Relieved Hogg thrilled to give Cobblers fans their victory of the season
Chris Hogg admitted relief was the overriding emotion after Cobblers won their first game of the season by beating Newport County on Saturday.
Another tough slog of a game looked set to end goalless until Joe O’Brien-Whitmarsh popped up with a sweet strike just three minutes from time, earning Town their first competitive victory since February, some 23 games ago.
Hogg admitted: “It’s felt a long time coming! But it feels really good and the way it happened as well... I think it was always going to be that way.
“The first half was good in terms of a control point of view, and we had one or two moments, but we were a bit too slow and we didn’t play forward and and we didn’t play in the areas we wanted to.
“The second half was a bit bitty but I’m there thinking ‘we’re going to get an opportunity’ and it was about how it fell and who it fell to and Joe showed his quality with a great strike. He was terrific all game.
“I’m delighted for all the players and the staff and obviously the supporters as well. It was never going to be pretty and free-flowing but I thought we defended really well, we limited Newport to very little and then it was just all about getting the result.
“It’s an exciting day for the club. I’m not someone to over-celebrate but if you saw how I celebrated the goal, you can guess how it felt. I’m just delighted we sent everyone home happy.”