Boss Crosby hails 'exceptional' Port Vale as they see off Cobblers

The home side moved joint top of the table with a thanks to a fifth win in their past six matches, with substitute Ben Garrity's sweet 8th-minute strike settling a tight contest at Vale Park.

A lively Vale side dominated possession and had almost three times as many attempts at goal than a subdued Cobblers outfit.

The home side were the more pro-active team throughout the game, but it looked like they were going to be frustrated by a disciplined defensive performance from Town until that late winner.

And Crosby felt three points was exactly what his players deserved.

"I thought our performance was exceptional, and we had control of the game with and without the ball," said the Vale boss.

"It is very difficult to break a team down when they put everyone behind the ball, and I think Northampton changed formation four times to try and stop us.

"But we dominated, we kept probing and kept working the ball, trying to move them and look for spaces to play though the lines, and the guys who came off the bench to impact the game did exactly they job they were asked to do.

"We have a really competitive group who deliver every single day in training, and our performances are currently a reflection of that."

And he added: "The lower Northampton went, you keep trying to find spaces and it was difficult.

"They defended their box really well, and fair play to them for that, but we had sustained attacks, we counter-pressed really well and when Northampton played a forward ball we turned the ball back over quickly.

"We just kept going, we kept trying to find a way, and we are a gfit group. We went right to the end and we got our rewards.

"We have people who can come on and change the game from the sidelines."They come on and do their job and you could see the reaction at the end, everybody is delighted for everyone."