Northampton Town Under 18s coach Shane Goddard believes his side deserved their 2-1 win against Gillingham in the opening home fixture of their EFL Youth Alliance South East season on Saturday morning.
Neo Dobson and Harry Guess scored the young Cobblers’ goals as they earned their first victory of the campaign despite going down to 10 men in the second half.
“It was a competitive game,but we were good value for the win,” Goddard said.
“Gillingham always make you work for the points you earn off them, but we created clearer chances.
“We went down to 10 men, but Stevie Bausor worked his magic and saved the penalty to give us a foothold.
“We had a player sent-off away to Forest Green Rovers but still managed to win last season, and that experience counted today.
“We knew that we could get across the line, and thankfully we managed to score a second goal because unfortunately we conceded with a couple of minutes left on the clock.
“That made us a bit nervous, but I think we played better football, ran harder and defended our goal better than we did last week.
“I’m pleased with the performance and it’s nice to get off the mark with three points.”
The youth team travel to Forest Green in the EFL Youth Alliance Cup southern section first round next week. Kai O’Keeffe, Jamari Hart and Reuben Wyatt scored the Cobblers’ goals in a 3-0 win when the sides last met in the Merit League in April.