Aidy Boothroyd says he was ‘bemused’ by the nature of the defeat that ends the Cobblers’ interest in this season’s Johnstone’s Paint Trophy.
Town were beaten 3-0 by Leyton Orient at Sixfields as their run in the competition – which included wins over two other npower League One sides in Milton Keynes Dons and Colchester United – came to an end.
Jake Robinson and Louis Moult had good chances to put the home side in front in the first half, but Orient upped their game after the break to score three times.
The third of those goals was a Michael Symes penalty, awarded after Moses Odubajo’s cross had struck Joe Widdowson’s arm, one of a number of decisions Boothroyd felt match referee Mark Haywood and his assistants got wrong.
“After the game you want to rant and rave at officials, but it doesn’t seem to get us anywhere,” said Boothroyd.
“I said what I felt about the decisions we got at Oxford and I didn’t think they could get any worse, but tonight has proved they can.
“I’ll have to phone up Norris McWhirter at the Guinness Book of Records and tell him we’ve found a worse one but there you are, that’s just my opinion.
“Most people have hands at the end of their arms so if the ball is kicked there, it’s going to hit it, isn’t it? He (Widdowson) wasn’t shielding his face or making a block.
“I know they have a difficult job but that’s life, we have to get on with it and start preparing for Saturday’s game against Cheltenham.”
The scoreline was undoubtedly harsh on Northampton, who could have been on the right end of the victory had they taken the first-half opportunities that came their way.
“It’s one of those games where you look at the score, see it’s 3-0 and you think ‘how on earth did that happen?’” said Boothroyd, whose side are now out of all three cup competitions.
“We were by far the better team in the first half and if you want anyone to get the kind of chance we got you’d want it to be Louis Moult because he’s up there with the best finishers at the club. But he didn’t have his shooting boots on and that’s unusual for him.
“The game bemused me, if I’m honest.”
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