Struggling Cheltenham Town and Northampton Town added a valuable point apiece to their respective tallies after this scrappy match at the Abbey Business Stadium.

John Schofield's side twice took the lead through Barry Hayles, but not for the first time this season Cheltenham's defensive failities reared their unwelcome head, this time to allow Adebayo Akinfenwa to level twice to earn his side a share of the spoils.

It was a far improved display after Tuesday's poor showing in Devon, but Cheltenham need to cut out the errors, and cut them out fast if they are going to assemble a run of results to pull themselves away from the Coca-Cola League Two basement,

The Robins have now won only once in 14 outings, while Northampton extended their winless run to seven games.

TEAM NEWS: Acting boss Schofield acted decisively following the reverse at Torquay United on Tuesday night, relegating defenders Drissa Diallo and Kyle Haynes to the bench. In came Bristol Rovers loanee David Pipe at right back, who appeared as a second half substitute in the game at Plainmoor, to make his home debut with Ian Eastham, the Blackpool centre halve partnering Andy Gallinagh in central defence. Joss Labadie, another of Schofield's loan acquisitions from West Bromwich Albion, picked up his fifth caution of the season in Devon and sat this one out through suspension. Julian Alsop came in alongside Justin Richards in attack.

11th minute: The home side fashioned the first real chance of the afternoon with 11 minutes on the clock, Ben Marshall calling Cobblers goalkeeper Chris Dunn into a far from assured save with a cross-cum-shot from the right. The Stoke winger swung the resulting corner in, and Eastham arrived at the near post to plant a header against the crossbar.

17: Alsop went close with a rare shot in the turn from 18 yards, pulling the effort wide of the left upright.

21 GOAL Cheltenham Town 1-0 Northampton Town
Hayles handed the home side, who had made the brighter start to the game, a deserved lead after 21 minutes by rounding off a well-crafted move which began with Richards picking up play down the left. Northampton had failed to clear their lines and the striker picked up play inside the box before spraying a pass out to Bird, who lifted a ball onto the head of Alsop who in turn picked out Hayles with a downward header, leaving the former Fulham striker to bundle home, with a little help from a touch from Ryan Gilligan, from eight yards.

23 GOAL: Cheltenham Town 1-1 Northampton Town
Northampton responded to the setback with a goal of their own only two minutes later, but it was sloppy from a Cheltenham perspective after Danny Swailes had aimed a ball towards Akinfenwa inside the area. The sizable striker couldn't control it, but Andy Gallinagh wasted the chance to clear his danger and it handed the striker the chance to place the ball inside the right post to level the match from 12 yards.

30 GOAL: Cheltenham Town 2-1 Northampton Town
It took seven minutes for Schofield's side to regain their lead, and again Alsop and Hayles combined to create it on the half hour. Marshall sent in a corner from the right-hand side, Alsop flicked it on and Hayles stabbed it home from a couple of yards.

39: Akinfenwa met Peter Gilbert's cross from the left with a glancing header, but the but dropped a couple of feet wide of the right post.

HALF TIME: 2-1

46 SUBSTITUTION: Billy McKay failed to reappear after the break and was replaced by Paul Rodgers on the right of midfield.

47 GOAL: Cheltenham Town 2-2 Northampton Town
Cheltenham were undone in the most direct way possible only two minutes after the restart after goalkeeper Dunn had pumped a long ball forward to the edge of the Cheltenham box. The Cheltenham defence were caught very square, allowing Akinfenwa to manoeuvre his huge frame into a position to poke the ball under the advancing Brown for his second equaliser of the afternoon, despite the best efforts of Eastham and Gallinagh.

53 BOOKING: Pipe picked up his second caution in as many games when he fouled Gilbert five yards inside his own half with 53 minutes on the clock.

54: Next, Marshall released a venomous strike from the best part of 25 yards but it was straight at Dunn, who held onto to it.

63 SUBSTITUTION: Dean Beckwith replaced Swailes at the heart of the Northampton defence.

66: Richards was handed the next opportunity of the afternoon, played in by Alsop from the right but the striker's goalbound shot from 20 yards picked up a deflection off a defender's knee for a corner. A moment later Bird forced another corner with a manacing free-kick to the near post from the left, while Northampton could only breathe a huge sigh of relief when Easham eventually blasted it over from 18 yards.

72: Richards skipped away from a couple of defenders before shooting wide from 22 yards out.

73: Akinfenwa wasted the chance to claim the match ball 17 minutes from time, missing the target after meeting a Gilbert cross from the left with a glancing header.

75: Pipe threatened the scoreboard, indicating 75 minutes played, with a 25 yarder which was always rising.

77 BOOKING: Alsop was carded for obstruction inside the Cobblers' area.

81 BOOKING: Next, skipper Craig Hinton went into the book for a clumsy challenge on Alsop.

88 SUBSTITUTION: Steve Guinan, the man that scored the goal at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff back in 2006 to send Cheltenham into League One, came on for the remaining three minutes.

89 SUBSTITUTION: Marley Watkins replaced Hayles for the final few minutes of the match, but neither of the late substitutes to could add dramatic twist to a relatively uneventful second half.

FULL TIME: 2-2

CHELTENHAM TOWN (4-4-2): Brown; Pipe, Eastham, Gallinagh, Low; Marshall, Bird, Lewis, Hayles (Watkins 89); Alsop, Richards. Subs not used: Diallo, Pook, Hutton, Hammond, Haynes,  Richardson (Gk).

NORTHAMPTON TOWN (4-4-2): Dunn; Johnson, Hinton (c), Swailes (Beckwith 63), Gilbert; McKay (Rodgers 46), Curtis, Gilligan, Holt; Akinfenwa, Herbert (Guinan 88). Subs not used:  Dyer, Jacobs, Brown (Gk), Kanyuka.

REFEREE: K Evans

ATTENDANCE: 2,824 (244 from Northampton)

Murry Toms at the Abbey Business Stadium