v 
BLUES
| 1 | Leicester City | 42 | 12 | 8 | 1 | 38 | 14 | 12 | 6 | 3 | 38 | 23 | 24 | 14 | 4 | 76 | 37 | 86 | +39 | ||||
| 2 | Peterborough United | 42 | 13 | 5 | 3 | 38 | 20 | 11 | 5 | 5 | 36 | 30 | 24 | 10 | 8 | 74 | 50 | 82 | +24 | ||||
| 3 | Millwall | 42 | 11 | 4 | 6 | 26 | 20 | 12 | 3 | 6 | 31 | 26 | 23 | 7 | 12 | 57 | 46 | 76 | +11 | ||||
| 4 | Milton Keynes Dons | 41 | 11 | 4 | 6 | 40 | 23 | 11 | 5 | 4 | 38 | 22 | 22 | 9 | 10 | 78 | 45 | 75 | +33 | ||||
| 5 | Leeds United | 42 | 15 | 2 | 4 | 43 | 19 | 8 | 4 | 9 | 27 | 28 | 23 | 6 | 13 | 70 | 47 | 75 | +23 | ||||
| 6 | Tranmere Rovers | 42 | 14 | 4 | 3 | 38 | 18 | 6 | 5 | 10 | 19 | 25 | 20 | 9 | 13 | 57 | 43 | 69 | +14 | ||||
| 7 | Scunthorpe United | 40 | 12 | 4 | 4 | 40 | 22 | 8 | 3 | 9 | 30 | 32 | 20 | 7 | 13 | 70 | 54 | 67 | +16 | ||||
| 8 | Southend United | 42 | 12 | 2 | 7 | 27 | 18 | 7 | 5 | 9 | 25 | 38 | 19 | 7 | 16 | 52 | 56 | 64 | -4 | ||||
| 9 | Oldham Athletic | 42 | 9 | 7 | 5 | 33 | 22 | 6 | 8 | 7 | 28 | 37 | 15 | 15 | 12 | 61 | 59 | 60 | +2 | ||||
There we were, sitting in the pub after the Franchise game, a game we could easily had won, accepting that our luck had to run out eventually and that the team had been brilliant in even keeping the season going this long.
Then Scunthorpe lost, shame the Saddlers couldn't have followed up by beating Tranmere, and somehow we'll a point closer to the play-offs though a match had gone.
It's not on of course and it has to be 12 points but, well, it gives us something to get up early for Monday. And Hartlepool desperately need the points v the Iron and Tranmere are, er, at home to Hereford........it's not on, let's eat our eggs and enjoy a decent pint!
I hope Tilly sticks to the same starting eleven, if Theo didn't need four chances to get one and Barny had his shooting boots on, we could have been two up before Dons had even sniffed our penalty area. In winning every game you need a lot of breaks to go your way and they just didn't on Friday, I thought we played as well as we had done in our previous victories.
Since that Leeds defeat we've always bounced back after a loss and I'm sure we'll do so again, if only to keep the two teams above us on their toes.
Last Six Matches6 4 0 2 8 7 12
OPPOSITION
Last Six Matches6 1 1 4 8 8 4
Luke Guttridge will not be fit to play, and there are also doubts over fellow midfielder Giles Coke, who left the last game at Bristol on crutches.
| 18 | Hartlepool United | 42 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 43 | 36 | 4 | 4 | 13 | 17 | 33 | 12 | 11 | 19 | 60 | 69 | 47 | -9 | ||||
| 19 | Carlisle United | 42 | 7 | 6 | 8 | 33 | 31 | 4 | 6 | 11 | 19 | 35 | 11 | 12 | 19 | 52 | 66 | 45 | -14 | ||||
| 20 | Crewe Alexandra | 42 | 8 | 4 | 9 | 29 | 33 | 4 | 5 | 12 | 25 | 39 | 12 | 9 | 21 | 54 | 72 | 45 | -18 | ||||
| 21 | Northampton Town | 40 | 7 | 7 | 5 | 31 | 21 | 3 | 5 | 13 | 20 | 32 | 10 | 12 | 18 | 51 | 53 | 42 | -2 | ||||
| 22 | Brighton & Hove Albion | 41 | 4 | 6 | 11 | 28 | 39 | 5 | 6 | 9 | 18 | 27 | 9 | 12 | 20 | 46 | 66 | 39 | -20 | ||||
| 23 | Hereford United | 41 | 6 | 4 | 11 | 23 | 25 | 3 | 2 | 15 | 15 | 45 | 9 | 6 | 26 | 38 | 70 | 33 | -32 | ||||
| 24 | Cheltenham Town | 41 | 6 | 5 | 10 | 28 | 37 | 1 | 6 | 13 | 19 | 47 | 7 | 11 | 23 | 47 | 84 | 32 | -37 | ||||
There are concerns over the defence and there have been rumours of dressing room rifts. Top scorer Adebayo Akinfenwa is fit, as is club captain Chris Doig, although both are not getting through games entirely without pain.
