Barnet 0-1 Northampton; Local Reports
McGleish had a molar knocked out in last Saturday's 2-2 draw at Stevenage, and has been on fire in front of goal ever since.
The striker bagged his 12th goal of the season at the weekend to secure a welcome three points for the Cobblers in a hard-fought encounter at Underhill. Town's leading scorer slammed home from the spot after Junior Mendes was scythed down in the box early in the second half at Barnet.
Mendes was a thorn in the hosts' side all game, and won the penalty after tackling Ismail Yakubu on the touchline and charging into the area. Damian Batt could only bring the on-loan pace ace down, and McGleish did the honours from 12 yards to make it six goals in his last nine Cobblers starts.
Afterwards McGleish revealed his form has really hit a purple patch since he lost a tooth at Broadhall Way - and says he won't be visiting the dentist while he's on such a good scoring run.
"I'm meant to see the dentist this week," admitted McGleish. "But maybe I should keep it like it is and see what happens.
"I think it needs a crown or a bridge or something. It needs a lot of work anyway and I think I'll be going in a few times to get it sorted out.
"But I might put it off now until the end of the season. I've scored again today - I thought the keeper might have watched the penalty I took on Tuesday but I struck it confidently and I think he got a finger on it but it went in."
As far as we know, Mendes has got all his own teeth and he adds plenty of bite to the Cobblers front line.
On Saturday he ran Barnet ragged with some spirited runs down the inside right channel both up and down the famous slope at Underhill. On 20 minutes, the on-loan Huddersfield striker was grounded on Town's left wing, Martin Smith drifted a cross in that McGleish slid into the net at the back post.
The goal was disallowed by the flag of a linesman who admitted at half-time he thought an offside player had flicked it on before it reached an onside McGleish.
Smith pinged a trademark long-distance volley just wide and David Rowson nodded wide from Hunt's long throw-in as the half was played out.
Town won and scored the penalty soon after the break and, with Barnet chasing the game, the space opened up for them to attack freely. Mendes tore through Barnet down the right, but his cross fell to Hunt who mishit a shot wide of the target, and seconds later he slid in Rowson, whose first touch took him past home keeper Ross Flitney but too wide for a shot and the chance was lost.
Josh Low enjoyed a couple of big sprints in the last 15 minutes - the second from one penalty area to the other - but neither came to anything.
Substitute Ryan Gilligan nearly added his own icing on the cake when he beat Flitney to a bouncing ball, but his header dropped just wide.
The win leaves the Cobblers two points off third place and well poised for a festive charge at the automatic promotion places.
Dyche happy to bag victory
The veteran defender started his first Town match in more than a month, coming in for Pedj Bojic at the heart of a back three that kept another clean sheet.
The victory means Dyche and his team-mates are now just two points away from the promised land of the Coca-Cola League Two top three.
And he says Saturday's win - only Town's seventh in the league so far - should have been by a much bigger margin.
"We worked very hard as a team and I think we opened them up enough times to win more comfortably than we did," said Dyche. "We're delighted to keep a clean sheet and they're always welcome. We had a bit of a disappointment in midweek and we're all aware of that.
"But we stood strong and opened them up on plenty of occasions, just like we did at Torquay really. You're always a big anxious on set-pieces but I think as far as Barnet's general play is concerned they didn't really hurt us too much."
Manager Colin Calderwood was delighted to welcome back a player with the experience and presence of Dyche, especially after the side had gained a habit of shipping late equalising goals in their last few matches.
The Scotsman questioned his side's professionalism in their 3-3 draw at Torquay last Tuesday, but had few complaints on Saturday despite the odd scare from a home side who never really tested goalkeeper Lee Harper.
"Sean Dyche adds a bit of experience to the back three and I think the last handful of goals we've conceded, three were very late in the game," said Calderwood. "Sometimes that experience in the last 10 minutes of games like Saturday's is enough to just see it out.
"We deserved a slightly bigger advantage at Barnet but our professionalism saw us through the last 10 minutes."
