Boothroyd delight as Cobblers take snowy conditions in their stride

Town beat the Shots 2-1 at the EBB Stadium, where the pitch was covered by a blizzard that started at 4pm and was still going long after the final whistle.

Chris Hackett’s penalty and Clarke Carlisle’s header - from a Hackett corner - secured a victory that puts Northampton in the automatic promotion places in npower League Two.

But Boothroyd, who held long conversations with Aldershot manager Dean Holdsworth and referee Darren Deadman prior to the game, had his doubts the fixture would even be completed.

“The 140 fans who made the trip deserve a special mention,” he said. “I didn’t think the game would go ahead, I have to be honest.

“In the end it was decided that we would play and we didn’t start the game at all well, I think a few of the players were looking for their sun cream rather than their snow boots.

“I thought we played the conditions better. We managed to take our chances, we could have had a penalty and we maybe should have scored another goal as well.

“You have to give credit to your opponent, they have been on a good run and the pitch was difficult for both sets of players.

“It was a proper old-fashioned game in strange conditions.”

The win was only Northampton’s third away from home this season and their first since the 4-2 victory at Accrington in November.

It also represents only their second league double of the season and, Boothroyd hopes, will also be a sign that the team are improving on their travels.

“We’ve let ourselves down away from home and we conceded an early goal so it wasn’t the perfect away performance,” he said.

“Having said that, this was a good step in the right direction and we know we need to improve our away form. Hopefully this can be the start of that.”