Cobblers crumble in 7 goal thriller

By Peegs
September 7 2003

In a thrilling match officiated by a clown Cheltenham scored twice in the last minute through a re taken Forsyth penalty and a cool Devaney finish to claim a 4-3 win in an epic encounter at Whaddon Road.

The name Mr Kettle with live long in the mind of Cheltenham supporters. A ref that should get back to Sunday League lost control of this match in the first minute when he gave a drop ball decision for absolutely no reason.

Cheltenham created the early chances shooting towards the Cobblers fans in the away end with a searching cross by Graham Fyfe being volleyed wide by the on running Mark Yates.

With 23 minutes on the clock one of the worst chain of decisions to happen at a football match occurred. Firstly Frenchman Bertrand Cozic appeared to win a 50 50 challenge with Lawrie Dudfield, however Mr Kettle decided this was a foul and a bookable offence! Paul Harsley whipped in a free kick which was headed up in the air by Cobblers defender Ian Sampson, Shane Higgs claimed the ball until Dudfield bundled into him and the ball trickled over the line. Dudfield himself didn't celebrate and the crowd called for a foul but the ref and his assistant just looked at each other and gave nothing, an absolute disgrace and a shambles. Replays clearly show Dudfield clattering into Higgs who had both hands on the ball.

The 5,000 strong crowd were rattled and vented their feelings towards Mr Kettle and his assistant Mr Murphy, chants that I cant write on here were echoing around the ground, lets just say Mr Bakers anti swearing campaign suffered on Friday night.

Home fans again were screwed by dodgy refereeing on the half hour when Mike Duff seemed to be fouled near the centre circle by Smith, the ex Huddersfield fan having been waved on by Mr Kettle threaded a ball through a stretched defence to Dudfield who planted a shot from just inside the box past Higgs.

Cheltenham ruffled by the inept officiating on show struggled to find any rythmn in the remainder of the half but 2 minutes into added time Jamie Victory came close to scoring with a low header from a Fyef cross that was heading towards the corner until Thompson in the Northampton goal got in the way and claimed the ball.

The whistle went for half time with a chorus of boo's around the ground for what had been a farce of a first half officiating wise.

H/T 0-2

Regardless of the performance of the ref in the first half Cheltenham hadn't performed at all and better was needed in the 2nd half.

The Robins came out of the blocks fast in the second half in what was proving difficult conditions for players and fans alike. Fyfe had a shot saved by Thompson and Yates had a hard shot blocked by a Cobblers defender.

However with 56 minutes on the clock a cracking goal pulled Cheltenham back into the match. Bob Taylor - socks sponsored by cheltenhamtown.tk - ran onto a Cozic flick on in the box, he got the ball on his right foot before smashing and unstoppable shot into the net to the delight of the home crowd.

It wasn't long before Mr Kettle was being his usual useless self. Bob Taylor was penalised for standing by the 'keeper who was kicking the ball out of his hands, Taylor was well within his rights yet was booked, absolutely ludicrous!

Within a minute of this booking the Robins should have eqaulised, a cracking cross from the left by Graham Fyfe was met with a diving header from 8 yards by Kayode Odejayi, however the ex Forest Green man somehow planted his header inches wide to the dismay of the C and G. How did he miss?

The Robins were now pressing on hard shooting towards the C and G End and an almighty goal mouth scramble with many Robins players trying to shoot goalwards ended with just a corner, there seemed to be some nasty challenges on the Northampton 'keeper but having known he had made a bad mistake Mr Kettle couldn't really give a foul.

Cheltenham had bossed the 2nd half and deserved to atleast be level however on 73 minutes another questionable decison by Kettle resulted in a Northampton penalty. On the break a through ball by Josh Low was met by Martin Smith, he ran into the box and was being chased by Bertrand Cozic, there appeared to be a shoulder barge by Cozic on Smith as they entered the box and Mr Kettle adjudged this to be an ilegal foul and pointed to the spot. Smith stepped up and smashed the ball low to the left of Higgs.

Bobby Gould immediately made 2 changes sending on Lee Howells for his first appearance since breaking his leg against Bristol Rovers 2 seasons ago and Richard Forsyth for Griffin and Cozic.

What an impact Forsyth would have in the game. He would score with his first touch. A high ball was launched into the box and a Northampton defender appeared to push Bob Taylor. With usual penalty taker McCann away with the Northern Ireland squad in Ukraine Richard Forsyth stepped up, the crowd initially excited went quiet, Forsyth stepped up and stroked the penalty low to the right of Thompson. 3-2 and game on!

Roared on by a hopeful Cheltenham crowed the Robions sensed there was now a chance to get something out of the game. Paul Brayson was sent on for Odejayi and was involved in the lead up to the third penalty given on the night. A neat sequence of passes between Fyfe and Brayson saw Victory surge into the box and he was clearly tripped. Forsyth stepped up again, the tension was unbearable, he struck the ball in the same corner as before and the crowd went wild, however Kettle was at it again and ordered the kick to be re taken for encroachment, how Forsyth composed himself I dont know, but compose himself he did and planted the re take in the same corner to make it 3-3!

It looked like we had saved a point from a thrilling game but the unthinkable was to happen and a last minute winner for Cheltenham in comical circumstances. A long ball forward by Mike Duff seemed to cause panic in the Northampton defence, 2 Cobblers defenders collided and the ball ran free to Devaney who only had Thompson to beat, and beat him he did with a calm low finish to send the crowd crazy!

The game finished, a thrilling game that will live in the memory for a long time, we had a comical ref, great goals, tension, last minute winners, everything you could ask for. Special praise to Richard Forsyth who on the nights actually scored 3 penalties. Well done lads for the battling performance.

There were 5,002 there on Friday and with the next home game against Oxford it will be very dissapointing to see less than 5,500 there. Remember any fans over 4,000 is un budgeted for money so make sure you get down to Whaddon Road for what should be a thriller.

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F/T 4-3

CHELTENHAM TOWN: Higgs, Griffin (Howells 74), M.Duff, Jones, Vicory, Devaney, Yates, Cozic (Forsyth 74), Fyfe, Odejayi (Brayson 81), Taylor.

NORTHAMPTON TOWN: Thompson, Chambers, Sampson, Reid, Clark (Carruthers 86), Low, Harsley, Westwood (Burgess 21), Hargreaves, Dudfield, Smith (Richards 81).

Attendance 5,002