Saints slipped to a 21-16 defeat to Castres in soggy conditions at the Stade Ernest-Wallon in Toulouse.

A late George Pisi try was enough to secure a losing bonus point that could eventually prove crucial in a tight pool four, but it was the French side who claimed the victory.

Tries from Paul Bonnefond and Antoine Claassen, plus points from the boots of Romain Teulet, Rory Kockott and Remi Tales were enough for the win.

Saints replied through Pisi’s second-half score and 11 points from the boot of Stephen Myler, but that only proved enough for a single point as the sin-binning of Brian Mujati hindered their chances of a win.

With Ulster winning in Glasgow, Saints now sit second in the pool, with the double-header against the Irish side in December set to prove pivotal.

With the wind and rain whistling around Toulouse in the lead up to the game, how both sides dealt with the conditions was going to be key.

The ball resembled a bar of soap as it slipped through Castres hands early on, but they juggled it well to score the first try of the game.

Iosefa Tekori kept the ball in play brilliantly and after Tales kicked the ball crossfield, Bonneford was handed the chance to dance through the away side’s backline.

Teulet added the extras and it was the worst possible start for Jim Mallinder’s men, 7-0 down inside eight minutes.

Teulet then added to the damage as Saints conceded their third penalty inside the first 14 minutes and the full-back sent the penalty sailing through the posts.

Northampton needed a response, and as a chorus of ‘come on you Saints’ started up, the away fans got their wish as Myler, starting at full-back, slotted a penalty.

And Saints steady Eddie was on the mark again minutes later as Alain Rolland handed the men in green, black and gold another penalty.

The soggy conditions were taking their toll and after Ryan Lamb fumbled and knocked on, Castres put the squeeze on in the scrum to claim a penalty, which Teulet fluffed.

Rolland was hammering Saints on the penalty count and skipper Dylan Hartley got a warning after Castres were awarded yet another shot at goal. This time, Kockott stepped up, and made no mistake.

Saints were struggling to assert themselves and the French were looking to send them to the guillotine before the break.

And they nearly did, as Marcel Garvey was just nudged into touch by Ken Pisi, before he offloaded to skipper Tekori, who would have scored.

Castres started the second half as they did the first, on the front foot, and their dominance resulted in Mujati making the error of pulling down a maul in the 45th minute.

He was promptly sin-binned, putting his side under severe pressure and gifting the home team another penalty, which Kockott passed up, floating it to the left of the upright.

However, the French side’s appetite for points was soon satisfied as they pulled Saints to piece in a scrum five metres out and No.8 Claassen was the grateful recipient to put Castres 18-6 up.

With Mujati back from the bin, Northampton required a spell of possession to ease the pressure and they almost got themselves back in the game, as Ken Pisi was tapped on his way to the try line.

But Ken’s brother George was to have more luck moments later as Lamb’s kick through was fumbled by the home side and the Samoan centre flicked it forward with his own boot before dotting down.

Myler converted and Saints were back to within five, but that was to last just seconds as they made a mess of catching the kick-off, allowing Tales to grab the ball and land a drop goal.

Lamb then tried to a copycat effort but his attempt was woefully short, and wide, before Myler made a better job of a penalty to get his side back in losing bonus point territory at 21-16.

Saints battled right the way to the end but couldn’t get over the line and a forward pass ended their hopes of a draw, or even victory.

Castres Olympique: Teulet (Andreu 51); Martial, Bonnefond, Bai (Cabannes 65), Garvey; Tales (Fitzpatrick 76), Kockott; Lazar (Forestier 62), Mach (Rallier 68), Peikrishvili (Coetzee 53), Tekori (Rolland 57), Samson, Bornman, Faasalele (Wannenburg 70), Claassen.

Northampton: Myler; K Pisi, G Pisi, Waldouck, Artemyev; Lamb, Dickson (Roberts 65); Tonga’uiha (Waller 68), Hartley, Mujati (Doran-Jones 68), Manoa (Sorenson 65), Lawes, Dowson, Wood, Oakley (van Velze 62).

Replacements not used: Haywood, May, Armstrong.

Referee: Alain Rolland (Ireland)

Attendance: 11,425

Boss Jim Mallinder felt basic errors cost Saints victory against Castres in Toulouse.

Mallinder’s men fell to a 21-16 defeat against the Top 14 side, who held on to claim their first four points in Heineken Cup pool 4.

Saints dominated the final stages of the game, but could only earn a losing bonus point through a late George Pisi try.

Castres went 10-0 up early on and didn’t pass up to opportunity to put Northampton to the sword, holding out for the win.

But Mallinder, though impressed with his side’s character, felt it would have been a different story had Saints got the basics right.

“We did well,” said the director of rugby. “It showed the character of the side to get a point, but I think we’re critical, as we always are, of our performance and we know if we’d have got those basic things right we’d have won the game and taken four points.

“We came back into the game quite strongly. In the second half we were getting that dominance up front, we were attacking well and if we’d have gone another 10 minutes there’s a good chance we’d have scored and won the game. But it wasn’t to be. We left ourselves too much to do.”

The refereeing of Alain Rolland was called into question after the game as Saints were left perplexed by some of his calls.

