The Cobblers produced a display of attacking football that was as dazzling as their new Sixfields floodlights against Hartlepool United, and with it recorded their biggest win in three-and-a-half years.
Not since Crewe were put to the sword 6-2 in February 2011 has a Northampton side won by such an emphatic margin, and Tuesday night’s could have been by even more.
Even when Hartlepool scored in the first minute of the game the team treated it as little more than a minor inconvenience, a brief delay on a journey to an inevitable victory.
They were back on level terms 11 minutes later and in front 10 minutes after that, Kaid Mohamed making one and then scoring another.
His individual playing style is typical of the team’s forward play - quick with both thought and movement, with a confidence and swagger to take people on and try things out, and the ability to pop little passes to one another while constantly moving.
Chris Wilder said it was a ‘joy to watch’ and Mohamed spoke afterwards about how much he is enjoying his football at the moment.
Such mental elements are obviously factors and contributed to what was a virtuoso attacking display, by some distance the best of the season so far and the best probably of the past few seasons.
It did not appear at any stage that Northampton would not win and the only debates involved how many goals they would get - at times in the second half it was like a training-ground drill that combined keep ball and shooting exercises.
It is hard to remember a Northampton front four that has played as well as Mohamed, Marc Richards, Lawson D’Ath and Chris Hackett did on Tuesday night.
Hackett was every bit as good as he was in his golden vintage of two years ago and Richards proved once again that he is matchless finisher.
D’Ath deserved to start after his cameo at Newport and Wilder now faces a difficult decision to make between him and Ivan Toney, who should have scored after being introduced into this game as a substitute and who offers a very different threat.
When the Cobblers have looked poor this season it has been when they have looked like a slow side - that was the case against Newport and in their other league defeat, at Portsmouth.
There were shades of it at York City too.
But against Hartlepool, they looked much faster than their opponents, with their interplay and with their pure pace in and out of possession.
Problems still remain with the side, and the defence was not without its wobbles in this game, but if the wide attackers and Richards can maintain this early high standard, we could be in for a very interesting season indeed.
Player ratings
JORDAN ARCHER
No chance with the goal - a one-on-one in which the striker had plenty of time - and missed a corner but otherwise did well enough ...7
DANNY ALFEI
Got forward nicely, especially in the second half and showed good energy to cover lots of ground from right-back ...7
ZANDER DIAMOND
Played his part before being forced off with an ankle injury in the closing stages of the first half ...7
RYAN CRESSWELL
On a personal level will probably remember his slip on the Hartlepool goal most but it was not costly and he was solid for the rest of the game ...7
GREGOR ROBERTSON
Was both the solid base behind Mohamed and the extra option for a pass on the overlap in a big improvement from the Newport outing ...7
CHRIS HACKETT
It’s hard to recall a more effective performance than this one by the winger, who made three goals and might even have scored himself. Excellent ...9
JOEL BYROM
Had done such an effective ‘sealing off’ job in central midfield that he started to join in attacks in the second half and very nearly scored ...8
RYAN WATSON
A performance of maturity that was way beyond his tender age; played with his usual aggression but, unlike at Newport, it did not spill over ...8
KAID MOHAMED
Played with power, pace and purpose in a performance that was simply devastating to the Hartlepool defence. A hugely encouraging display ...9 STAR MAN
LAWSON D’ATH
Really enjoyed his first goal at Sixfields and can be proud of the part he played in a high-quality attacking team performance ...8
MARC RICHARDS
His second goal was the stand-out but it is worth noting he showed no nerves for the penalty that gave Town their equaliser. Now has a very impressive six goals in his past four games ...9
Substitutes:
LEE COLLINS (for Diamond 41)
Slotted in nicely at the heart of the defence and his introduction meant Cresswell could play on his more natural right side of the central two ...7
IVAN TONEY (for Hackett 73)
A couple of heavy touches and should have scored from Byrom’s excellent pass. Didn’t really seem to pick up the rhythm of the game ...6
JOHN-JOE O’TOOLE (for Richards 82)
Used the ball well enough in a brief cameo that allowed Richards a rest and a standing ovation ...6
Not used: Carter, Tozer, Snedker, Ravenhill