Match ends, Cheltenham Town 1, Northampton Town 1.
Cheltenham Town 1-1 Northampton Town
- From the section League Two
The league's bottom club Northampton Town started life under Chris Wilder with a scrappy draw at Cheltenham Town.
Wilder left League Two rivals Oxford United last week and was unveiled at Sixfields on Monday.
He saw his side fall behind after only 90 seconds when goalkeeper Matt Duke was duped by the swirling wind and Jamie Cureton tapped in with ease.
But they earned a valuable point thanks to Matty Blair, who poked home at the far post from Leon McSweeney's cross.
Cheltenham were the better side for the majority of the game but, after their 75th-minute equaliser, the Cobblers pushed for victory, Ian Morris and Darren Carter both going close.
Northampton remain six points adrift at the foot of the table while Cheltenham slip down a place to 13th.
VIEW FROM THE DRESSING ROOM
Cheltenham Town assistant manager Neil Howarth told BBC Radio Gloucestershire:
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"The performance wasn't too bad. We were creating chances and passing the ball. The conditions and the pitch were unbelievably bad and we're playing a team who won't finish bottom of the league."
"They've had a lift this week with a new manager coming in and also signing players. It wasn't a good time to be playing Northampton but we certainly did enough to win.
"We've not won enough at home. We've taken the lead enough times and sometimes it's the hardest thing in the world to come back. We have been too easy to score against at home this season."
Cobblers manager Chris Wilder tells BBC Radio Northampton:
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"The players showed tremendous character in tough conditions. We were the better side in the second half and the spirit of the team was superb. It's a together squad.
"They've had a lot chucked at them in a short space of time this week, so we will get better. But there's something to work with.
"We've made a lot of changes this week. We're coaches as well as managers and we want to work with the players. I'm not expecting any more signings."
Line-ups
Cheltenham
- 1Brown
- 20Jombati
- 22Braham-Barrett
- 31LucasSubstituted forMcGlashanat 85'minutes
- 5Brown
- 28Ihiekwe
- 8Deering
- 23Roofe
- 9HarrisonSubstituted forGornellat 85'minutes
- 7Cureton
- 14RichardsBooked at 90mins
Substitutes
- 4Taylor
- 6Elliott
- 10Gornell
- 11McGlashan
- 12Roberts
- 21Vincent
- 32Brundle
Northampton
- 1Duke
- 12TozerSubstituted forMcSweeneyat 57'minutes
- 3Widdowson
- 34Ravenhill
- 6Collins
- 27Kouo-Doumbe
- 32Blair
- 4CarterBooked at 62mins
- 25German
- 18ConnellSubstituted forSinclairat 57'minutes
- 8Morris
Substitutes
- 2McSweeney
- 7Sinclair
- 10O'Donovan
- 13Snedker
- 17Deegan
- 23McGinty
- 24Toney
- Referee:
- Paul Tierney
- Attendance:
- 2,707
Match Stats
Home TeamCheltenhamAway TeamNorthampton
- Possession
- Home52%
- Away48%
- Shots
- Home8
- Away4
- Shots on Target
- Home3
- Away2
- Corners
- Home6
- Away8
- Fouls
- Home8
- Away6
Live Text
Full Time
Second Half ends, Cheltenham Town 1, Northampton Town 1.
Corner, Northampton Town. Conceded by Troy Brown.
Leon McSweeney (Northampton Town) wins a free kick on the right wing.
Foul by Matthew Richards (Cheltenham Town).
Corner, Northampton Town. Conceded by Michael Ihiekwe.
Substitution
Substitution, Cheltenham Town. Terry Gornell replaces Byron Harrison.
Substitution
Substitution, Cheltenham Town. Jermaine McGlashan replaces Lee Lucas.
Attempt missed. Matthew Richards (Cheltenham Town) left footed shot from outside the box misses to the right.
Joe Widdowson (Northampton Town) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Foul by Byron Harrison (Cheltenham Town).
Goal!
Goal! Cheltenham Town 1, Northampton Town 1. Matty Blair (Northampton Town) header from very close range to the top right corner. Assisted by Leon McSweeney.
Corner, Northampton Town. Conceded by Troy Brown.
Lee Collins (Northampton Town) wins a free kick on the right wing.
Foul by Byron Harrison (Cheltenham Town).
Attempt missed. Emile Sinclair (Northampton Town) right footed shot from the centre of the box misses to the right.
Darren Carter (Northampton Town) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Foul by Kemar Roofe (Cheltenham Town).
Corner, Northampton Town. Conceded by Craig Braham-Barrett.
Corner, Northampton Town. Conceded by Scott Brown.
Attempt saved. Darren Carter (Northampton Town) left footed shot from outside the box is saved in the bottom right corner.
Corner, Cheltenham Town. Conceded by Lee Collins.
Booking
Darren Carter (Northampton Town) is shown the yellow card.
Kemar Roofe (Cheltenham Town) wins a free kick on the right wing.
Foul by Darren Carter (Northampton Town).
Attempt missed. Sam Deering (Cheltenham Town) right footed shot from the right side of the box is close, but misses to the left.
Substitution
Substitution, Northampton Town. Leon McSweeney replaces Ben Tozer.
Substitution
Substitution, Northampton Town. Emile Sinclair replaces Alan Connell.
Attempt saved. Jamie Cureton (Cheltenham Town) right footed shot from the right side of the box is saved in the top right corner.
Hand ball by Byron Harrison (Cheltenham Town).
Corner, Cheltenham Town. Conceded by Lee Collins.
Attempt missed. Jamie Cureton (Cheltenham Town) right footed shot from outside the box misses to the right.
Corner, Northampton Town. Conceded by Sam Deering.
Corner, Northampton Town. Conceded by Troy Brown.
Second Half
Second Half begins Cheltenham Town 1, Northampton Town 0.
Half Time
First Half ends, Cheltenham Town 1, Northampton Town 0.
Foul by Kemar Roofe (Cheltenham Town).
Richard Ravenhill (Northampton Town) wins a free kick on the left wing.
Foul by Byron Harrison (Cheltenham Town).
Lee Collins (Northampton Town) wins a free kick in the attacking half.