Brady satisfied with a point after 'game of two halves' against Stevenage

Cobblers boss Jon Brady was happy enough with a point after admitting his side struggled to contain the ‘relentless’ nature of Stevenage’s play in the second-half of Saturday’s 1-1 draw at Sixfields.

Town shaded a tight first-half and led at the break thanks to Louis Appéré’s fifth-minute opener, but it was all change after half-time as the visitors came roaring back and piled on the pressure.

Cobblers struggled to find a way out and Boro deservedly earned themselves a point with 18 minutes to play when Jamie Reid’s low shot hit both posts and crept over the line. The result takes Northampton four points above Carlisle – and still two ahead of Stevenage – in the race for promotion.

"I felt it was a game of two halves,” said Brady. “We came out the blocks firing at the start of the game and we had them on the back foot.

"We score the goal, then Louis has that header which I thought was going in but it just lands wide. That would have put us 2-0 up and given us a real advantage going into half-time.

"We had the wind against us in the second-half but they are relentless. They put it in, turn it, land on it, turn it, land on it. They are efficient and brilliant at it, but when we had opportunities to play and show some composure, we got caught up in it a bit and we didn't use the ball well enough at times.

"Obviously we changed shape to try and combat the pressure they put on us in the second-half but we still had a few efforts with (Ryan) Haynesy and Mitch (Pinnock) and Louis as well.

"They are an excellent side and have been up there all season so credit to them, they are really good at what they do, but fair play to us as well because we stood up strong to it and the point keeps our momentum going.”