Northampton Town 3–1 AFC Wimbledon
Cold. Flat. Slightly ominous.
Sixfields on a Friday night in December felt like one of those fixtures you convince yourself is winnable right up until it absolutely is not.
We left Northampton with a 3–1 defeat that never quite tipped into humiliation, but also never really threatened to become anything else. One of those games where you can list the moments and still feel like you were chasing shadows.
Just under a week on from Mansfield, this match was meant to be about building momentum. Instead it was about set pieces, loose marking, and the growing realisation that League One is pretty difficult after all.
We started fine. Competitive. Alert enough. But Northampton did what Northampton do. Direct. Physical. Relentless with dead balls. And eventually, effective.
The team
Johnnie Jackson made two changes. Jake Reeves © returned to the starting line up alongside Omar Bugiel, replacing Callum Maycock and Danilo Orsi who dropped to the bench.
Hack was back on the rack too, in an extra surprise from Santa’s sack to aid the attack.
The match
The hosts didn’t waste time. Two minutes in and they were already swinging crosses in from the right left and centre. A resulting header went over, which at the time felt like a warning shot.
It turned out to be exactly that.
Just under ten minutes gone, Northampton took the lead. Campbell’s corner landed where corners often land when defending is optional, and McCarthy nodded in from close range. Simple. Too simple.
To our credit, we responded. Five minutes later, Steve Seddon’s delivery caused chaos, Northampton failed to clear, and Alistair Ali Smith saw an effort saved. Marcus Browne then had two goes at it, the third finally crossing the line. Scrappy. Deserved? Celebrated like it mattered.
For a brief spell, we looked the better side. Browne went wide. Bugiel couldn’t quite generate power under pressure. Seddon slid Bugiel in with a lovely disguised pass, only for Ross Fitzsimons to parry and Smith to rattle the bar from the rebound.
That felt big. It felt like the moment. We had grown into the game and had the momentum.
Northampton regrouped. Crosses kept coming.
Five minutes after the restart, it went again. Thorniley launched a free kick from halfway, it somehow evaded everyone in blue, and McGeehan turned it in from close range. Set piece. Again.
On the hour, the game slipped out of reach. Another free kick delivery. Another flick on. Another McGeehan finish inside the box. Defending was very optional.
From there, it was all effort and very little incision.
Nkeng had a final chance, smashing a fierce effort from a tight angle that forced a sharp stop. Then the board went up. Five minutes. Northampton saw it out. Job done.
What the fans were saying
Twitter oscillated between “we’re fine, relax” and “this proves everything I’ve ever believed” in the space of three posts.
The 9yrs Pod will almost certainly describe this as “a learning experience”, which is brave given how many of those we’ve already had.
There was also the usual chorus about defending set pieces, which is less a debate now and more a standing agenda item.
One brave poster suggested sacking Johnnie Jackson - we are glad that the Board is not as reactionary as some of our fan base.
Womble of the week: Marcus Browne.
Took his goal well. Kept probing. Tried things when others went safe. Without him, this probably drifts into something far uglier. Not perfect, but clearly bothered.
Closing Thoughts
This wasn’t a collapse. It also wasn’t unlucky. Northampton exploited weaknesses we know exist and we didn’t quite do enough at the other end to compensate.
It’s a frustrating way to sign off before Christmas, especially given how close we were to shifting the tone entirely just before half time.
The table looks fine for now. But the performance will not be remembered fondly. We’re starting to slip down the table though and League One is tightening up. We desperately need reds some points on the board over the Christmas period
WombleWorld
Terry Skiverton has reportedly begun preparing a specialist “Set Piece Awareness” kit, consisting of traffic cones, string, and a laminated diagram labelled “STAND HERE”. It has already gone missing.