Curle: Cobblers' quality and decision-making not good enough in Rovers loss

Poor decision-making and a lack of quality in possession were Keith Curle's main frustrations after his side were beaten 2-0 by Bristol Rovers on Saturday.

Goalless at the break after an even first-half, Town were their own worst enemies at the Memorial Stadium as Cian Bolger conceded a cheap penalty, converted by Brandon Hanlan, before Joe Martin received his second yellow card just moments later.

Jack Baldwin's late goal then compounded a bad day at the office for the Cobblers who went down to a second successive 2-0 defeat.

"I'm disappointed with our decision-making and our quality in possession of the ball," said Curle.

"We gained opportunities in the first-half but we didn't use the ball well enough, we didn't retain possession well enough and we didn't put the ball into good areas. When the ball went forward, it came back too easily.

"We played against a team that knew the ball was coming in so they sat off deep and dropped off and defended deep which gave us the opportunity to use the ball and move them around but we didn't do that enough.

"We also didn't defend well enough as a group and we didn't defend our box well enough."

Curle made a triple substitution straight after Hanlan's penalty as Jack Sowerby, Ricky Korboa and Benny Ashley-Seal were all introduced.

"It wasn't down to frustration, it was a case of trying to get more energy on the pitch and a different focal point," explained Curle.

"It was also a chance to get some minutes into players. Jack hasn't been on the grass much - he's only had two training sessions in about five weeks - and Ricky's also been out injured so they got some minutes.

"We wanted to change our focal point when we got hold of possession but we didn't move the ball quickly or well enough to hurt them."