Brady sees positives and negatives after Cobblers start new League One season with a defeat

Cobblers boss Jon Brady saw both positives and negatives from his side after they started the new League One season with a 1-0 home defeat to Stevenage.

Town played well in the first half at Sixfields and created the two best chances, but Taye Ashby-Hammond tipped Patrick Brough’s shot onto the crossbar before Tyreece Simpson found the base of the post.

Battling the conditions, and a bit of fatigue, Cobblers faded after the break and Carl Piergianni’s scruffy late winner ensured Stevenage won the battle between two teams who are new to the division.

"I thought we were excellent in the first half and that was clear for everyone to see," said Brady. "We should put those chances away. We hit the post twice, we had some good entries into their six-yard box and flashed some crosses into the area.

"We controlled play really, really well but we came out for the second half and had the wind and rain in our face and it was hard for us to get out. They're very good at turning the ball in behind your back-line and hurting you and they do it constantly, but to control the play we needed to be better on the ball in the second half.

"We weren't great in possession in the second half. We need to make better decisions and show more composure in those moments because the ball was turned back to them too much. That was disappointing because we controlled the game so well in the first half, but you've got to take the positives and there was certainly a lot to be encouraged about."