Northampton Town 1 Cardiff City 2   2nd March 2002

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Sixfields: a nice new shiny stadium a car ride from the community... Despite a woeful performance and some calamitous defending, City managed to steal all three points from this vital match, keeping our promotion hopes alive. The last time I visited Northampton, they were playing at their old ground (shared with the cricket team), and that match earned the dubious honour of being the most boring game of football I'd ever witnessed. McStadium to go... This time round, the Cobblers have moved to an incredibly bland, out-of-town McStadium, situated miles from the centre of the town it's supposed to represent, and surrounded by a galaxy of ghastly corporate fast food stores and 'entertainment outlets'. The first 20 minutes of this match came close to surpassing previous levels of boredom, with Northampton piling on the pressure and Cardiff ambling aimlessly around the field, clearly missing the quality and inspiration of the suspended Kavanagh. Northampton applied all the early pressure, hooking in a barrage of high balls, with Gabbiadini missing an absolute sitter, much to the derision of the Cardiff fans. There were dark mumblings on the terraces about this being 'another of those days', when, against the run of play, Leyton Maxwell fired home in 32th minute, sparking huge celebrations from the 1,300 City fans. Leyton Maxwell puts City 1-0 ahead The lead was only to last for two minutes, with Marco Gabbiadini making amends for his earlier clanger and bringing the Cobblers level. Five minutes later, new boy Campbell capped the first game of his loan spell from Middlesborough with an excellent strike to put the Bluebirds ahead 2-1. The second half saw City come under a Third Division-style Route One arial bombardment, but with fine performances by Legg and Gabbidon, we managed to hang on to our flimsy lead. Gabbidon took a bad injury towards the end of the game and was replaced by a frankly, unimpressive, Spencer Prior. The remaining ten minutes was an nail biting exercise in last-gasp defending, with City hanging on to a barely deserved lead. But who cares? At this stage of the season, it's the points that matter! Riot cops outside the ground Leaving the ground, we were greeted by a full force of riot cops who had hemmed us in behind a wire fence for reasons best known only to themselves. Needless to say, a few meatheads took exception to this heavy handed treatment and a few minor scuffles ensued, watched by open mouthed Northampton fans, clearly amused by the curious circus unfolding. We didn't fancy a cosh on the head, so promptly legged it, fully satisfied with the result but still harbouring doubts about City's ability to make the play offs, especially if Gabindon is seriously injured. <Back to fixtures

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