And Mallinder said: “The referee was refereeing in a different way than we’re used to in the Premiership, and that’s probably all I can say on it.”

Aidy Boothroyd slammed his Cobblers players for allowing the occasion of Edgar Davids’ Barnet debut get to them, and called some of their decision-making ‘suicidal’.

Town were beaten 4-0 by a Bees side who went into the fixture bottom of the entire Football League and without a victory to their name this season.

They handed a first start to the former Ajax and Juventus midfielder Davids, who was recently named the club’s joint manager, and although he did not have a hand in any of the four goals, his presence was undoubtedly a catalyst for this result.

“This was a big banana skin, it was a hyped-up show that was about one man and one man only, a player who has not played for two years, and we made a team who are bottom of the League look like superstars and they’re not,” he said.

“We made it about him (Davids). You know having that is going to give them a bit of impetus and a bit of spark but there were periods in that first half when the crowd were starting to turn.

“When that happens you have to make sure they continue to turn on them but we gave them the momentum by making some suicidal decisions.”

The Cobblers also lost Chris Hackett to injury and the problems in that regard continue to mount at Sixfields, but Boothroyd did not want to make excuses, instead opting to focus on the response from his squad.

“Let’s get the excuses out of the way – yes, we’ve got a lot of young players in the side and yes we’ve got a lot of players out injured but we came here to win, we didn’t come here to lose 4-0,” he said.

“It was not acceptable. I can promise all the fans who made the journey down that we will be back and that we will continue the progress we have made.

“I know the players we have in that dressing room and who we have on the injured list are good characters and they will react to this.”

The Cobblers endured a Friday night of fright at Underhill as they became the first team to lose to rock-bottom Barnet this season.

Town were the better side in the first half but were swept aside by a black-and-gold avalanche that included four second-half goals to secure a 4-0 win.

With the nation’s media and several hundred Dutch supporters descending on this corner of Hertfordshire the home side did not disappoint – giving Holland great Edgar Davids the full 90 minutes and treating their own fans to a first victory of the season.

Davids’ first action in the game was to foul Emyr Huws after the Manchester City loanee left him trailing in his wake after an excellent first touch, earning a free-kick in a dangerous kind of area.

Huws took it, too, and had Barnet keeper Graham Stack worried momentarily, the shot eventually swerving just wide of his left-hand upright.

It was all about the set plays in the formative stages, with 31 drawing a good save from Lee Nicholls on the angle from a free-kick right in the chalk of the penalty area.

Barnet were nervous at the back and anxious in possession – sloppy passing along the back four and Chris Hackett’s incisiveness led to Roofe winning a free-kick that Hackett quickly took for Alex Nicholls, arriving off the opposite flank, to head straight at Stack.

Seconds later, a piercing Roofe run took him past two defenders but he blazed his shot wildly over the bar.

Barnet were playing so deep – at times their centre-backs would receive the ball from the goalkeeper on the edge of their own box, and find themselves under immediate pressure from the Northampton strikers.

Roofe and Nicholls were operating almost as old-fashioned style wing-forwards, playing no more than five or 10 yards behind Platt and Akinfenwa and looking to pin the home side’s full-backs in their own half.

Davids, as you might expect, looked to get on the ball at all times but this just meant he retreated further into his own territory, so that what the hoof upfield inevitably came, there was one fewer player to aim it at.

The second half started in the same way the first ended, with Huws picking Davids’ pocket and ploughing forward to earn a dubious free-kick on the edge of the box.

It was another Edgar – Anthony Edgar – who might have found himself on the scoresheet had he not found Lee Nicholls in typical form, but from the resulting corner Krystian Pearce found space off his marker to glance home the game’s first goal.

The lead was doubled moments later when Anthony Yiadom wriggled clear of a couple of challenges and hit a shot that squirted beyond Nicholls with the aid of a deflection.

Barnet, to give them their credit, were like a different side after the break and, with the slope and the momentum, they dominated the match for long spells.

The Cobblers, after the first goal, looked like a collection of players that felt somewhat sorry for themselves, an emotion no doubt amplified by the loss of yet another right-back to injury, Chris Hackett.

They lost all their urgency as the game wore on, and the team that most looked like adding to the scoreline was the one who, prior to the game, had not won this season and so it proved, with Jon Oster hitting a tracer bullet of a shot inside Nicholls’ right-hand post.

The salt in the Northampton wounds was supplied by a goal in injury time for Edgar. The defeat, in the end, was an emphatic one.

Barnet: Stack, Fuller, Pearce, Stephens, Brown, Oster, Davids, Edgar, Yiadom, Kamdjo, Hyde

Subs:

Not used: Cowler, Saville, Lee, Byrne, Nurse, Abdulla, Lowe

Cobblers: L Nicholls, Hackett, Langmead, Charles, Widdowson, Roofe, Huws, Tozer, A Nicholls, Akinfenwa, Platt

Subs: Wilson (for Hackett, 52mins), Mukendi (for Platt, 65mins), Demontagnac (for Roofe, 71mins)

Not used: Snedker, Moult, Hornby

Attendance: 2,721

Away fans: 774

When the points totals are added up come the end of the pool stages, Saints may rue a missed opportunity against Castres.

