Jon Brady hails Tony Springett as Northampton steal late point at Oxford
Northampton boss Jon Brady was full of praise for Tony Springett after he scored a stoppage-time equaliser to clinch a point in a 2-2 League One draw at near-neighbours Oxford.
The on-loan Norwich winger showed good composure with a tidy finish in a crowded goalmouth after collecting Will Hoskins’ left-wing cross for his first league goal.
Brady said: “It was an excellent moment for Tony and I’m really pleased for him. He’s had to be patient for his opportunities.
“He came on today and the little dummy he did just before when the ball comes across goal… he’s calm enough to move the defender and it was an excellent finish.
“It was a fantastic point overall and I’m very pleased for the boys.
“I felt we were very disciplined in our approach tonight and clinical.
“We reduced them to a lot of shots from distance. (Goalkeeper) Louie Moulden came to the fore right at the end but apart from that, they didn’t really trouble us.”
Oxford led through Josh Murphy’s thunderbolt in the fifth minute but Cobblers levelled through Will Hondermarck, 10 minutes before the break.
Will Goodwin scored his first goal for the U’s by diverting in Owen Dale’s cross in the 81st minute to put Oxford 2-1 up, but Springett earned Northampton a point with his composed finish in the third minute of stoppage-time.
Brady added: “The first goal that we conceded, we’ve got to do better.
“Our players are absolutely excellent in terms of discipline and work rate.
“After conceding early tonight we showed immense character out of possession and I can’t really remember them troubling us apart from distance and our own mistakes.
“They can have all the possession they wanted tonight, it was how we dealt with it out of possession and I felt we controlled the game that way.”
The U’s have now drawn five of their last six matches to sit fifth in the table but have played two games more than seventh-placed Stevenage.
Oxford head coach Des Buckingham said: “We picked an attacking line-up and to score after only five or six minutes put us on a good front foot.
“We did enough with the changes we made in the second half to get back in front and then it was a matter of making sure we manage those final few minutes.
“There’s a big hint of offside with Northampton’s second goal, but there were still many things we could have done better after that moment.
“It’s frustrating to leave with what we thought would be three points and end up with the one.
“We’re six games unbeaten and I know people don’t want to hear that because most of them are draws rather than wins.
“The most important thing is we’re picking up results and it keeps us in and around where we want to be.
“We’ll get better and get stronger every week.”
Related items
-
Martino looking to Suarez's influence with Messi involvement still unsure
Miami head coach Gerardo Martino is hoping Luis Suarez's influence can inspire the team to victory once again when they welcome Philadelphia Union to Chase Stadium.
The Herons have already clinched an MLS playoff place and recorded an impressive 4-1 victory over Chicago Fire last time out.
Suarez scored twice in his last two matches, propelling Miami to 59 points on top of the Eastern Conference, and Martino has been impressed with how the Uruguayan has led the line.
"Luis was probably the best player on the field [against Chicago], but I don't want to focus only on the goals because that is normal for him," he said.
"I prefer to focus on his game as a whole, the ball circulation and all the passes to midfielders and, because of that, we can play in other parts of the field. He did that very well."
Miami have been without talisman Lionel Messi since MLS action returned due to an ankle injury he sustained in the Copa America final, but Julian Gressel believes he could be back soon.
"It's nice to see [Messi] back out there," Gressel told the Player/Manager podcast. "If you can add a guy like that after what we've done over the past two months, it's certainly going to be an interesting kind of finish to the end here."
Meanwhile, Philadelphia are 11th in the standings but got back to winning ways with a 2-0 victory over New York Red Bulls last time out.
Head coach Jim Curtin was pleased to grind out the win but believes there are still improvements to be made.
"We were all disappointed with losing to a very strong Columbus team, but I had a good response [against New York RB]," Curtin said.
"I think big picture wise, if you look at the first 15 minutes of [the New York] game, that's us at our best. We have it in us, and now the challenge is to sustain it for all 90."
PLAYERS TO WATCH
Inter Miami – Luis Suarez
Since the return of MLS action following the Leagues Cup break, Suarez has been running defences riot, scoring braces against both Cincinnati and Chicago Fire.
Against the Fire last weekend, he had the most shots (nine), shots on target (five), big chances (three) and touches in the opposition box (10), proving a constant threat in just under 80 minutes.
Philadelphia Union – Mikael Uhre
Mikael Uhre returned to the scoresheet against the New York Red Bulls last time out, netting his seventh goal of the season, the joint-second-highest tally in the team this season.
He is also known for his creative ability though, as his assist for Tai Baribo was his fifth of the campaign, with only Kai Wagner playing on more.
MATCH PREDICTION: INTER MIAMI WIN
Miami have recorded wins in each of their last two matches against the Union in all competitions. The Herons had won just two of their first eight all-time matches against Philadelphia (D2 L4).
Miami are just the second team in the post-shootout era (since 2000) to record 15 wins in a span of 19 matches in a single regular season (after Seattle Sounders in 2018). No team in the post-shootout era has won 16 times in a span of 20 matches within a single regular season.
Meanwhile, Philadelphia snapped a four-match regular-season road losing streak with a 2-0 win at the Red Bulls on August 31. Those four losses are the Union's only road defeats of the regular season in 2024 (W4 D5).
OPTA WIN PROBABILITY
Inter Miami – 51.8%
Draw – 24.6%
Philadelphia Union – 23.6%
-
McClaren basks in first win as Reggae Boyz edge Honduras to keep quarterfinal hopes alive
Steve McClaren is savouring his first victory since taking the reins as Jamaica’s senior Reggae Boyz head coach after they secured a 2-1 win over Honduras in hostile territory, a scoreline that kept their Concacaf Nations League quarterfinal hopes alive.
The hard-fought League A battle in Tegucigalpa on Tuesday saw McClaren's men step up under immense pressure, especially following their opening draw against Cuba, which meant they had to rebound to improve their chances of finishing in the top two.
A 49th-minute own goal by Denil Maldonado and Michail Antonio’s 76th-minute penalty got the job done for the Boyz, who moved to the top of the Group B standings on four points, the same as Nicaragua, who were held to a 1-1 stalemate by Cuba. Honduras, who had their goal from David Ruiz in the 50th minute, were relegated to third on three points, with Cuba (two points), French Guiana (one point), and Trinidad and Tobago (one point) rounding out the group.
McClaren, who took charge of the team ahead of the tournament, credited the victory to the team’s blend of youth and experience.
“We had Premier League players out there, Ethan Pinnock, Antonio, and others, but we also had some new players coming on. We gave an opportunity to Norman Campbell, and yeah, he persisted and got us the first goal, then introduced Kaheim Dixon. So we had on the field a really nice blend of personalities of the older guys, looking after the younger guys,” McClaren said in a post-match press conference.