Boss Curle's delight as Cobblers claim big win on his return to Brunton Park

Curle headed back to Cumbria for the first time since ending his four-year reign as Carlisle boss 18 months ago and an excellent second-half from the Cobblers ensured he could celebrate in the best way possible.

Town had struggled in the first-half but Curle made a change at half-time, bringing on Harry Smith for Michael Harriman, and that worked perfectly as his side improved markedly.

Scott Pollock blasted home his first professional goal on 54 minutes and then Sam Hoskins' equally emphatic finish in stoppage-time put the gloss on a fine away victory.

Reflecting back on the game though, it was an incident in the opening 45 minutes that Curle felt was decisive.

He said: "In the first-half I've got to say the defining moment was David Cornell's save five or six minutes before half-time because it was excellent.

"The kid had a shot, I was stood right behind it and I thought it was going just inside the post but Dai used everything he had and got the touch that was needed to push it wide.

"It was the defining moment, maybe not so much of the game but definitely in the first-half."

As for the game as a whole, Curle added: "I've watched their last four games and they can dominate possession of the ball and they can give you a chasing because they've got good technicians and they can handle the ball.

"They lack a bit of peneration with their passing so you need to have total concentration and total discipline to know when you can get it and when you can't and when you need to retain your shape.

"At times we made some wrong decisions in terms of when to go and press but I made the change at half-time and went man-for-man because I'd back us man-for-man against most teams in this division."