Northampton Town 2  Leeds United 1

Leeds were disappointing in the first half, but recovered to dominate most of the second half, only to lose the game through a late winner from Nicholas Bignall. We have now slipped out of the play-off places, and our frustrating inconsistency (five wins and five draws in the league since the Peterborough game in September) is threatening to ruin our season.  And despite Staunton’s claim on the official site that our defence is showing signs of improvement, I’m afraid this wasn’t much in evidence during the game.

We still had Parker wandering out of position far too often, Lubo looking lightweight and Telfer looking well past it. But most curiously of all, Macca opted to keep Hughes at right back and keep Frazer on the bench. I know that he never wants to change a winning team, but it seems daft to field a makeshift right-back when our specialist in that position has recovered from injury. 

Cobblers’ boss Stuart Gray had promised a big improvement from his side after their shocking performance in the FA Cup game and he was true to his word, with Northampton looking far more determined right from the kick-off. Gilligan hit the post from long range and our old boy Leon Constantine managed to escape our usual slack marking to force Lucas into a decent save. 

 So it was no surprise when they took the lead in the 29^th. minute, when Davis was left with time and space to slot the ball past Lucas, despite almost losing his footing on the edge of the area.

That finally woke Leeds up, and Beckford forced Fielding into a couple of saves before half-time.  Delph had been a peripheral figure up until now, playing in a wide left position, and he decided to get involved in the game in a different way. He was lucky not to get a straight red card for a wild kick, but that was enough to earn him the booking that rules him out of the visit to Tranmere in our next league game. 

 We had to improve after half time, and we did, emerging from the dressing room with a far more determined attitude. Robinson decided to get involved and he brought a couple of saves out of Fielding, before setting up Becchio for a shot that came back off the woodwork.

After an hour Snodgrass came on for Douglas, and we started to look more balanced, with wide players on both sides (though if Macca wants to start with only one winger I would go for Snodgrass, given Robinson’s questionable fitness). 

And on 68 minutes the pressure told and we were level, with Robinson’s cross and Beckford’s finish inside the six yard box.  We continued to batter them, and although Fielding was having a much better game than last week, it seemed only a matter of time before the winning goal. But we suffered a blow in the 78^th. minute when Beckford limped off with a hamstring injury, and he seems likely to be out for a couple of weeks. 

 And what do you know, when the goal finally came it was at the wrong end, an absolute sickner giving us hardly any time to hit back. Yet again it was some sloppy defending at a corner that did the damage, and although Fielding wasn’t the tallest player on the field, he was able to climb unchallenged to head home.  

So where do we go from here? Since the Peterborough game in September we have won five and lost five in the league, genuine mid-table form and totally inconsistent. At this rate we won’t even make the play-offs, while the Histon FA Cup tie is beginning to look like a disaster waiting to happen, given that Beckford won’t be around to get us out of trouble.  I don’t know if Macca can manage to get another central defender on loan, but he needs to sort his leaky defence sooner rather than later.  

Photo: Action Images

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