Keith Curle praised the quality of Joe Powell's late goal as he reflected on Tuesday night’s 1-0 home win over Newport County, making it four wins on the bounce and seven games unbeaten for the Cobblers as they moved up to 11th in Sky Bet League 2, six points off the play-off places.
“It was a fantastic strike from Joe,” he said.
“I felt both sides nullified each other’s threats for the most part and neither side wanted to take a step back.
“It was a very competitive game and it took a real bit of quality to win it. I thought we competed really well and I said to the players beforehand we needed to make sure we won our individual battles.
“Newport defended very well against our movement and our physical presence, we lacked a bit of quality at times but there was a real willingness and a desire.
“The players are enjoying the accolades, the environment is good and they are very appreciative of the support they are getting. A lot of our work in training is about doing the simple things and we are doing those well.
“The groundstaff did tremendous work to get the game on and it was very much appreciated. Paul Knowles and all his staff did a fantastic job to get this game on tonight.”