Northampton Town defeated local rivals Peterborough 2-1 at Sixfields thanks to a double by Cameron McGeehan.

In the first game after Jon Brady quit following over three years in charge, McGeehan scored a winning goal six minutes from time after his first goal had been cancelled out by Peterborough’s Malik Mothersille.

Victory was the Cobblers’ first since beating Crawley in late October, while a second home win in a row over Peterborough means Northampton are now level on points with their rivals, albeit having played a game more.

The Cobblers were overseen by Ian Sampson, who was taking caretaker charge after the surprise resignation of Brady after a midweek reversal at Stevenage.

On a Monday night in front of the Sky cameras, Northampton made the brighter start but the first major chance fell the visitors’ way as Archie Collins saw a drive from outside the box denied by Nik Tzanev.

A chance presented itself for McGeehan just after, with the former Luton man denied by visiting goalkeeper Nicholas Bilokapic.

Northampton then broke the deadlock in the opening minutes of the second half. From a Mitch Pinnock corner, McGeehan ended up stealing a match at the back post to flick a finish past Bilokapic.

The Peterborough keeper claimed he had been fouled by Sam Hoskins in preventing him from reaching it, while replays suggested the ball may have touched McGeehan’s hand as part of his control of the ball, but the referee declined to penalise either offence and Northampton had the lead.

Posh, however, would equalise within ten minutes. Cian Hayes’ cross was flicked on by Ricky-Jade Jones under pressure from a defender to fall kindly for Mothersille, who tapped the ball in at the back post.

In the early stages of the second half, Mothersille would force a stop out of Tzanev as the home side had a bright start to proceedings.

With just over 20 minutes to go, the visitors missed a big chance to take the lead when Jones blasted a shot over the top from close range after being played in by Joel Randall in a great position to score.

Northampton then stunned the Posh with an 84th minute winner, as Tyler Roberts received a ball into the box before teeing up McGeehan to poke the ball in the back of the net.

The Cobblers were duly able to pick up the points, as they ended their winless run and provided fans a tonic following Brady’s exit.

The team are next in action on Saturday, when they play Rotherham in South Yorkshire.