Wycombe boss Matt Bloomfield hailed January signing Matt Butcher’s brilliance after his second-half brace sealed a 2-0 win over Northampton.
Butcher’s double – his first goals for the club – also completed a hat-trick of victories for Wycombe, although he waited until the 69th minute to break the deadlock.
Bloomfield insists the win is a wider reflection on Wycombe’s positive direction, though he remained fully focused on Sky Bet League One despite the fact they have a Wembley final against Peterborough next month.
He said: “As soon as I heard a whisper he (Butcher) was available I knew we had to get him.
“He’s been fantastic since coming to the football club and exactly what we needed.
“There’s been a lot of exciting news lately. There’s been too much talk of Wembley for my liking because I want to focus on these league games.
“The board have been amazing in their support and the hard work behind the scenes to provide better times ahead for this football club.
“I always felt our performances weren’t far away and now the work the boys have put in all season is being rewarded with wins.
“It was a stop-start first half, but in the second we found a spark and fresh energy.
“The boys that came on off the bench did that for us and that’s their job.
“I’m really pleased with the performance and the result. We’ve started to get the results that our performances have deserved.”
In contrast, one win in seven games makes for poor reading in the latter part of Northampton’s season.
Boss Jon Brady insisted he does not want the defeat to signal an end to his side’s campaign as their dismal recent form leaves little to fight for.
He said: “I said to the boys I think it’s a mindset. I don’t want the season to drift, I want to finish strong.
“The game was scrappy. You come to Wycombe and you know you’ll have to battle and fight.
“I thought there was nothing in the game until the first goal and it was a very soft goal, as was the second.
“We come away very frustrated on the day.
“The second one was looped into the back corner and it should be saved, but there you go.
“We had little half chances, but not much more than that. The differences are in both boxes. We shouldn’t concede those two goals.
“Even if we aren’t scoring at the other end, we should come out of that game 0-0.
“We got ourselves in a good position, but we need to be better and get our edge.
“I feel that we’ve lost our edge in our mindset and our play as well.”