Alternatively, they may be thankful for a losing bonus point on a night where not too much went right.

While Castres’ coping mechanism clicked into gear, Saints struggled to get off the starting blocks on a slippery night in Toulouse.

The Frenchmen dealt with the tricky conditions and, crucially, referee Alain Rolland, far better, especially in the early stages of the game.

Saints, to their credit, stuck at it, and were finally rewarded for their efforts in the final 10 minutes as George Pisi took advantage of a fumble to score.

But it was too little too late for Jim Mallinder’s men, who were made to pay for going 10-0 down inside 14 minutes.

That sort of points deficit, though Saints came back from 15-0 down five days earlier to beat Glasgow, is simply too much of a head-start to hand to a side at home in Europe.

And Mallinder, as well as the two players nominated to speak to the media after the game, Rhys Oakley and Dylan Hartley, admitted as much.

It was errors that saw the win slip away, while Ulster surged clear at the top of the pool thanks to victory at Glasgow.

But with back-to-back games against the Irish side to come in December, Saints may just feel this was a point gained, rather than three lost.

PLAYER RATINGS

STEPHEN MYLER - Kicked very well out of hand and from the tee. Looked very assured at full-back and vindicated Jim Mallinder’s decision to select him at 15… 7

KEN PISI - Some trademark bursts of pace gained Saints valuable yards and he also did his job in defence, making a crucial tackle on Marcel Garvey to prevent a try… 7

GEORGE PISI - Scored his third try in two Heineken Cup games this season and is emerging as a real predator. Not the busiest of games, but he knows how to finish… 7

DOM WALDOUCK - Put himself about a bit as always but wasn’t the night he had hoped for and came off halfway through the second half… 6

VASILY ARTEMYEV - Didn’t look as sharp as Ken Pisi on the other wing and still has plenty to prove in games away from Franklin’s Gardens… 6

RYAN LAMB - With kicking duties taken by Stephen Myler at full-back, Lamb looked like a weight had been lifted off his shoulders and was allowed to showcase his creativity… 7

LEE DICKSON - Wasn’t allowed to dictate proceedings as Saints were on the back foot for much of the game. One of his more subdued nights… 6

SOANE TONGA’UIHA - Couldn’t get on top in the pack or in the loose, but he was not the only Saints player to whom that applied… 6

DYLAN HARTLEY - Tried to take the game by the scruff of the neck, but Castres were a tough nut to crack and the captain had his work cut out… 7

BRIAN MUJATI - Silly sin-binning in the second half for pulling down a maul. It was easily preventable and he put his team in trouble… 5

SAMU MANOA - The physical battles of the Premiership may have taken a little out of the American warrior and he was replaced during the second half… 6

COURTNEY LAWES - Always manages to put in trademark hits that have an impact on the opposition and this night, despite Saints struggling for spells, was no different… 7

PHIL DOWSON - Tried to get over the gainline as much as possible but had the door shut in his face by the imposing French defence… 7

TOM WOOD - Showed plenty of fire and determination to get involved in the heat of the physical battle, but couldn’t dominate as he would have liked… 6

RHYS OAKLEY - Steady showing, but it wasn’t the best of nights for the Welshman and the rest of the Saints pack as they were continually penalised… 6

Replacements (who played 20 minutes or more)

TOM MAY - Made a positive impact after coming on for Waldouck and his experience in the later stages of games could be vital… 7

Some time between Friday afternoon and evening a number of Cobblers supporters, gridlocked in traffic caused by a closure of the M25, gave up on reaching Barnet and headed back to Northampton.

A few hours later, those that did complete the journey to Underhill must have wished they had made the same choice.

If there is one thing the club has always excelled it, it is ending winless sequences of struggling teams – who can forget, for example, the time in the mid-1990s when a Leyton Orient side who hadn’t won away from home for a year came to Sixfields and left with three points?

And how many games had Orient won on their travels when they returned to this neck of the woods the following season? That’s right – zero.

But Friday night’s dreadful defeat did not come about because of any kind of higher footballing power. Aidy Boothroyd didn’t walk under any ladders on his way into the ground and the team bus didn’t run over any black cats once it had finally negotiated the miles and miles of tailbacks.

No, Barnet won because they were comfortably the better side, a fact admitted by Boothroyd after the game, through teeth gritted at the sight of the opposition’s league position.

He was furious in his post-match press conference and rightly so. A 4-0 scoreline flattered Barnet but there was no doubt the best team won.

It was the night the Edgar Davids circus rolled into this particular Hertfordshire town, and the Cobblers were crushed under its wheels.

The view of several supporters seems to be that Northampton lacked passion in this game but such an assessment is as crude as it is lazy. What does it actually mean?

A more tangible verdict might be that Barnet played with more determination, especially after a half-time interval which should have had the drug testers looking longingly into the home dressing room tea pot.

The fact of the matter is that this Cobblers team is one decimated by injury. Luke Guttridge, David Artell, Ben Harding, Shane Higgs, John Johnson and Danny East were all unavailable on Friday night – add their salaries up and you end up with a major slice of the playing budget in the treatment room.

Chris Hackett’s name was added to the list in what was the game’s key moment. Hackett had been reading and cutting off passes down his side for the entire of the first half; within three minutes of his injury-enforced substitution, Barnet had scored and they did not look back.

