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.
 |  |