Northampton Town hosted AFC Wimbledon at Sixfields on Tuesday night, the first of two vital home games in the space of five days against sides also in the bottom half of the League Two table.
The Cobblers came into the game on the back of a 1-1 draw at Morecambe which left them three points adrift of safety. Manager Chris Wilder had been relatively pleased with that performance but knew that time was running out for his side to convert draws into wins.
Wilder had strengthened his squad the day before the game with the loan signing of left-back Evan Horwood from Tranmere Rovers and he started on the substitutes’ bench.
Francomb opened the scoring for Wimbledon on 14 minutes but the turning point of the game came just before the half-hour mark when Midson was sent off for handball and Darren Carter netted the resulting penalty.
Town pressed for a second, Wilder making a triple substitution before the hour, and it was Carter who scored what seemed to be the crucial second with eleven minutes remaining.
Sammy Moore, however, scored in the 96th minute of the game to leave Northampton still two points adrift of safety and reflecting on a missed opportunity to put more pressure on the sides above them including freefalling Portsmouth who were beaten at Rochdale.