Town made nearly all of the running for an hour at Whaddon Road before Cheltenham grew into it, but Hoskins had the final say when he pounced on a defensive error and slammed home his third goal of the season. Here are our player ratings from Northampton’s first away win of the season...
1. Max Thompson
Had precious little to do en route to a second successive clean sheet. Solid handling when grasping onto a well-struck long-range effort but his goal was put under barely any pressure throughout. Confident and competent with his feet as Cobblers played out from the back... 7.5 Photo: Pete Norton
2. Akin Odimayo
Comfortable and incident-free afternoon at the back. Tidy on the ball again, though could have offered a bit more attacking thrust from full-back. Still can't quite get through a full 90... 7.5 Photo: Pete Norton
3. Sam Sherring
Excellent and influential at both ends of the pitch. Desperately unlucky when crashing a first half header against the crossbar but he will be given the assist for the winner after his pass found its way through to Hoskins. Made an important block from D'Auria-Henry's header during Cheltenham's strong spell in the middle of the second half... 8.5 Photo: Pete Norton
4. Jon Guthrie
Shepherded the team through to another excellent clean sheet, not that he had much to do. Won everything in the air and kept things simple on the deck. One of Town's better chances fell his way but he lacked the power to beat Southwood early in the first half... 8 Photo: Pete Norton