So no excuses can be made from a personnel point of view. Player departures have led to a change in priorities but he current group, according to the local paper, should be good enough to stay in the division. We will see.
Midfielder Andy Holt has told his Cobblers team-mates that getting relegated is the 'worst feeling ever' and recommends they avoid it at all costs. Holt tasted the bitter sting of the drop as part of the Wrexham team which went down from Coca-Cola League One in 2005.
The following year the gutsy player was nominated player of the year at the Red Dragons, but the final chapter of his career in north Wales was a bittersweet one as he left the club to sign on at Sixfields. Three years later and Holt finds himself facing another relegation dogfight, this time with the Cobblers.
Holt told the local paper: "It was a strange season that year at Wrexham because we started off okay but then we got deducted 10 points for going into administration. Then we managed to win the LDV Vans Trophy, (oh thanks for reminding us), but a month or two later we got relegated and it was just awful. You want to play at as high a level as possible and the feeling of relegation is the one I wouldn't wish on anyone. It's the worst feeling ever. It ruins your summer, it ruins the start of the following season and everything changes. I'm sure there are other players at the club who have been relegated as well as promoted, and they need to use their past experiences to make sure it doesn't happen this year."
Holt is part of a small group of players at Sixfields who are under contractual wraps for next season, along with the likes of Luke Guttridge and Danny Jackman. The left-winger, who will turn 31 later this month, wants to be part of a Cobblers team playing in league one next term, especially as it looks like three big guns will be coming down to this level from the Coca-Cola Championship.
He continued: "Some will say it's harder for those lads without a contract but I've got a contract and I don't want to be playing in league two next season. I want to stay in this league. You look at the teams coming down, we could have Charlton, Southampton and Nottingham Forest in this division and those are three massive clubs. I want to be playing them next season. For the lads out of contract as well that's a big incentive to keep the club at this level, the thought of playing teams like that."
PREVIOUSLY
Captain Adam certainly likes the Sixfields with three headed goals from corners in the last two league meetings at their place.
When we played them at the Hall last Boxing Day West Ham loanee Junior Stanislas grabbed the winner from a free-kick in the last minute.
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Away supporters are housed at the South Stand end. The club has received awards for the facilities provided for disabled supporters. A large hill overlooks the ground, where small numbers congregate to watch the game free, even though they can only see half the pitch!
Shrimpers will be located in the attractively named 'Paul Cox Panel & Paint South Stand' at one end of the pitch, where 800 supporters can be accommodated. Please remember the game is all ticket, only 60 left before the MK Dons game.
WEATHER
15c's but light rain and showers forecast.
REF
The man in the middle is Chris Sarginson from Staffordshire.
He's got history this one. Here's an example from a League Two Lincoln v Bury game only last month (March 14), with a cameo appearance by Mr. Efi Sodje, surprise, surprise! (It is written by a home supporter though.)
Referee Chris Sarginson lost control of today's 1-1 draw with Bury, and ultimately cost an impressive City three vital points.
A mass brawl on the pitch just before half time of Lincoln's 1-1 draw with Bury may well incur the wrath of the FA. City's Anthony Elding was sent off for an incident with Ryan Cresswell, although the Bury man only got a yellow card. This prompted a mass brawl involving a majority of the 22 men on the pitch. As Elding made his way past the Bury bench the incident started again, with members of the Bury coaching staff becoming embroiled in the fight. At one point stewards had to enter the playing field to separate the brawling players.
