PAUL TROLLOPE’S side made heavy weather of beating relegation-threatened Cobblers but the coach was more than happy with the response to his call for commitment after two successive defeats.

It took a Jo Kuffour goal – his tenth of the season, nine for Rovers and one for Bournemouth – after 72 minutes to provide the only breakthrough, though both sides had plenty of other opportunities.

Town boss Stuart Gray, who feels his team can haul themselves clear of the bottom four with six games left, said: “We worked out socks off. We had clear-cut, great goal-scoring chances but we fell to a sucker punch. We certainly deserved something out of the game.”

He felt there had been a foul on goalkeeper Chris Dunn before the goal but Trollope not surprisingly disagreed.

What did upset Trollope, players and fans alike was when Town defender Chris Doig drove a dropped ball into touch way down the pitch when Rovers had been expecting him to push it straight to home ’keeper Steve Phillips. But the coach said that Doig later apologised and said he had intended to give the ball to Philips.

There was little to shade the first half, with Rovers’ leading League One scorer Rickie Lambert trying his free-kick skills from all of 40 yards and just clearing the bar. Danny Jackman had a go at the other end from 25 yards, his effort again just over.

Scott Vernon had a gilt-edge chance to fire Town ahead but his header from six yards went direct into Phillips’s arms. Skipper Stuart Campbell set up Kuffour for a neat lob but Dunn finger-tipped the ball over. Jeff Hughes had two opportunities in first half stoppage time but saw his strikes blocked and then go wide.

Kuffour put a good chance wide before he finally put Rovers ahead courtesy of a David Pipe cross which Town struggled to clear. Hughes hooked the ball off the line at the other end before Dunn brilliantly palmed away another Kuffour strike.

Northampton staged a late rally, Adebayo Akinfenwa squandered another superb opportunity heading straight at Phillips from six yards, while Phillips finally had to make a telling save close to the end, pushing away Liam Davis’s 25-yarder.

Rovers: Phillips; Lescott, Anthony, Elliott, Jacobson; Pipe, Campbell, Lines, Hughes; Kuffour (Duffy 86 mins), Lambert. Subs not used: St Louis-Hamilton, Hinton, Disley, Rigg.

Attendance: 6,666.