Northampton boss Jon Brady admitted he was left scratching his head after praising his side’s ‘magnificent’ performance despite the 2-1 defeat to Swindon in Sky Bet League Two.
The home side missed two clear chances in the first 25 minutes at Sixfields and were made to pay when Tyrese Shade’s thumping finish broke the deadlock and gave Swindon a fortuitous half-time lead.
Northampton’s frustration only grew in the second half as visiting goalkeeper Solomon Brynn continued to keep them at bay almost single-handedly, and his heroics were to prove crucial as Marcel Lavinier’s wonder strike just short of the hour-mark sealed the deal.
Sam Hoskins did curl home a late consolation but it was not to be Northampton’s night.
“It’s a bit of a head scratcher to be honest,” said Brady. “We dominated the game for long periods and that shows on the stats.
“We had 15 corners to their three and took 19 shots and their goalkeeper has made save after save.
“Mitch (Pinnock) has that one in the first half where everything thinks he should score and the ref gives a goal-kick but the goalkeeper got his toe to it and that’s why it went wide.
“Their first goal then comes from that and it’s offside as well. Jonny Williams was off so that’s frustrating to take but I can’t fault our players because we have played magnificently tonight and we’re on the end of the loss.
“The first goal comes from Swindon’s first chance after 25 minutes and then they have another shot from 25 yards that goes into the top corner, which we should close down, and they have another shot from distance and that’s all they have.
“We had chance after chance but unfortunately we come out of it on the wrong end.”
Swindon boss Scott Lindsey said: “It was hard work but the players put a real shift in and their work ethic was outstanding.
“They showed a real resilience and togetherness out there against a very good side and it’s pleasing to score two goals.
“We have probably played better with the ball but our running stats out of possession were through the roof and without the ball we were very good.
“Tyrese finished it well and then I’m going to take full credit for Marcel’s goal because we have been working on him cutting inside and shooting on the training pitch. It’s a fantastic strike.
“It feels good to win but it doesn’t surprise me because I know what we are capable of and we prepared the team to go and win the game.
“Solomon in goal was outstanding and made some great saves. He did his job every time he was called upon.”
