I don’t think we were collectively cocky enough (yet) to actually expect a win yesterday ahead of the game, away against opposition some way above us in the league and who left The Valley in January with all three points. But no question the levels of optimism had been lifted sharply by the three-game mini-series against the top clubs, especially the win at Derby. With no disrespect intended, to have gone toe-to-toe with the top three and emerge with five points, to then get rolled over by Northampton would have been a serious setback for a team far from out of the woods, especially with Cheltenham away just around the corner.
What we got was another committed, determined display - but in the end what felt like a setback as we didn't win. Much if not most of it was far from pretty, not helped by the blustery conditions and wet surface, but we dominated the game for all but a couple of short periods – and even during them prevented Northampton from registering any attempts on target. We won the individual battles, showed greater desire than them, took the lead early on and in the second half had at least three presentable openings to double that lead and probably put the game to bed. We didn’t take any and paid the price, as a howler from Isted gifted them an equaliser their play had not merited. Whether you blame more the chances not taken or the mistake doesn’t matter (clearly a case of both), we wasted two points which should have been ours.
It was reasonable after Tuesday night to expect pretty much the same team and formation, perhaps with a little rotation where necessary. In the event, Jones made some changes and the big news was the absence from the squad of Aneke. Rested? I thought the idea of keeping him as a super sub, playing 30 minutes or so, was that he would be available for all games. The back three/five in front of Isted was unchanged, with Jones still suspended and Hector returning to the fold from injury but only on the bench (with Ness losing his place there), while in midfield Camara dropped out of the team (and the squad) and Dobson returned to the starting XI, to partner Coventry and Anderson. Up front May, newly crowned EFL Player of the Year, was paired with Kanu, with Ladapo the only obvious replacement from the bench, which also contained Asiimwe and Bakinson.
My first impression was that the line-up seemed a little cautious, that we might lack a little in terms of attacking threat from midfield, with no real box-to-box player and no Camara or Watson(L). Whether they could provide the support for the ‘small’ options up front, and whether Dobson and Coventry in tandem would work (after Coventry had his best game in a Charlton shirt at Derby) all remained to be seen. But Jones has been getting the calls right of late and may have been taking account of the opposition’s strengths/weaknesses – and before anything took shape in the game we were in front.
A decent attack down our right caused some chaos in the Northampton defence and when the ball was half-cleared Watson laid it off for Anderson, whose decent enough effort took a deflection on its way through a number of players, wrongfooting their keeper.
We might have scored again in the first 20 minutes or so, with a fizzed cross from the right only just clearing heads in the box. But as the game progressed Northampton did seem to get a foothold and had a better period in terms of possession and dictating the pace. But we continued to look the more likely to score, even if most of the game involved balls in the air held up by the wind or blown beyond their target. May had a shot deflected for a corner and at the break the stats showed we had had five attempts on goal, three on target, against four and zero for them. We were still good value for the lead.
Northampton did have a moment before the hour when they found some space down their left, leading to a guy taking a shot from a narrow angle into the side netting, but in general we were keeping them at arm’s length. By that time Northampton had made four changes and us none, which was a fair reflection of which side was the happier with the way things were going. And then we had a spell from which we really should have emerged even happier.
On 69 minutes, just after we made our first change with Ladapo replacing Kanu, Coventry sent in a delightful cross from the right and it dropped nicely for May. He didn’t need to jump, just to pick his spot. He was off by about an inch as the header sent the ball against the post and back out, with their keeper nowhere near it. Not long after Coventry played in Watson and his low cross only needed a touch from someone, Ladapo not getting to it in time. Finally May found himself with the ball inside their box, took a touch, and stretching was only able to get in a poked shot which was saved.
That spell ended abruptly as their keeper sent it downfield. There seemed no danger as it was played back to Isted, but he opted to turn and took a heavy touch, which invited a challenge from one of theirs. The ball went square and another had the simple task of planting it into an empty net. Just one of those horrible goalkeeping errors for which there is just no legislating.
That still left around 10 minutes plus stoppage time, but suddenly we were obliged to try to win a game which had seemed to be in our pockets – although nobody can tell how Northampton would have handled the final stages if they were still behind. As it was not surprisingly the goal gifted to them gave them a lift. A double-change late on saw Hector and Campbell introduced for Watson and May, with Edmonds-Green shifting to wing-back. Quite how Hector managed not to get a yellow during his brief spell was a mystery, but aside from a fierce Northampton effort just over the bar nothing much happened through the six minutes of stoppage time and we were forced to settle for a point.
Before the game that might have seemed a reasonable outcome for us, but all we can do now is look at the table and consider that the extra two points would have lifted us to the dizzy heights of 15th. At least now it’s five games unbeaten, albeit with four of them draws. If you want another positive, we can now say that with 10 games left survival is technically in our own hands as if everyone wins all their games we stay up (unless Shrewsbury were to turn around the goal difference). We know perfectly well we really have to make the unbeaten run six on Tuesday night, or have Cheltenham a point behind us with two games in hand. It isn’t a ‘must win’ game for us, although we will expect a win if the performance level is sustained, it is a ‘must not lose’, although that shouldn’t influence the approach.
I can’t help thinking back to late November, the last time I actually saw a game at The Valley, for International Addicks Day. That low-key affair against Cheltenham was settled by two May penalties. If you’d said then that the return fixture would be a relegation six-pointer we would have replied that the suggestion was daft, we still then harboured play-off hopes. What we can hope for now is that the game, followed by Carlisle at The Valley on Saturday, will all but end those relegation concerns and start to shift the focus to preparing for next season.
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