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A clenched fist and roar to the travelling fans said it all: Phil Parkinson enjoyed this one.
After adding to an ever-growing list of hard-fought away wins earned this season, the Wanderers boss admitted three points at Northampton Town tasted as sweet as anything which had gone before.
Parkinson had been wary of a backlash from the Cobblers, who had lost their way a little in recent weeks. And though his side played some gorgeous football in the first half, leading through Zach Clough’s strike, the second period proved to be a time for rolling up sleeves and defending Ben Alnwick’s goal.
“It was a dangerous game – they had lost three in a row and it wasn’t so long they were up in the play-offs,” the manager told The Bolton News. “I thought first half we dominated for long periods and scored a fantastic goal and second half they went really direct with two big lads up there. We didn’t have our biggest back four in there and were always going to come under pressure.
“It took a lot of good decision making, a lot of people being in the right positions for the second ball if we couldn’t win the first one.
“It was difficult to get control of the game because of the way they were playing, getting the ball up quickly to Marc Richards and Alex Revell.
“In the main we dealt with it really, really well. Derik Osede is a footballing centre-back but he did great and he coped with everything.”
Parkinson is proving adept at sending his team out ‘on-message’ and called a meeting on the eve of the game to reinforce what he needed from his players once more.
A fortnight earlier at Peterborough United the Whites were quite out of sorts, finding their preparation for the game disturbed and paying for a slow start at London Road.
The Wanderers boss was keen to ensure there would be no repeat.
“We said to the lads in the hotel before the game that we needed to reset our mentality a little bit after the last game away from home at Peterborough,” he said. “We went through the wins we’d had away, how hard-fought they had been, and this was another one of them.
“Every game is so difficult. You have to fight all over the pitch and deserve every point you get in this division.
“There is a 16-day break between this and the Sheffield United game in the FA Cup, which made it so important that we got the points.
“It was tough, it was tight but I was so happy we held on to the win. It was a game that if you were not really up for the battle you’d be turned over.”
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After adding to an ever-growing list of hard-fought away wins earned this season, the Wanderers boss admitted three points at Northampton Town tasted as sweet as anything which had gone before.
Parkinson had been wary of a backlash from the Cobblers, who had lost their way a little in recent weeks. And though his side played some gorgeous football in the first half, leading through Zach Clough’s strike, the second period proved to be a time for rolling up sleeves and defending Ben Alnwick’s goal.
“It was a dangerous game – they had lost three in a row and it wasn’t so long they were up in the play-offs,” the manager told The Bolton News. “I thought first half we dominated for long periods and scored a fantastic goal and second half they went really direct with two big lads up there. We didn’t have our biggest back four in there and were always going to come under pressure.
“It took a lot of good decision making, a lot of people being in the right positions for the second ball if we couldn’t win the first one.
“It was difficult to get control of the game because of the way they were playing, getting the ball up quickly to Marc Richards and Alex Revell.
“In the main we dealt with it really, really well. Derik Osede is a footballing centre-back but he did great and he coped with everything.”
Parkinson is proving adept at sending his team out ‘on-message’ and called a meeting on the eve of the game to reinforce what he needed from his players once more.
A fortnight earlier at Peterborough United the Whites were quite out of sorts, finding their preparation for the game disturbed and paying for a slow start at London Road.
The Wanderers boss was keen to ensure there would be no repeat.
“We said to the lads in the hotel before the game that we needed to reset our mentality a little bit after the last game away from home at Peterborough,” he said. “We went through the wins we’d had away, how hard-fought they had been, and this was another one of them.
“Every game is so difficult. You have to fight all over the pitch and deserve every point you get in this division.
“There is a 16-day break between this and the Sheffield United game in the FA Cup, which made it so important that we got the points.
“It was tough, it was tight but I was so happy we held on to the win. It was a game that if you were not really up for the battle you’d be turned over.”
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