A much-improved Northampton left Accrington unfortunate not to be victorious in a tense battle in Lancashire

A well-organised Cobblers side will find themselves unfortunate not to have come away with all three points at a frustrated Accrington.

At Bloomfield Road, Northampton lacked calmness in possession and a link man that enables them to retain the ball against a high press, likewise, they were impotent in a creative sense and were too easy to work out.

The two changes before the game with Shaun Mcwilliams and Danny Rose completely eradicated the problem areas they saw against the Seasiders.

Mcwilliams sat deep for most of the game in almost a libero-type role at times and that gave the Cobblers backline confidence to try and play out more with the ball.

This was what gave the visitors a real foothold on proceedings because it helped them break the press from Dion Charles and Colby Bishop that Accrington set out.

In a forward line sense, Rose helped give Sam Hoskins more of a free reign to drift in between the lines to open space for a penetrative pass.

The ex-Mansfield Town striker looked to run in behind or drag markers out wide which would enable Hoskins to drift into the space that had been freed up by his teammate and the key chances of the game for the Cobblers came through these openings.

Hoskins had a couple of efforts well saved by Nathan Baxter in the Accrington goal as they continued to pressure the home side for large spells of the match.

It must be said that this was an unexpected tale of the game going into it and it shows that Curle does have ideas to stem the tide for the visitors when it matters, however their impotence in front of goal generally continued.

Whilst the movement in between the lines would open chances for the away side, with a scrappy exchange allowing them to win several set pieces in dangerous positions, the quality of the final ball was lacklustre.

For the home side they will be disappointed that they could never really build momentum in this one. The weather conditions certainly did not help matters, with their fast and fluid style struggling to hold up as the ball overshot whenever they looked to run in behind.

They showed flashes of quality and as the game went those sparks would show again and they looked like they could snatch something, but it was not to be. Adam Phillips was the standout for the home side on his debut, albeit leaving proceedings after a quiet second-half.

Phillips, who has joined Stanley on loan from Burnley following the termination of his spell at League Two Morecambe, showed exactly what he has to offer. A liquid, intelligent playmaker who can sit deep as well as he can play in the attacking midfield areas.

He was the standout for Accrington in the first-half with most of their build-up play running through him. As the link man for the side, he never shied away from looking for the ball, always offering his availability, something which Northampton could never really combat.

Something the away side did combat, however, was Stanley’s distribution from the back. This is a strong point of why John Coleman’s side have been so successful this season and yet the visitors were undeterred and implemented an aggressive forward press that forced the home manager into an early formational switch.

Both sides set up in a 3-5-2, yet within half an hour Coleman had seen enough of his side giving up possession in dangerous areas and losing the fluidity and pace in their build-up play, becoming laboured as a contrast.

The switch to 4-4-2 brought a sense of stability in build-up play zones as Accrington started to offer up a free out ball in each pressing phase, hence pushing them further up the field and allowing them more control in the game.

Credit to Curle, however, who addressed this by pushing Hoskins on to the left-hand side when Joseph Mills was substituted. This enabled the Cobblers to sit naturally higher up the park and squeeze the midfield lines, turning what should have been a controlled performance from the home side into a battle.

Aggression spilled over in the dying embers of the game when Joe Pritchard was sent off for his second bookable offence after a late sliding challenge on Bryn Morris.

A melee ensued as the tensions that had been rising throughout the second-half as the midfield battle became more and more feisty, spilled over in front of the referee.

As much as the battle was of some entertaining value, the real entertainment came from seeing how the tweaks from each manager throughout the game affected the flow as control switched from one side to the other.

Ultimately, Keith Curle will see this as a missed opportunity to pick up three points against one of the best sides in the division, a priceless victory as they now sit in the relegation zone following the day’s results.

John Coleman cannot have too many complaints as his side simply could not gain comfortability in this one and with his side being serial overachievers since September, they were bound to have a game where they did not live up to their ever-growing expectations.

Northampton can take heart from being the better side for most of this game, but it is a familiar tale for them as their impotence in front of goal and lack of creativity in the key moments that has plagued them throughout this campaign, came to haunt them again.

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