This game should have been the one in which Boothroyd’s side made a statement about their intentions, it should have been the night they delivered a performance to delight their supporters and thrust themselves into the top seven.

That they did not represents a statement of its own. Namely that this group of players will not challenge for promotion in any form this season, and will mid-table at best.

That’s about in line with pre-season expectations and the long-term planning of the current coaching staff. But it doesn’t make defeats like the one at Underhill any easier to stomach.

LEE NICHOLLS

Horribly exposed on all of the goals but usual commanding play was not in evidence – 4

CHRIS HACKETT

Was enjoying a good game at right-back and his departure through injury was the catalyst for defeat – 6

KELVIN LANGMEAD

Stuck to his task manfully in what was (literally) an uphill battle in the second half – 4

ANTHONY CHARLES

Was actually cool and composed at times but this has to be filed as one to forget – 4

JOE WIDDOWSON

A good first half but, as with the rest of the team, was well off the boil in the second – 4

KEMAR ROOFE

A few bright moments and should have put the Cobblers ahead when they had the momentum – 4

EMYR HUWS

Disappeared for long periods of the second period and took too long to make decisions at times – 4

BEN TOZER

Rattled into the home midfield in the first half but was found wanting in the second – 4

ALEX NICHOLLS

Saw a very good goalscoring opportunity saved early on and kept his work rate up to no real avail – 5

CLIVE PLATT

Played with a deftness when Northampton were on the front foot but did not provide enough presence – 4

ADEBAYO AKINFENWA

Very much an off day for the big man. No chances to speak of and was restricted to scraps of possession outside the box – 4

Substitutes

LEWIS WILSON

Struggled to such an extent that his time as an emergency right-back is probably over – 4

HENOC MUKENDI

The team was surviving on scraps but he did very little with the few glimpses of possession that came his way – 4

ISHMEL DEMONTAGNAC

Offered very little going forward and seems to regard defending as something of an alien concept – 4

Not used: Snedker, Moult, Hornby

What do you think of our man’s verdict? Was it as bad as he made out? Worse? Or has he been generous with his assessment of the Barnet defeat? Let us know by using our comment facility below.

Sileby Rangers hit the top spot in the Chromasport & Trophies United Counties League Division One with a 3-1 win at Bourne.

Michael Keall, Rob Foster and veteran striker Kevin Slinn were the men on the mark for Rangers, with John Currall replying for the Wakes.

AFC Rushden & Diamonds missed the opportunity to go top when they were held 1-1 at the Dog & Duck by lowly Burton Park.

Jack Wisniewski’s Diamonds opener at the end of the first half was cancelled out by Kevin Fox early in the second half.

Bugbrooke dropped their first points of the season in a 1-1 Birds Close stalemate with Potton.

George Hunt’s Badgers opener was matched by a Graham Tibbals reply for the Royals.

ON Chenecks’ troubles continued as they lost 3-2 at Wootton Blue Cross.

Wootton went 3-0 up thanks to two Grant Williams goals and one from Chris Winton, and although Chenecks replied through Adam Hancock and Max Gray it wasn’t enough.

Spencer completed a good week, as they followed up their FA Vase win over Long Buckby with a 2-0 league win over Harrowby, Ryan Dove and Ashley Simpson the men on target,

Elsewhere, Eynesbury won 5-2 at bottom club Buckingham. Jack Weeden scored two for Rovers with one apiece for Tom Coles, Lee Bassett and Rob Ducket, Kyle Stimpson scoring both Robins replies.

Rushden & Higham overturned an interval deficit to win their Hayden Road derby with Raunds 3-1. Jory Mann’s penalty cancelled out an Alex Wills Shopmates opener with Daryl Lawman and Craig Harrower giving the Lankies victory. Rothwell Corinthians halted their losing run in a 1-1 home draw with Olney but the visitors will be happy with a point after having two players dismissed. Sam Parrish gave the Nurserymen the lead in first half added time but Andy White levelled quickly on resumption.

PREMIER DIVISION

Cogenhoe United halted a three match losing run by defeating Wellingborough Town 2-1 at Compton Park.

Andy Marks’ men were indebted to strikes from Tom Liversedge and Karl Bates, with Glen Hawkins netting the Doughboys consolation late on.

Reigning champions Long Buckby secured a welcome 3-2 win over lowly Irchester United.

Nkosi Mzungwana scored twice for the Bucks, with Dan Mullarkey getting the other, while Dan Turickki and Lee Nash netted for the Romans.

St Ives maintained their five point lead at the top as a goal in each half from Lee Ellison saw them overcome Shepshed 2-0 at Westwood Road, while nearest challengers Holbeach won 3-1 at home to AFC Kempston who opened the scoring through Danny Watson.

Goals from Craig Parker and Jamie Stevens turned the game the Tigers’ way before the break and the home success was sealed by Robbie Harris in the second half.

Spalding needed a Francis Green goal three minutes from time to overcome Peterborough Northern Star 1-0 at the Halley Stewart Field. Quorn beat Boston Town 3-1 at Farley Way with Kris Nurse, Luke Edwards and Tyrone Kirk the home marksmen and co-boss Ian Dunn on the scoresheet for the Poachers.

