Cobblers 'only have ourselves to blame' after letting lead slip at Hartlepool

Cobblers midfielder Shaun McWilliams says his side need to start turning words into actions after suffering more disappointment at Hartlepool United.

For the third game in a row, the Cobblers were left to reflect on their shortcomings after letting a 1-0 lead slip in defeat at Victoria Park.

Town conceded within two minutes of Sam Hoskins handing them the lead, and then saw a hard-earned away point slip through their fingers when Luke Molyneux scored a late winner on the counter-attack.

"After you score, the next five or 10 minutes are when you're at your most vulnerable and that's what we spoke about between us afterwards," said McWilliams.

"It's about sticking to your job. We can all say 'we can do this, we can do that' but you've got to actually go out there and do it.

"It's obviously a kick in the teeth to concede to concede straight after scoring but we only have ourselves to blame and we've got to make sure that doesn't happen again."

Manager Jon Brady was fuming about the nature of Hartlepool's winning goal which came on the counter-attack with just seven minutes to play.

"That's probably down to decision-making," admitted McWilliams. "We can't come out of our positions, we need to stay strong and stop them counter-attacking.

"If it means you take a yellow, then you do that. That's what I do - take one for the team because it's a team game and a team goal that we conceded.

"It's gone from being in their penalty box to being in our box in a few seconds and that's on all of us. Individually, you have your jobs to do and sometimes you have to get your mate out of trouble."