Opposition view: Stevenage boss Steve Evans felt Boro 'deserved' their Sixfields victory

Stevenage manager Steve Evans felt his side were good value for their 1-0 win over Northampton in Saturday’s opening game of the season.

Cobblers edged the first half but missed two good chances before Stevenage took control in the second, eventually claiming all three points thanks to Carl Piergianni’s 81st minute winner.

"It's a great way to start the season," said Evans. "I set the boys four targets – to get our first clean sheet, to get our first point, to score our first goal and to get our first win. We've ticked all of them off in the first game.

"I thought it was a game of two halves. Obviously conditions played a part but they were better than us in the first half. They have kept together a lot more players from last season and they looked more used to playing with each other, but the elements played a part and we saw that in the second half.

"We should have been behind at half-time but the changes we made really worked and I think over the whole game we deserved to win. They had two one-on-ones in the first half but we created chances as well and in the second half we were the team with more purpose and more drive, certainly in terms of fitness levels, and all of the new boys did really well."