The most eye catching result of the day was an 8-2 win for Deeping at Newport Pagnell.

Alex Beck scored five and Ash Stevens three for Rangers with Sam Maude and Joel McCormick replying for the Swans.

A first half Kevin Byrne strike gave Desborough a 1-0 verdict at Yaxley.

Huntingdon and Blackstones drew 2-2 at Jubilee Park where Dave Townsend and Ben Seymour-Shove scored for Town to overhaul Addie Staffieri’s Stones opener, only for a stoppage time Luke Hunnings goal to give the visitors a point.

Harborough lost 2-1 at home to Sleaford who had Jamie Shaw and Liam Tunstall on target with Ben Barton replying in stoppage time.

RESULTS

Saturday, October 20

Premier Division

Cogenhoe United 2 - 1 Wellingborough Town

Harborough Town 1 - 2 Sleaford Town

Holbeach United 3 - 1 AFC Kempston Rovers

Huntingdon Town 2 - 2 Blackstones

Irchester United 2 - 3 Long Buckby

Newport Pagnell Town 2 - 8 Deeping Rangers

Quorn 3 - 1 Boston Town

St Ives Town 2 - 0 Shepshed Dynamo

Spalding United 1 - 0 Peterborough Northern Star

Yaxley 0 - 1 Desborough Town

Division One

AFC Rushden & Diamonds 1 - 1 Burton Park Wanderers

Bourne Town 1 - 3 Sileby Rangers

Buckingham Town 2 - 5 Eynesbury Rovers

Bugbrooke St Michaels 1 - 1 Potton United

Harrowby United 0 - 2 Northampton Spencer

Rothwell Corinthians 1 - 1 Olney Town

Rushden & Higham United 3 - 1 Raunds Town

Wootton Blue Cross 3 - 2 O N Chenecks

Reserve Divisions Supp Comp

O N Chenecks 3 - 0 Bugbrooke St Michaels

AFC Kempston Rovers 7 - 3 Thrapston Town

Whitworth 3 - 0 Irchester United

Blackstones 3 - 1 Huntingdon Town

Burton Park Wanderers 2 - 2 Oadby Town

Desborough Town 2 - 2 Harborough Town

Stewarts & Lloyds Corby 5 - 2 Rothwell Corinthians

Reserve Division One

Peterborough Northern Star 1 - 2 Cogenhoe United

Reserve Division Two

Eynesbury Rovers 6 - 4 Bourne Town

Raunds Town 1 - 4 Rushden & Higham United

Of all the crimes faced by Northamptonshire Police, rape and serious sexual assaults are among the hardest to investigate.

“Every case is tricky,” said Detective Inspector Helen Knight. “Mostly the offence happens when two people are on their own. So it is often one person’s word against somebody else’s.

“But you have to look for the evidence. The starting point is we always initially believe the victim and we go from there.”

While the most chilling type of sexual assault remains “stranger rape”, women – and indeed men – are far more likely to be attacked by people they know and in places they are familiar with.

Victims nearly always know their attackers.

DI Knight said: “The majority of offences are with an offender who the victim has known for at least the last few hours, if not for their lifetime, and it is often in the victim’s own home or the offender’s own home and rarely does the victim end up with significant physical injury.”

Alcohol is often a significant problem. Too often, DI Knight said, men find themselves accused of rape because they do not know when “no means no” or when a woman is perhaps unable to say yes.

“If the girl is too drunk and can’t say yes then the answer is no and it could be considered rape,” she warned.

She said that view was increasingly being shared by courts and the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS).

It is something boys in schools are now taught. Previously the crime prevention messages have been directed at women, with warnings about getting into cars with strangers.

Now, backed by Government campaigns, boys and men are the target for the warnings. The system, she said, is much more set up to support victims of rape than it used to be. The other significant portion of rape investigations involves “historic” allegations, sometimes dating back decades.

Again, the starting point from the police is to believe the victim. Investigations can be complicated and often rely on supporting witnesses. Sometimes facts, such as holiday dates and times from years gone by, have to be checked and stories corroborated.

DI Knight said: “For us to get a conviction from those we rely on other people giving evidence in support.

“The courts are taking a lot more care and consideration to these cases now and recognising that if more than one person is saying it, then why would they be making it up?”

Victims urged to call Serenity

A detective who specialises in the investigation of rape and serious sexual assaults has urged victims to contact the Serenity Centre in Northampton if they do not want to come to the police directly.

Serenity, the county’s Sexual Assault Referral Centre, offers victims help and advice. Police are brought in only if the victim asks for them to be.

Detective Inspector Helen Knight said: “They are the right people, they are not the police, and even if the victim doesn’t want to involve the police they can offer the right support.

“If we are called in we will try to understand what they have gone through and if they want us to investigate we will look to get the best evidence we can.”

Reports of sexual assaults have increased across Northamptonshire over the past few years. It is something DI Knight sees as a positive sign.

She said: “If people are telling us more then we see it as a positive thing that people have more confidence in how we will deal with it. A lot of that is down to historic offences.

