Swindon boss Garner disappointed to only claim a point at Sixfields

Swindon Town boss Ben Garner said he was frustrated to only come away from Sixfields with a solitary point after his side's 1-1 draw with the Cobblers on Saturday.
Swindon Town boss Ben GarnerSwindon Town boss Ben Garner
Swindon Town boss Ben Garner

Garner paid tribute to the Cobblers' strengths and their performance and also described Fraser Horsfall's late equaliser as 'an unbelievable header', but he felt the Robins had done enough to claim all three points.

The visitors did dominate possession at times, and did carve out some good opportunities, with one of the best falling to goalscorer Tyreece Simpson in stoppage time, but he was denied the chance to get a shot away by a superb last-ditch tackle by the impressive Jon Guthrie.

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The Cobblers also created plenty of chances, but Garner admitted he and his players were disappointed not to have won.

"We are a little frustrated to be honest," said the Swindon supremo.

"Their equaliser was a wonderful header, but we are disappointed not to take three points from the game.

"Even after it going 1-1, we had a great opportunity to win it, so we are slightly disappointed not to win the game, but that can be turned into a positive

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"We have come to a very difficult place and played a Northampton team that are very good at what they do.

"So to be disappointed with only getting a point is a good sign of the progress we are making.

"The players are disappointed in the dressing room which is again something I like, because it shows we are not content coming away from home and only getting a point.

"But we are unbeaten away from home and this keeps that momentum going. We will take the positives out of it heading into next week."

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The match was played out in front of a vibrant crowd of close to 6,000 supporters, with 1,000 making the trip from Wiltshire, and Garner was pleased with how his team dealt with things.

"Northampton do what they do very well and I thought it was a great atmosphere - credit to them," he said.

"This is a difficult place to come and they don't concede many goals.

"Defensively they are very strong, their two centre-halves are excellent for them and the fact we're disappointed with one point is a great sign.

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"We had good balance in the team in the way we set-up and, as always, we look at the opposition and how they play and Nothampton play for territory.

"They do it well, they are physical, they back it up, their front players are a handful and they get balls into the box very, very well.

"We put a team out that we thought could best cope with that, but also a team that could hurt them. And I thought we did hurt them."

Horsfall headed home Sam Hoskins' corner to snatch a point in the 83rd minute, and Garner said: "It isn't one where someone has lost their man or switched off.

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"We work hard on them and the lad marking him was with Horsfall, but 99 times out of 100 that header doesn't go in.

"I have watched it back and it was an unbelievable header that creeps into the corner."