Instantly on the attack the Gas put in a free flowing performance that put to rest some of the fears that were rumbling around the minds of fans following the Torquay defeat, Jo Kuffour grabbing the opener and Matt Harrold hitting the winner in the 2-1 win, sandwiched either side of a fluke deflection that rolled agonisingly over the line off Adebayo Akinfenwa.
Questions were asked of the defence on Saturday and, despite a couple of blips, the Rovers back four looked fairly secure. There was one change to the defensive line up that started against the Gulls, full back Michael Smith was dropped in place of Cian Bolger, the bleach blonde Irishman moving into the centre, thus allowing Byron Anthony to take up the position on the right hand side of the defence.
It was Bolger's first appearance since the start of his second loan spell at the Memorial Stadium and the 19 year old justified his selection, winning numerous aerial tussles and pulling off a superb recovering tackle during the second half that denied Michael Jacobs a clear sight of goal.
Bolger did give the home support a couple of heart-in-mouth moments, it was his attempted clearance that ricocheted off Akinfenwa for the Northampton goal and early on the youngster was clearly pumped up, twice breaking the defensive line to press the Cobbler in possession, getting turned on one occasion, but the overall performance was effective and showed off the strengths the Leicester loanee possesses.
At right back Anthony looked defensively solid for the majority of the game, though the introduction of the fleet-footed Lewis Young, brother of Manchester United winger Ashley, gave the Welshman a tough second half. Anthony successfully solidified the defence that looked shaky against Torquay which will have pleased Paul Buckle and vindicated the changes he made, though Anthony is clearly not as comfortable going forward as the man he replaced on the right.
Young's pace and hugging of the touchline gave Anthony a headache and eventually required a second man to come across to contain the quick-witted winger but the side looked overall stronger with the experience of the former Cardiff City youth in its ranks.
Adam Virgo was one of those who took flak following the weekends loss but Northampton found the central defender in fine form, coping well with the height, strength and general imposition of both Bas Savage and Akinfenwa as well as containing the dangerous movement of Jake Robinson. His forward distribution, the majority of which came in the form of high balls towards the tall figure of Harrold, could do with some work and the occasional change in tact but Virgo's first job is to defend and he did so with an air of composure.
Of all those who started at the back the most comfortable was the man with the least Football League experience, Lee Brown. A summer signing from QPR you could argue that Brown was originally brought in as back up to Gary Sawyer but the injury to the latter has given the 20 year old a chance to shine, one that he has firmly grasped.
At 6ft tall the full back stands as a commanding figure on the left hand side and was rarely beaten either on his flank or in the air while his first touch and coolness in possession, not to mention his passing from the back, looked more like that of a player with far more experience.
Going forward, too, Brown has shown his eagerness to not only prevent but to provide, flying down the wing to overlap Scott McGleish before the addition of his namesake Wayne, deployed in a more central role, gave Lee more space to roam in down the left from where he was able to swing in a number of dangerous crosses throughout the evening, almost setting up Kuffour with an exquisite running centre in the first half.
There is still the odd defensive frailty to work on in training and, when playing with such an attacking mindset, there is often going to be a great deal of pressure loaded upon the shoulders of those at the back, most likely coming from the opposition breaking from within their own half, but on Tuesday's display things look far more secure than before.
Progress is being made and add into the equation the talented attacking players in Paul Buckle's hands Rovers look increasingly hard to better at both ends with every game that goes by.
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