“We often get people who come to us who have been abused as children and come to us later in life. Sometimes they have a trigger, such as having their own children or following the death of their mother, and perhaps then they feel confident enough to come forward.”

To contact Serenity, call Northampton 601713.

Clive Platt believes the Cobblers’ thrashing at the hands of rock-bottom Barnet was a ‘harsh reminder’ of the realities of life in football’s basement division.

And the towering striker thinks Friday night’s defeat proved how difficult it is going to be for the side to maintain a top-half challenge this season, and that it will act as a reminder that the team cannot afford to get ahead of themselves when they start to win games in npower League Two.

Town were routed 4-0 at Underhill by a team without a win to their name this season in any competition, with manager Aidy Boothroyd commenting that his players made their Barnet counterparts ‘look like superstars.’

It was a verdict few who witnessed the game would argue with, and although the general consensus was the Northampton were the better side in the first half, Platt felt they still did not do enough during the first 45 minutes to support any claims for something from the fixture.

“We’ve been dissecting the performance and we were talking about it a lot in the changing room afterwards,” he said. “I think we saw the harsh realities of the league in this game.

“If we thought we’d made it after a great result against Exeter we well and truly knew we haven’t after Friday night.

“I didn’t think we played great in the first half but we had the better chances – we had three or four chances that on another day we would have put away.

“In the second half we didn’t create anything, we didn’t put enough pressure on the ball and if you give them enough time on the ball they are going to start to create chances.

“The first goal gave them a massive relief and after that they started to play with a lot more freedom. We just couldn’t cope with it.”

A barman caused £25,000 of damage to a Northampton pub after deliberately setting it on fire.

Andrew Jehan, 46, poured paint over the pool table at The Tanners pub, in Thorplands, on August 18, mixed it with a pool cue and set fire to it later.

Jehan, of no fixed address, was jailed for two years after he pleading guilty at Northampton Crown Court to arson.

Judge Richard Bray said: “You set the fire, collected your belongings and calmly left the pub, all because you had thought the landlord had taken your TV set.”

Dylan Hartley believes Saints have set themselves up nicely for December’s decisive Heineken Cup double-header with Ulster.

Northampton may have lost at Castres on Friday night, but they claimed a losing bonus point in the 21-16 defeat in Toulouse.

That takes their pool 4 tally to six points, with Ulster topping the four-team table on nine after their victory at Glasgow Warriors on Friday night.

The Irish side, runners-up in the competition last season, will now be big favourites to progress to the quarter-finals as pool winners.

But Hartley says there’s plenty of puff left in Saints and the skipper feels the scene is set for two big clashes with Ulster just before Christmas.

“It is frustrating seeing Ulster win home and away,” he said. “They’re a good team, though.

“We’ve spoken about it; if we wanted to be serious contenders we wanted to win on Friday, but it’s not over for us.

“The next game we play is Ulster at home so we’ll get a good reading of where we’re at after that weekend. There’s still a lot to play for. The pool’s still open. We’ve set ourselves up.”

Saints paid the price for a poor first 14 minutes against Castres as the French side were allowed to dominate early on at the Stade Ernest Wallon.

Hartley and Co were 10-0 down before the clock struck 15, but battled back, with a late George Pisi score securing a bonus point.

And the Saints captain said: “Even with the last play of the game we could have drawn it up, couldn’t we?

“The importance of climbing our way back to taking something from the game was key. That was the message the week before when we went 15 points down, more or less just get back into the game and take a positive. Points, points points.

“We climbed our way back and cancelled out the first half. If there was an extra 10 minutes at the end there I think we would have sorted ourselves out.”

The Cobblers have been drawn to play Bradford City in the first round of the FA Cup.

Aidy Boothroyd’s side will take on the Yorkshire side at Sixfields, and it will be a quick repeat for both sides as they meet in the league at the same venue this Tuesday night

The draw was made at Wembley Stadium by former Cobblers defender Sean Dyche and former Oldham Athletic and Aston Villa man Earl Barrett.

It was Dyche who pulled the Cobblers out of the hat.

The tie will be played on the weekend of November 3 and 4.

Corby Town’s Saturday conquerors Hendon, were drawn to play at Aldershot.

Runaway contender for best programme of the week has to be Brazil with Michael Palin, a new four-part BBC1 series in which the now veteran traveller – he’s been doing this stuff for more than 20 years now – visits South America’s biggest, most famous country, an emerging economic giant and, of course, host to the World Cup in 2014 and the Olympics in 2016.

Palin goes right back to the start examining how Portuguese traders landed thousands of slaves on north-eastern Brazil, triggering what has become a melting pot of cultures in one huge nation. Palin, avuncular as ever, manages to drop in at the right moment on certain places and is always ready to try his hand at whatever is thrown at him. By the end of it, we will all know there’s a lot more to Brazil than coffee, football and Copocobana beach (Wed, BBC1, 9pm).

Jamie’s 15 Minute Meals is Jamie Oliver’s new teatime programme (Channel 4, 5pm, Mon-Fri) in which Britain’s most famous TV chef rustles up easy family meals starting with chilli con carne meatballs, sticky chicken, watermelon radish salad and crunchy noodles.