Referee Chris Sarginson had already lost control of a match City looked likely to win. Ben Wright's well taken goal had given the Imps the lead, and Bury had rarely threatened the Imps defence. Elding had already been booked for a challenge that Efe Sodje had made a meal of, a challenge in which Elding seemed to win the ball.
Following an innocuous tackle in the centre of the park, Cresswell appeared to wrestle Elding back to the ground. Whilst grounded Cresswell appeared to strike Elding, who retaliated. A majority of this was unseen by the referee, but the assistant certainly saw Eldings misdemeanour. What followed next was a couple of minutes of fighting as Elding was shown a straight red card.
As he crossed the path of the Bury dugout he became involved in a war of words that escalated into a further brawl. The Bury goalkeeping coach was seen clearly aiming an elbow at a Lincoln player, a sight witnessed by a handful of stewards. Eldings card stood, and Cresswell was surprisingly shown only a yellow card.
Referee Chris Sarginson seemed intent on providing Bury with a point after the incident, awarding free kick after free kick. Cresswell and an unsporting Sodje were booed every time they touched the ball. Sarginson however had the last laugh allowing the Bury equaliser after a strong suspicion of offside.
City held on bravely with ten men, but could in the end only manage a draw.
The last mass brawl at Sincil Bank saw the Carlisle Utd Chairman John Courtnay and forward Richie Foran charged with affray by Lincolnshire Police, and should video footage of the brawl be available then LCM are sure the local constabulary would be making a few telephone calls to Lancashire. Elding's sending off was probably correct, but to only book the Bury defender seemed a massive oversight on the referee's part.
Sarginson is no stranger to controversy at Sincil Bank, having dismissed Peter Jackson for waving his arms during our 1-1 draw with Rochdale earlier in the season. His inconsistency certainly showed today as he ignored several raised arms from the Bury bench during the incident.
Although the standard of referees has been generally quite good this season, it appears the is always one 'wild card' official who can be relied on to cost a team points. In years gone by Jarnail Singh and George Cain have been the offenders, but Sarginson has certainly taken Singhs crown this season. The win today could have seen Lincoln staking an unlikely play off charge. However Sarginson will return to his home, probably in the Bury area, with two important points in his back pocket.
Worse than Singh, oh dear!
FIXTURES
Monday, 13 April 2009; (all 15.00 unless stated): Cheltenham v Yeovil, Colchester v Brighton, Hartlepool v Scunthorpe, Huddersfield v Carlisle, Leicester v Leeds, (12.15), Millwall v Peterborough, (19.45), MK Dons v Bristol Rovers, Northampton v Southend, Oldham v Crewe, Stockport v Walsall, Swindon v Leyton Orient, Tranmere v Hereford.
Northampton (13/8) Draw (23/10) Southend (5/4)
All the maps and info you need to get to the County Ground, Last Call to Northampton here:
PUB AND PIES
For a selection of the best pubs and where to grab a pie go to Last Orders in Northampton here:
HISTORY
Northampton Town was founded in 1897 after meetings between the town's schoolteachers and local solicitor A.J. Darnell. At the time schoolboy football was strong in the county due in part to the enthusiasm of the local teachers. They were however dissatisfied with the current arrangement of arranged friendlies between schools preferring to teach the boys through practical examples and they felt this could be done by forming a town team.
At the same time A.J. Darnell travelled to Leicester with the local Rugby team and whilst there witnessed an exhibition football match between Leicester Fosse and Notts County. This gave him the desire to start his own club in Northampton. Mr Darnell and the local schoolteachers came together through their shared aims and on March 6 1897, at the Princess Royal Inn on the Wellingborough Road, Northampton Football Club was formed.
Following objections from the town's rugby club the team were forced to adopt the name of Northampton Town to avoid trouble. The club gained permission to play home matches at the county ground, home of Northamptonshire County Cricket Club, providing that no games were scheduled between May and September, and this was to remain their home for the next 97 years.
Northampton joined the Northants League and spent two seasons there before moving on to the Midland League. Only two seasons later they joined the Southern League in the 1901-02 season. In the 1908-09 season manager Herbert Chapman helped the Cobblers to be crowned champions of the Southern League, and they later faced Newcastle United in the Charity Shield at The Oval where they lost 2-0. Herbert Chapman left to manage Leeds City in 1912, and went on to win the league championship four times: two at Huddersfield Town, and two at Arsenal. (Not bad, was he?)
