came roaring back as Shaun McWilliams grabbed all three points with a last-gasp winner.

Stevenage manager Steve Evans was critical of the way the Cobblers celebrated their victory in his post-match interview, although he did not say specifically what upset him. There were some reports that Town went into the home dressing room to ‘gloat’ but that was not the case. Instead, they played their traditional victory song and celebrated in the away changing room.

Even Gilbey admitted that Town’s players ‘weren’t saying too much’ but Stevenage have nontheless ‘taken note’ for the when the teams meet again for what should be a spicy encounter in April.

The 27-year-old said: "They were giving it the big ‘un, thinking they had won the league in October. We'll remember that, we’ve still got to go their place and play.

"We’ll take note of it and forget about it for now. They can have the last laugh today but it is a long old season. It was just the typical football stuff, they weren’t saying too much and it is all part and parcel of it. But as a group and a unit, we have all noted it."

Northampton dominated the first half-hour on Saturday and led through Louis Appéré’s very early penalty before Danny Rose levelled against the run of play. It all then kicked off in the final 10 minutes.

"We got off to the worst possible start and we struggled to get back into the game,” admitted Gilbey. "We were just a bit shellshocked from them scoring early and it took Danny Rose’s goal to kick us into gear and get us going again.

"We then did what we’ve done all season. We were on the front foot, had loads of energy and made it difficult. We didn’t do that for the first 30 minutes and we can’t let a top team like Northampton come here and dictate.

"To score two goals at home and lose isn’t good enough and isn’t acceptable so it’s back to the drawing board. We are all disappointed because it was a massive game and we have come away with nothing.

"But nobody gets promoted in October, nobody wins anything. We’ve lost our unbeaten home record but that was going to happen. We weren’t going to go the whole season unbeaten so we just need to roll our sleeves up and crack on.”