Cheltenham Town 0 Northampton Town 1: The sooner this most difficult of seasons draws to a close for Cheltenham Town the better.

A traumatic week for the club off the field ended with a very disappointing performance on it and they appear to be set to bow out of League One with a whimper.

The Robins slumped to their seventh defeat in succession at the hands of a struggling Northampton Town side that looked very beatable.

Boss Martin Allen's side have now gone 14 matches without a win and with a nine point gap between them and 23rd-placed Hereford, the club look set to finish bottom of a division for the first time since 1961-62.

Everyone at the club breathed a sigh of relief on Friday as chairman Paul Baker confirmed Cheltenham would not be slipping into administration.

The financial difficulties facing the Robins have undoubtedly eased the pressure on Allen, but he was subjected to some barracking from the terraces after some tactical decisions that he regarded as "sensible", but large sections of the home fans felt were unfathomable.

In several matches during the current barren run, Cheltenham have looked capable of scoring, but have leaked too many in at the other end.

On this occasion, the front end of the team did not function at all and Elvis Hammond struggled as the lone central striker, while Reading youngster Nicholas Bignall also endured a difficult afternoon.

There was not much to choose between two poor sides and Northampton's goal had some good fortune about it, but Cheltenham should be capable of winning games like this on their own turf.

The match had the feel of an end-of-season affair and the Cobblers' decisive strike arrived during time added on at the end of the first half.

It was the 72nd league goal Cheltenham have conceded this season, the most in their 10-year Football League history, with 14 games still to be played.

Leon Constantine burst into the box and only a superb lunging block from Shane Duff denied the big striker, but the loose ball fell to Jason Crowe for the most simple of tap-ins.

Central defender Drissa Diallo received another head injury in the first half and despite battling on until the break, the courageous Frenchman did not emerge for the second period and another nine stitches on his battered face mean he faces a spell on the sidelines.

Cheers greeted the replacement of Bignall with a fit-again Ashley Vincent, but when Ian Westlake was taken off in the 73rd minute as he prepared to deliver a corner, boos and chants of "you don't know what you're doing" rang around Whaddon Road.

The minds of the Cheltenham players appeared to be elsewhere and to say they looked short of confidence would be a major understatement.

The Robins now face trips to Swindon Town and runaway leaders Leicester City in the next five days.

Cheltenham have only won once away from home in the league since the magnificent 2-1 win at Leeds United on March 11 last year so the chances of their sorry position at the foot of the table improving any time soon are remote.

Cheltenham (4-3-3): Brown; Westwood, Duff, Diallo (Gallinagh 46), Ridley; Bird, Finnigan, Westlake (Owusu 73); Watkins, Hammond, Bignall (Vincent 53). Subs not used: Connor, Puddy.

Northampton (4-5-1): Dunn; Rodgers, Hughes, Doig, Jackman; Gilligan (Anya 89), Crowe, Osman, Dyer, Holt; Constantine. Subs not used: Coke, Larkin, Dolman, Walker.