Jon Brady: Depleted Northampton looked tired as they threw two points away

Northampton boss Jon Brady admitted his side looked “tired” during a lacklustre second-half in which they threw away a two-goal lead to draw 2-2 with Sutton in League Two at Sixfields on Tuesday.

The promotion-chasing Cobblers, who were missing seven players due to either suspension or injury, dominated the first half and seemed on course for all three points thanks to goals from Marc Leonard and Mitch Pinnock.

However, Sutton rallied and wrestled the momentum back through Omar Bugiel’s goal straight after half-time before Donovan Wilson pounced on a mistake to rescue an unlikely draw.

“I think everyone is frustrated with that result,” admitted Brady. “Our game management has got to be better.

“I was trying to drive them on but we looked tired in the second half. It hasn’t been an excuse but it is an excuse really because we had seven players out again tonight and that’s taking its toll.

“But let’s get it right. In the first half we went 2-0 up and we should see the game out from there. They came out and they play the way they play and it put us on the back foot.

“Unfortunately, they had two shots on target all night and scored two goals, which is very frustrating, but it’s a draw and we are still in a strong position.

“We potentially could have nicked it at the end with Kieron Bowie’s chance and maybe he could have squared it but I thought Sutton did well in the second half – did we do enough to win? I’m not sure we did.”

The point was more positively received by Sutton manager Matt Gray, who was critical of his side’s first-half performance.

“I pride my teams on being super organised and we do a lot of homework and preparation and that’s usually implemented all of the time,” said Gray.

“That’s why most other managers say we’re difficult to play against because we make it tough for teams and don’t let them do what they want to do, due to our organisation and preparation.

“But that did not show in the first half and the goals were uncharacteristic goals to give away. They aren’t goals that we normally concede and it was just basic errors of not dealing with restarts well enough.

“We looked shell-shocked and went into our shell, but I’m in my fourth season here now and my teams are full of character and full of heart and desire and we saw that.

“It’s very rare that I have to remind my players of that but I did remind them at half-time and then you could see the energy and the fight in the second half.”