It took just 28 minutes for the Cobblers fans’ dream of Wembley play-off glory to turn into a nightmare.
More than 20,000 supporters had made their way to the home of football believing their team had what it took to secure promotion to League One.
But, with less than a third of the game completed, Bradford had shattered any hopes of victory after they raced into a 3-0 lead.
The claret and white army of fans were stunned into silence by the devastatingly one-sided nature of the contest.
It was not supposed to happen like this.
At the start of the day, excited supporters packed on to London Midland trains or travelled down the M1 on coaches organised by the Sixfields Travel Club, Cobblers Travel or Cobblers Independent Supporters Club, expecting a tight game with few goals.
Many thought it would be a game settled by the “odd goal” and would be a close battle between Bradford’s attack and Northampton’s defence.
Town supporters also had a reason to feel quietly confident after their club’s fine win against Cheltenham in the play-off semi-final.
Arriving at the stadium a couple of hours before kick-off, both sets of fans mingled peacefully together and exchanged friendly banter.
‘You played here before and lost five nil’ sang the Cobblers fans to their Yorkshire opponents.
One school of thought was that Bradford may be ‘mentally scarred’ after being thrashed by Swansea in the League Cup final just three months ago.
But minutes after kick-off it was clear the team in claret and amber had learned from their previous Wembley experience and were determined to make sure they left the stadium with happier memories this time.
The hungrier, more skilful Bradford players seemed to be first to every ball, were winning every header and coming out top in the majority of the tackles.
The first goal in the 15th minute epitomised their attitude as the Bradford winger stole the ball off Ben Tozer and then swung over a cross which was collected by his colleague on the opposite side who was more alert than any of the Cobblers players to the loose ball.
A cross was then chipped in to the box and Bantams striker James Hanson jumped higher than Clarke Carlisle to enable him to loop his header into the top corner.
The second Bradford goal came just four minutes later after the Cobblers defence let an unopposed Rory McCardle head the ball into the net.
Goalkeeper Lee Nicholls, one of the few Northampton players to do himself justice in the game, booted the ball up field and loudly berated his team’s defensive shortcomings.
This should have been a wake-up call but the Cobblers outfield players appeared shell-shocked and did not seem to know how to respond.
The Cobblers team could not put three passes together and long, hopeful punts into the final third were no match for the clinical, rapier-like attacks of the Bradford side.
The game was effectively ended as a contest following Bradford’s third goal in the 28th minute.
As a Cobblers fan, watching the second half felt like being forced to attend the Yorkshire club’s promotion party.
The Northampton team had been bullied into submission by a Bradford side who were happy to hold them at arms length.
The introduction of crowd favourite Adebayo Akinfenwa provoked a rare cheer in the Cobblers section but even his best attempt to launch into his self-styled ‘beast mode’ resulted in just one wayward shot.
A mixture of emotions filled the supporters at the end of the match, with many choosing to exit the stadium long before the final whistle.
One season ticket holder said he was angry and thought the “disgraceful” performance might discourage some of the ‘one-off’ Wembley fans from coming to watch Northampton Town again.
Others were more philosophical and stated their belief that the Cobblers will get promoted next season if they make a couple of good additions this summer.
Perhaps the day was best summed up by one fan who I heard consoling his despondent young son with the words ‘At least we didn’t lose 5-0’.
It was bad, but could have been worse. Just ask the Bradford fans.