Ten years on from ‘The Teyn’
Before this month it had been almost a decade since I was at Sixfields Stadium
A football ground I was familiar with for many years, with four seasons as a season ticket holder. Northampton has fond memories for me and I’ve seen the club bounce between the bottom two divisions of English football.
Sitting in the newly renovated East Stand, which will boast corporate boxes and a slight capacity increase next season, the visit of Barnsley was that of a team that had slipped out of the top six in recent weeks.
I wrote reports on Northampton games as a kid for a few years, and it was through this that a love of writing and journalism was helped along its way. I’ve moved firmly into news journalism now, but the experience of being back at a club that helped get my work in a newspaper for the first time will always be remembered nice.
The game was end to end and had more than a few slip-ups from players on either side. Northampton had the better of the opening day exchanges but a lack of cutting edge would come back to haunt them. Kevin Nolan’s side should have felt slightly hard done by to go into the break behind, but in fairness, it was a lovely touch and finish from Davis Keillor-Dunn to give the South Yorkshire club the lead.
Any positives from the first half looked to be extinguished when Barnsley doubled their lead on the hour mark. Keillor-Dunn received a well-placed pass after good work from Humphrys to draw defenders away. In front of a hardy travelling away end this felt like the icing on the cake.
There was no question of lack of effort from the home side, and loose passes and not enough players on the same wavelength made it feel as though it could be one of those nights.
There was a glimmer of hope when club icon Sam Hoskins, now with over 400 appearances for the Cobblers, reacted quickest to a loose ball to fire in from close range. There were to be 10 more minutes and over 10 minutes of added time to come- plenty of time to complete the comeback.
Their chances improved even more when centre-back Maël Durand de Gevigney was shown a straight red card for a rash tackle on Tariq Fosu, who looked lively all night. A defensive reshuffle was required for Barnsley, but unfortunately, a Northampton side that had struggled for goals this season could not find a way through for the second time in the night.
The home faithful filtered out but there were far more positive reflections than negative. Kevin Nolan has made the Cobblers a tougher team to beat this season, and a side-chasing promotion had to work very hard for their three points.
I believe I saw enough from Northampton against Barnsley to show they can beat the drop, and Kevin Nolan will have a full summer to make sure next season is more comfortable than the current campaign has shaped up to be.
Result aside, my first trip back to Northampton in nearly 9 years reminded me why I enjoyed following this club when I lived in the town. It wasn’t just the home games, with away trips to I’m a great believer in following your local side, and my crop to date consists of Hartlepool, Northampton, Shotton Colliery, Aberystwyth, and Rugby Town.
Few moments of success have lined those sides, but no more than my one true footballing love Sunderland (a love that is also a hate at times). But the combination of getting my passion and hard work of wanting to be a journalist recognised in print for the first time means that there will always be a soft spot for this club.
