Mansfield boss Nigel Clough hailed “outstanding” goalkeeper Christy Pym after Saturday’s 2-0 win against Northampton.
The Stags stopper was in brilliant form and made a series of superb saves at Sixfields, the best of which came from Tariqe Fosu’s first-half penalty.
Pym also denied one-on-one chances against Cameron McGeehan and Mitch Pinnock, and his efforts were rewarded in the second half when goals from Will Evans and Aaron Lewis continued Mansfield’s strong start to the season.
Clough said: “It was a scrappy game in some ways but there were a lot of chances for both teams and the main reason we kept a clean sheet was because of our goalkeeper.
“It was an outstanding performance and he’s been absolutely immaculate for us recently. He made the penalty save – it’s a different game if that goes in.
“He’s an exceptional professional and a very good character and his last three performances have been excellent.”
On the game itself, Clough added: “I thought we were too clever at times in the first half and we weren’t brave enough on the ball, but I thought we always looked a threat and it wasn’t all one-way traffic.
“We said at half-time that we’d create chances with better service and we started the second half much better. We got on the front foot and played forward.
“Our work-rate earned us the three points but I thought Northampton played some good stuff and they were a real threat with the three players they had up front.
“They have some very, very good forward players and we had to be at our best but we got through an iffy period in the first half and then we grew in stature in the second half.”
Northampton boss Jon Brady described his side’s display as their best of the season.
“The performance was certainly there,” he said. “In my opinion that was our best performance of the season so far in terms of how we played on the ball and the chances we created.
“We could easily have been two or three goals up at half-time. The penalty is a big moment. If we score that I think we would have been in control, but we miss it and then we concede at the start of the second half and we’re chasing the game.
“We opened up more and more and they got some good chances because of that, but we’re not going to sit back.
“We’re going to go for it and try and get back into the game and we had some more great chances in the second half, but again we didn’t put them into the back of the net and that’s the difference.
“There are lots of positives for us.”
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