Jefferson Lake’s Cobblers v Plymouth ratings: Why team must remember this forgettable game

“Onto the next one,” players will say after matches, some referencing the Jay-Z song of the same name. Aidy Boothroyd says it too but without the reference, and with the knowledge that while the players can be permitted to largely forget the previous game, it will form the basis for the latest piece of learning about his squad.

So while the majority of the people who watched Saturday’s win over Plymouth will have forgotten pretty much all of it by the time it took the traffic to clear in Northampton’s sporting square mile, the manager will have spent a good chunk of his weekend watching it again, dissecting it and making notes about things that went well and things that went not so well.

It was a game of tight margins that was always likely to be settled by a set-piece or an individual error - as it turned out a combination of both produced the match’s only goal, a Clive Platt tap-in that looked controversial at the time but replays have proved to be perfectly valid.

Momentarily discounting the theory that good teams gather points when playing badly, this was a game that will provide some concern for Boothroyd.

Plymouth were the better side in the first half, in which a lack of accuracy undermined the Cobblers’ ability to create attacking positions.

The direct style of football the team has used this season is fine - it has produced good results and taken the team to fourth in the division. No complaints can be made about it from an end product point of view.

But it did not function well on Saturday. The long passes from the back almost always fell short of the targets up front, giving visiting defenders Guy Branston and Anthony Charles - who played well on his return to Sixfields - the simple task of picking the pass off an recycling play for their own side.

It was not all bad - the defence was very solid and enhanced further by the addition of Lee Collins, who looks an excellent player and ensured Joe Widdowson’s suspension was easily covered.

And the healthy crop of substitutes (among whom was Luke Guttridge, curiously unused for the second successive game) provided the manager with plenty of options to swap things around. For the first change, a centre-forward replaced a right-back, whose place was taken by a central-midfielder, with the left-winger moving there and a centre-forward switching to the left.

Northampton learned their lessons during the game, and in fact improved considerably in the second half to ultimately grind out the win that keeps them firmly in touch with the promotion parties, both the one that will take place on April 27 and the one booked in for Wembley a fortnight later.

The sign of a good side? Maybe. But they will need to learn the lessons from a game that was forgettable for the spectators before they move so quickly onto the next one.

LEE NICHOLLS

Another exemplary display of clean handling, although kicking slightly off-key ...7

JOHN JOHNSON

Played with the usual spirit but struggled with distribution at times ...6

CLARKE CARLISLE

Got away with an air shot in the first half but two similar misjudgements in the second almost proved costly ...6

KELVIN LANGMEAD

Outstanding - and painful - block on Banton’s shot in what was Plymouth’s best chance of the game ...7

LEE COLLINS

Solid in the tackle, won just about every 50-50 he went for and brave in possession ...8

CHRIS HACKETT

Not his most effective game but played a part in what felt like a counter-attacking game plan ...7

BEN TOZER

Slotted in nicely in central midfield and then at right-back during the tactical reshuffle on the hour mark ...7

LEWIS HORNBY

Outmuscled once or twice but there’s no denying his technical ability. Becoming a real force in the side ...7

BEN HARDING

Much better than his recent form and showed some signs of a return to the Harding of old ...7

ROY O’DONOVAN

Plenty of energy but very often his team-mates did not play the right kind of passes to him ...6

CLIVE PLATT

Seems to be getting fitter and more sprightly but was well marshalled by Charles, who had a good game on his Sixfields return ...6

Substitutes:

ADEBAYO AKINFENWA (for Johnson 61mins)

Rampaging run and header set up the corner from which the goal arrived ...7

JAKE ROBINSON (for Platt 86mins)

Not used: Guttridge, Demontagnac, Snedker, Artell, Oyeleke