Northampton boss Jon Brady remaining grounded after victory over Hartlepool

Posted Sunday, March 27, 2022 by PA

There was no danger of Northampton boss Jon Brady getting carried away after his promotion-hunting team returned to winning ways with a 2-0 League Two victory over Hartlepool.

After a stuttering run of form, goals in either half from Sam Hoskins and Chanka Zimba ensured the Cobblers kept their noses in front of the chasing pack in a hotly-contested promotion battle.

Northampton remain third, three points clear of fourth, and Brady said: “It’s a good three points for us and an excellent home win.

“It was a good performance but we won’t get carried away with it.

“As I said after we lost last weekend, we are not going to get too high or too low. People can hype up the games but for us it’s just about grinding out results every week.

“I’d like to compliment Hartlepool because they are a really good footballing side and they have been on a fine run of form and I thought they played really well today.

“We had to be controlled and disciplined in our approach and the way we played and overall, I think we did that well.

“We did get opened up once or twice but mostly we controlled the way we pressed and we held a strong line at the front and made them try and play through us.

“We won a lot of interceptions and I thought our approach was a lot more disciplined.”

Hartlepool had won four of their last five away from home but, despite creating chances, Graeme Lee’s side never recovered from Hoskins’ sixth-minute opener at Sixfields.

Lee said: “Goals change games. We had enough chances in the first half to get ahead or at least be level but then a poor header invites them on and they get a goal and that changes the complexion of the game.

“We still had chances and I felt we were well in the game at half-time because we knew we could cause them problems if we beat their press, but then it’s another set-piece for the second goal.

“There’s a reason why Northampton are at the top end of the table. They don’t change the way they play.

“They are on you, they press you, they get bodies around the ball and we didn’t compete enough with that.

“At times we need to change it up and go forward a bit quicker. We created chances in the first half but didn’t take them and then conceded a couple of silly goals.

“We need to look at it and show a bit more fight.”