Northampton manager Jon Brady praised Tyler Magloire after his stoppage-time header secured a 1-1 draw at Stockport.
The defender returned to the fold in pre-season following 15 months on the sidelines after suffering a serious knee injury.
Magloire struck at the death after Louie Barry had put the hosts ahead with a 87th-minute penalty.
“For Tyler Magloire to get the equaliser right at the end is something special really,” said Brady.
“The players applauded him coming back into the changing room after.
“It’s building blocks for him, he came on on Saturday and I said how well he did in defending and tonight we needed someone to pop up and be aggressive.
“If you watch the goal back, where he runs from, he attacks that with everything he’s got and it’s a great header.”
Brady though criticised referee Jacob Miles for the decision to award Stockport the spot-kick which Barry converted, after Cobblers midfielder Cameron McGeehan had tangled with Kyle Wootton.
He said: “To receive that penalty against us, I’ve just seen it back and the detail in it is he (Kyle Wootton) hooks underneath Cam McGeehan’s arm and pulls Cam down over the top of him and he’s not even looking at the corner coming in over on the far side.
“Obviously the ref gives it right in front of the home crowd there. I think he’ll be very disappointed when he sees it again.”
Stockport boss Dave Challinor believed the decision to award the spot-kick was correct, likening the tussle to a rugby tackle.
“I think the penalty is absolutely blatant,” said Challinor.
“Jon (Brady) was a bit emotional on the touchline but he’s not seen it back then. I think it’s a rugby tackle and if that’s not given then we’re in the wrong sport.”
Challinor was also critical of the referee’s decision not to award Stockport a free-kick in the lead-up to Northampton’s equaliser but also admitted that his side were not clinical enough in a game they largely controlled.
“It’s a blatant free-kick in the middle of the pitch that he’s not given and he’s stood six yards away,” added Challinor.
“I suppose you could argue either way that the free-kick that he does give to them is two lads sort of wrestling over the ball and it’s soft but that doesn’t hide away from the fact that we have to defend the free-kick and we didn’t do that and it’s cost us.
“I don’t think we created really good chances today but the frustration is that we haven’t got the result that big parts of the performance probably deserved.
“That’s in part down to ourselves and in part probably down to decisions that went against us.”