If you thought BBC2 was done with baking cakes, you were very much mistaken because BBC2 on Tuesday at 8pm serves up Great British Bake Off Revisited looking back at how previous winners have fared. Meanwhile, the normal Monday night is food night on BBC2 starts at 7pm with The Great British Bake Off Masterclass in which, yes, Mary Berry and Paul Hollywood, show us how to stay calm in the kitchen while knocking out treacle tarts and creme caramels. If anyone else has any suggestions about how to stretch this out to a five-day-a-week strand, the BBC may well want to hear your pitch.

Same night, same station at 9pm, the wonderfully engaging Professor Alice Roberts leads a team of experts helping to piece together a Neanderthal and, using DNA techniques, they attempt to find out how closely related they were to us. Prehistoric Autopsy is on each night until Wednesday.

Fans of James Bond might want to tune into BBC2 on Wednesday at 10pm when there’s a Culture Show special, Sam Mendes: Licence to Thrill, interviewing the director of the latest 007 jaunt, Skyfall, which hits our cinema screens soon (Wed, BBC2, 10pm).

For those of you with kids in the house, it’s always worth looking out for Channel 5 on Sunday teatime, which has become home to some seriously good children’s movies in recent times and this weekend is no exception with a rare re-run for the classic Disney tale of Dumbo. If you’ve never seen this 1941 stand-out film, get yourself sat down with the kids for a whole 65 minutes from 5.20pm.

Finally, Premiership football is back on Sky Sports including Spurs-Chelsea (Sat, 12.45pm) a Tyne-Wear derby at 1.30pm on Sunday followed at 4pm by QPR-Everton.

A man from Daventry has been remanded in custody accused of rape and false imprisonment.

Matthew Hickman, aged 23, of Franklin Way, Ashby Fields, Daventry, is charged with holding a woman, who cannot be named for legal reasons, against her will and raping her on October 4. Judge Rupert Mayo remanded him in custody until a hearing in December.

A businessman who posed as teenagers in internet chatrooms and on social media sites, may have contacted up to 60 children around the world, Northampton Crown Court heard.

Company director Mark Rogers, 54, was arrested at his printing business, Shire Lumsden, in Whiston Road, Cogenhoe, in June 2011 after police in Northampton were tipped off about the download of abusive images of children.

Caroline Allison, prosecuting, said that when police arrived, Rogers was seen leaving with a rucksack and when confronted, he tried to dispose of two memory sticks by blowing his nose and throwing them into a bin hidden with the tissue.

The USB sticks held hundreds of indecent images of child sex abuse and investigations revealed Rogers had been using his work computer and a neighbour’s wireless connection in Barton Seagrave to download them.

However, officers also found he had created two fake profiles of a 16-year-old boy, named Tom Simmonds, and a teenage girl, named Zoe or Lucy, to target underage girls as young as 12, through MSN Messenger, Facebook and MySpace.

Police also found he had been sending sexual pictures of himself and had been sharing the images with a man in South Africa. They also found a list of 59 names of children he had contacted using the alter-egos. And there was evidence he was in contact with children in Thailand, America and Romania.

Rogers, of Cranmere Avenue, Rushmere, Northampton, pleaded guilty to 20 charges of making, possessing and distributing indecent images and causing or inciting children to take part in sexual activity.

He was jailed for 23 months and will be a registered sex offender for 10 years.

Judge Rupert Mayo said: “This was a gross breach of trust with complex and sophisticated use of social network sites. It was more than curiosity and in my view, you have a corrupt view of how adults and adolescents should interact.”

Rhys Oakley says Saints have got a lot of things to ‘fix up’ in training this week after their Friday night defeat to Castres.

Oakley and Co slipped to a 21-16 loss against the Top 14 side in Toulouse, seeing a below-par performance – barring a rally in the final 10 minutes – cost them dear.

Castres took advantage to clinch their first victory in pool 4 of this season’s Heineken Cup and leave Saints on six points after two games.

Jim Mallinder’s men will now be desperate to bounce back quickly as they face crucial Aviva Premiership games against Saracens and Leicester in the next two weeks.

And Oakley says he and his team-mates have got several issues to iron out on the paddock as they look to get back to winning ways, against Sarries on Saturday.

He said: “Things go wrong and it’s how you bounce back from those things. In terms of the mistakes we made, there will be a lot of things to fix up in training.

“Basic errors need to be fixed, knock-ons, simple set piece work, but we’ll work on that and we’ll come back stronger.”

Saints had been 10-0 down early on in the game at the Stade Ernest-Wallon, but showed spirit to mount a recovery.

And No.8 Oakley believes they can take plenty of heart from the way they came back into the game, a comeback crowned by George Pisi’s score, which sealed a losing bonus point.

“It’s not the end of the world,” said the 32-year-old. “It’s more to do with the way we played and the mistakes we made. It was just a very frustrating night.

“We made it very difficult for ourselves. Every time we had the ball we gave it up and it was a constant wave of attack, attack and attack. Through our errors, that’s the way it went.

“It was disappointing but to go to France and get a losing bonus point is no easy feat and to be in within with a chance of winning the game in the last minute, we’ll take that away with us.

“Even when we play badly, we can still be a very dangerous side.”

