Curle's delight as Cobblers 'tough it out' to put a dent in Macc's fine home record

Cobblers boss Keith Curle was delighted with the way his side 'toughed it out' during their 1-0 victory at struggling Macclesfield Town on Saturday.

Macclesfield had lost just one league game at home all season and that came at the hands of Morecambe way back in August.

But Cobblers, despite a big FA Cup tie lurking on the horizon, got down to business with a workmanlike display at Moss Rose and maintained their unbeaten start to 2020, winning the game through Callum Morton's first EFL goal.

"They've only lost one home game since August and that's not a stat to take lightly," said Curle.

"We had to tough it out and we had to defend out box and we had to try and cause them problems.

"We knew it was going to be about entries into the final third on a bobbly pitch with both teams willing to push men forward and commit.

"You've got to give credit to Macclesifeld as well because they stood the test and competed very, which you expect from a team managed by Mark Kennedy."

The first-half at Macclesfield was a relatively even contest but Town were more dominant in the second 45 minutes, albeit without creating a shedload of chances.

"It might not look much of a slope but we were playing uphill and against the wind in the first-half so it was difficult to get territorial advantage," Curle added.

"But we knew if we had a good platform and a good defensive line, we could get to the second-half and it would be a different game.

"We found it difficult to get out at times and we needed to win that first contact against two big centre-backs who competed very well against Vadaine (Oliver).

"But in the second-half we had more advantage in their half and we knew we had the quality and the delivery into the box and people who can finish."