Boss Cowan pleased with Brackley performance despite narrow defeat to Cobblers

Saints held their own against their newly-promoted Sky Bet League One opponents for much of the game, and after the Cobblers had taken the lead on the stroke of half-time they equalised through a header from skipper captain Gareth Dean early in the second half.

However, the Cobblers scored again to claim the win, and even could afford the luxury of missing a late penalty, as goalkeeper Danny Lewis dived low to his left to keep out Louis Appere’s stoppage time effort.

But Cowan was impressed with his team’s performance in their narrow defeat.

“There’s loads to be positive about because we bossed most of the first half and there was a lot of penetrative play,” said the Brackley boss.

“You can see that the lads are starting to understand the way we want to play in and out of possession, and I’m really pleased that we had a lot of the play.

“I thought we were patient and there was so much positivity in our build-up play.

“The draw against Burton Albion in midweek and the loss against Northampton today are results that don’t reflect how we played, because we’ve been particularly good for large parts of those games.

“In pre-season, no matter how much you prepare, it’s never quite where you want it to be

“We want the lads to get minutes in their legs, and we’re on the periphery of educating ourselves and being competitive.

“Jon Brady and his team made it a really good test for us, and I’m pleased with how it went apart from the result.

“It’s starting to heat up now, and we’re in good stead going into Tuesday.”

Brackley travel to Stratford Town in their penultimate pre-season friendly on Tuesday night. Their opponents finished mid-table in the Pitching In Southern League Premier Central last season.