Relieved Austin revels in 'the best feeling in the world' after Cobblers get off the mark

Relief and delight were the overriding emotions for Cobblers boss Dean Austin after his side finally got their first win of the season with a 2-1 victory at Colchester United on Saturday.
RELIEVED MAN: Dean Austin was finally able to celebrate his first victory as Northampton's full-time manager at Colchester on Saturday. Picture: Sharon LuceyRELIEVED MAN: Dean Austin was finally able to celebrate his first victory as Northampton's full-time manager at Colchester on Saturday. Picture: Sharon Lucey
RELIEVED MAN: Dean Austin was finally able to celebrate his first victory as Northampton's full-time manager at Colchester on Saturday. Picture: Sharon Lucey

It had been a slow and frustrating start to the campaign prior to Saturday's trip to Essex but Town came up trumps against a free-scoring, previously unbeaten Colchester side thanks to second-half goals from Matt Crooks and Billy Waters.

Aaron Pierre's own goal set up an anxious finale but Austin's men held on and the relief was plastered all over his face at full-time.

He said: "Three points is the best feeling in the world!

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"We played better at home to Lincoln and against Cambridge last week but the boys showed today that they're very determined.

"We were all disappointed by the first 60 minutes on Tuesday night but they showed they have the character, the attitude and the application - there's no problem with that for my boys."

The win didn't stop Austin from venting his frustration at referee Alan Young for several controversial decisions, not least the one not to award a penalty for what looked a clear foul on John-Joe O'Toole in the latter stages.

He added: "We've been a little unfortunate in previous games but today we got the points even though the referee tried his best to give them the points.

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"We had a stonewall penalty when JJ went down and the free-kick at the end is a joke so he did his best but the character of the group showed and fully deserved the win.

"We made a little tactical change at the end and they changed their shape which is credit to my boys because they had to go to a 3-5-2.

"They had a couple of moments but that's always going to happen and at this level the game can become a bit helter-skelter, but I thought we defended fantastically and once we defended well, I felt we could go up the other end and open them up and score more goals."

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