PFA chairman and Kick It Out ambassador Clarke Carlisle has defended the rights of players who chose not to wear a t-shirt in support of the anti-racism campaign this weekend, and said punishing them would be contrary to the organisation’s goals.

Several players, including Manchester United defender Rio Ferdinand and his brother Anton of Queens Park Rangers, declined to wear the Kick It Out t-shirts while warming up for their respective Barclays Premier League matches, unhappy with what they consider a lack of progress on racism.

Rio Ferdinand’s decision brought strong criticism from his manager Sir Alex Ferguson, who promised the player would be “dealt with”.

On Friday, Ferguson had publicly criticised Jason Roberts’ stated intention to snub the t-shirt and promised all of his players would wear them.

While PFA chief executive Gordon Taylor felt the protests were “misguided”, former Cobblers skipper Carlisle said he did not want to see Ferdinand disciplined by United, and promised the PFA would support him in the matter.

“Sir Alex Ferguson is trying to reaffirm his unwavering support of the Kick It Out campaign, and that’s fantastic,” Carlisle told Press Association Sport.

“But this should not be seen as player-versus-club or dissension from a player against their employer.

“This is about a group of players and some wider issues that transcend that relationship...”

“We would not want to see Rio Ferdinand punished. As I said of the handshake saga, you cannot coerce any man against his will and to do so would be the complete opposite of what the campaign is for.

“(Reading manager) Brian McDermott and (Newcastle manager) Alan Pardew said they had good conversations with their players to understand why (they did not wear the t-shirt) and they respect them in that.

“Sir Alex Ferguson pointed out in his own interview he did not know why Jason Roberts or any other player would not want to wear the t-shirt, so I hope that conversation takes place in the next couple of days.”

Carlisle said he had spoken to a number of the players who chose not to wear the t-shirt, and had listened to their concerns.

“This is a group of players who are trying to make a statement,” he said. “They want to express they’re unhappy with the way that issues have been dealt with over the past 12-18 months, and there are things they would like to change about the way we approach this battle with regards to racial abuse.

“This is not a problem with Kick It Out per se, though they would like Kick It Out to be more vocal and authoritative. But the main point they would like to make is about the way governing bodies have approached issues over the past 12-18 months, the way they have investigated them and the expediency of those investigations, and how weak the sanctions were at the end of them.

“This is not just the FA, it’s UEFA and FIFA and it ties in with other issues the players want their union to address. This was their opportunity to make that stand.”

Cobblers boss Aidy Boothroyd is set to receive a double defensive boost for the visit of Bradford City to Sixfields on Tuesday night (7.45pm kick-off) with John Johnson and Danny East due to return to full fitness.

Chris Hackett, who has been deputising at right-back, is likely to miss the game with a groin injury sustained during the 4-0 loss at Barnet on Friday.

Goalkeeper Shane Higgs will be available for selection after a concussion, but Boothroyd will still be without three further players who would be considered first-team regulars.

David Artell and Luke Guttridge will be out until January, while Ben Harding is now in the fourth week of a six-week rehabilitation for an Achilles injury, and remains in a protective boot.

The game against the Bantams is the first of two in the space of 10 days, with Bradford back at Sixfields on November 3 for an FA Cup first-round tie.

Concerns over the rising levels of rural crime are expected to be top of the agenda at a hustings event tonight organised by farmers ahead of next month’s Police and Crime Commissioner elections.

Members of the public will have the opportunity to quiz the candidates as they go head-to-head at the debate, being held at the Hunsbury Hill Centre in Harksome Hill, Northampton at 7pm.

People can quiz the candidates on all issues concerning the police and how they plan to shape the future of the force should they be elected.

The discussion will chaired by Northamptonshire farmer and vice chairman of NFU’s Leicestershire, Northants and Rutland branch, Richard Harris.

Mr Harris said: “Living in more isolated locations around the county, crime is a constant worry for us and our families. With police budgets being cut and manpower reduced, it seems that rural Northamptonshire is a prime target for thieves.

“The increasing levels of metal thefts, burglaries and machinery thefts are worrying as are the higher incidences of anti-social crimes such as fly-tipping and increasingly, fly grazing.

“We hope that this NFU-organised meeting will allow the candidates in the November 15 election to hear at first hand about the issues facing people who live in Northamptonshire’s villages and rural areas.

“And it will give an opportunity for the candidates to set out their views on how they will tackle rural policing issues if they are elected.”

The meeting is being opened to people who live and work in the countryside and who have issues about crime in their locality.

NFU members will be joined by candidates including Adam Simmonds (Con), John Norrie (Independent), Paul Varnsverry (Lib Dem) and Jim MacArthur (UKIP).

The elections for the new role of Police and Crime Commissioner will be held on November 15 and will give the public the chance to help shape the future of the running of Northamptonshire Police.

Dozens of motorists have been hit by a spate of thefts of aerials from cars in a Northamptonshire village.

Vandals ripped off aerials from 31 cars parked in various streets in Bugbrooke on Friday night.

Aerials were stolen from vehicles parked in Badgers Close, Beech Close, Chipsey Avenue, Georges Avenue, High Street, Lime Grove, Oaklands, Pilgrims Lane and Pound Lane.

Witnesses, or anyone with information, can call police on 101 or Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.