Saints got the job done in the Battle of the Hamptons, but it was not pretty and to be honest not impressive for the travelling Southampton supporters and those watching at home on TV.
The only thing impressive about the game at the Sixfields stadium from a Southampton perspective was the superb goals from Matteus Fernandes and also the fact that Saints supporters made up around a 3rd of the 4,381 crowd and roared their team on in scrappy game.
Other than that there was not much to crow about in this game.
Will Still made 7 changes to the starting line up from Saturday's game against Wrexham, but given the depth of the squad at the moment, it didn't contain any youngsters with the least experienced players on show being Matteus Fernandes with only around 80 games to his name in all clubs and competitions and Shea Charles with a similar number.
So you would think that this game would have been slightly easier than it would turn out to be.
But the Cobblers were not about to roll over easily, they played with a passion that was lacking in the Saints side.
But although we were often on the back foot, on the plus point, we dug in and made sure that although Northampton had chances they only got 4 on target in the whole game, two of those were early in the game, Alex McCarthy diving to his left to make a smart save and then after he had dropped the ball trying to catch a cross, Taylor Harwood- Bellis was on hand to clear the home sides effort off the line.
We were not much better, we managed only 3 on target ourselves, but one of those was from Matteus Fernandes, who after receiving the ball from Cameron Archer, cut back and fired the ball home for the only goal of the game shortly after the break.
Saints made three changes just after the hour mark, more about fresh legs than tactical and although we had a lot of the ball, when we lost possession Northampton poured forward, the good news though was that we dug in and dealt with it well.
On 71 minutes Matteus Fernandes went off and there was the feeling that perhaps we were seeing him for one of if not the last times, perhaps he will leave, but no one could fault his commitment to Southampton FC, he cared not for the possibility of injury, as on Saturday you got 100% from a player whose dedication to the club that pays him is refreshing in these times when players constantly stick up two fingers at their clubs when someone dangles more money under their noses.
In truth at the game you felt that this had 1-1 & penalties all over it, but the good news was that we dug in and got the job done, it was not good to watch but at the final whistle we would perhaps feel that we had done it without having to rely on too much luck.
It was hard to think of an outstanding player, but as a team although we were disjointed through changes in the starting line up and then 5 changes mid second half, we rolled up our sleeves and got the result that we wanted ( I presume)
The only real worry was our failure to create too many clear chances and when we did, our failure to finish them is a little worrying, Damion Downs again got himself in a good position, but slightly mis timed his run meaning he received the ball slightly behind him rather than in front, a little reminiscent of his part in the winning goal on Saturday.
Hopefully that is more about getting used to the pace of the English game and a desire to do well at a new club than a fatal flaw.
Downs is not alone though, none of his rivals for a place up front are in goalscoring form themselves, Adam Armstrong desperately needs a goal and when he gets it, it will hopefully open the floodgates, likewise Cameron Archer who did some good work to get an assist when Fernandes scored the only goal of the game.
Ben Brereton Diaz is another, although you feel that by the end of the transfer window he will be the one that leaves the club.
In defence it was good to see both Taylor Harwood-Bellis and Charlie Taylor return after injury and it will be interesting to see how the defence looks on Sunday at Portman Road, I would expect to see at least one in the starting line up.
But at the end of the day, as on Saturday, at this stage of the season we are finding our feet, it is about getting through games and getting the result, we are finding a winning mentality again and that is important.
So from this respect we have moved forward, they say the sign of a good side is that you win when you don't play well and we have now done that two games in a row.
However the first big test of the season awaits us with the trip to Ipswich on Sunday and we are going to need to up our game for that one.