In 1910, Northampton bought Walter Tull from Tottenham Hotspur. Tull was the second professional black footballer in English football, and stayed with Northampton Town until the outbreak of the First World War, when he volunteered for the British Army. Tull was killed in action in 1918 and the road which leads to the modern Sixfields Stadium (where Northampton play) is called "Walter Tull Way", in his honour.
From the 1930s to the 1950s Northampton Town had attempted to rise from the regional Third Division South, but rose only twice and were immediately relegated. The creation of the Fourth Division spurred a brief substantial rise that culminated in the only season (1965-66) of their existence in the top division of English football. In 1970, they lost 8-2 to Manchester United in the FA Cup fifth round. Six of the goals conceded were scored by George Best, who received the match ball (signed by Northampton players) as a reward for his performance.
Northampton Town Supporters' Trust was formed in January 1992, as a result of a large public meeting attended by over 600 fans. This meeting was called by a group of ordinary supporters, including Rob Marshall, editor of the fanzine What a Load of Cobblers, in response to a financial crisis at the club and a series of misleading statements issued by the then chairman.
The club was reluctant to send representatives to the meeting, but relented at the last minute, and the situation disclosed by them was a debt approaching £1.6 million, representing more than two years' turnover for the club. As the Trust subsequently discovered, the rot had set in some time before, and unpaid bills stretched back several years, to the time of the previous regime at the club.
The crisis, however, had been precipitated by the club's failure to pay the previous two months' players' wages, which amounted to about £64,000. The Professional Footballers' Association had had to cover this, and so it too had now become a creditor of the club.
This unproductive atmosphere must have helped the team finished bottom of the Football League's new Division Three in 1993-94, only avoiding relegation to the Conference because Kidderminster Harriers did not have a satisfactory stadium to join the Football League. Manager John Barnwell was sacked soon afterwards to make way for Ian Atkins, and the club began to move forward.
In 1996-97 they won promotion to Division Two, thanks to a playoff final victory at Wembley over Swansea City, and almost made it two successive promotions the following season - but were beaten 1-0 by Grimsby Town in the Division Two playoff final. The club went down a year later and Atkins resigned, but promotion was earned at the first attempt under new manager Kevin Wilson.
Kevin Wilson was sacked in November 2001 to make way for his assistant Kevan Broadhurst, who steered the Cobblers to Division Two survival. But Broadhurst was sacked in January 2003 with Northampton struggling at the foot of the division, and was briefly replaced by Terry Fenwick, who in turn left after just seven weeks to make way for Martin Wilkinson. Wilkinson lasted little longer, being dismissed in October 2003 in favour of former Scotland and Tottenham Hotspur defender Colin Calderwood.
Calderwood led Northampton to the play-offs in his first season, where they were knocked out in the semi-finals by Mansfield Town after a penalty shoot-out. In the 2004-05 season, Northampton finished 7th, again in the play-offs, where they were defeated by THE BLUES!!!!!! Following this, the manager made substantial changes to the squad, and they enjoyed a successful 2005-06 league season. On April 29, the Cobblers clinched promotion to Football League One for 2006-07, with a 1-0 win at home to Chester City. On May 30 2006, Northampton announced that Calderwood was leaving to join Nottingham Forest as their new manager, and was replaced by John Gorman on June 5.
On December 20, Gorman resigned due to "personal issues" with the side 18th in the table, with Ian Sampson and Jim Barron briefly taking care of first team affairs. He was replaced by former Southampton boss Stuart Gray on January 2, 2007.
Gray was enjoying a successful spell at Northampton, making encouraging signings in his first few weeks. The club looked to be going from strength to strength, finishing 14th at the end of the 2006/07 season, 12 points clear from the relegation zone. Gray made radical changes selling Bradley Johnson and allowing Andy Kirk to leave on a free transfer to Yeovil.
It appears the clubs finances are also going well, with the club and the local council now firm allies things are looking bright for the club and the area with Sixfields re-development drawing ever closer.
2007-08 brought Northampton's highest finish in a decade, as they finished ninth with 66 points.
It could be their lowest this season!
(Thanks to the all the usual suspects for their help with this article.)