New signing from Scarborough Stewart Morris made his debut up front for the Blues and Dean Jones returned once again to the defence as the Blues started well at Northampton's Sixfields Stadium. Kicking towards their away following of around 500 Frickley held their own for the first 18 minutes with there being nothing to choose between the two sides until, from nowhere, the home side took the lead in the 19th minute with John Frain coming in unmarked on the left to sweep the ball past Mark Wilkinson. For a while the Blues lost their shape as the Second Division high flyers started to dominate with Hargreaves firing over on 34 minutes after the Blues could only half clear a corner but the last five minutes of the half belonged to the Blues. First Steve Price forced his way forward from midfield to fire wide from 20 yards when being pulled and tugged from behind and then on the stroke of half time Chris Hurst was presented with a golden opportunity to pull the Blues level. Chris Hilton took the ball down the right before crossing to pick out the unmarked Hurst on the left edge of the box but he chose to kill the ball and way up his options before shooting, allowing a defender to close him down.

Frickley came out for the second half and took the game to the Cobblers, being unfortunate not to equalise on two occasions before Northampton stretched their lead. First on 50 minutes Price beat Welch with a shot which came back off the crossbar and then four minutes later Morris had the ball in the net only for it to be ruled out for offside. This was to prove crucial as on 56 minutes Brendan West was robbed by Forrester in the box and he made no mistake, firing low past Wilkinson from 10 yards. Knowing they had nothing to lose Frickley continued to push for a goal with Gary Duffty breaking clear down the left and advancing to the box before sending an angled shot into the side netting. Then on 71 minutes Hilton sent a clearance up field which saw Morris beat a defender before cutting inside and firing in a low shot which was straight at Welch. On 81 minutes the Cobblers all but sewed the game up. A long ball out of defence set Forrester away and although Lafferty tracked him he couldn't prevent him from sending a brilliant chip over Wilkinson from around 25 yards. Three minutes later Northampton added a fourth when Jones' half hit clearance fell to Hunt on the edge of the box and he gave Wilkinson no chance, firing through a crowded penalty area from 18 yards.

All in all it was a good performance by the Blues who were unfortunate to be beaten by such a large margin. In midfield their was very little to choose between the two sides which should bode well for the rest of the season but the big difference was up front. Although Morris is quick and looked lively both he and Duffty were towered over by the Northampton defence and got very little change out of them. At the other end the Blues defence played well but made two errors and were punished for them where as they might expect to get away with them at UniBond level.

Finally, 500 or so supporters made the trip to Sixfields and paid £12 to get in. Where are they week in week out at Westfueld Lane? If only half of those 500 came every week the club would be in a lot healthier state.

Frickley Athletic : Mark Wilkinson, Hilton, Lafferty, Jones, West, Hanby, Morris, Price, Duffty (Matt. Wilkinson 75), Hurst, Edge (Brookes 86). Unused Subs. Burton, Fox, Collins.

Attendance : 3896