Boro’s first ever win at Sixfields came courtesy of Carl Piergianni’s scrappy late goal as Steve Evans’ side began life in the third tier with three well-deserved points.

Cobblers hit the frame of the goal twice in the space of three minutes early on as Taye Ashby-Hammond tipped Patrick Brough’s shot against the crossbar before Tyreece Simpson found the base of a post from an acute angle.

Stevenage enjoyed a good spell in the middle of the first half, with Ben Thompson sidefooting wide and Aaron Pressley volleying past the far post, and they continued to edge proceedings after the restart but clear-cut chances were few and far between.

The visitors failed to hit the target with a number of long-range efforts, but they increased the pressure and eventually took the lead with nine minutes remaining through Piergianni’s close-range finish.

Jordan Roberts was denied by Lee Burge before Marc Leonard nearly rescued a point for the Cobblers, with his stoppage-time free-kick dropping narrowly wide.