Aidy Boothroyd's side may have gone into the game with Cheltenham on Saturday in the bottom two of League Two but the manager was in bullish mood beforehand, telling the official NTFC website that his squad were 'on the cusp of something good.'
Town's fragile confidence, however, was tested further when Harrison put the visitors in front just before the 10 minute mark.
Kevin Amankwaah missed the game after he sustained a hamstring injury in the midweek defeat at the hands of Rochdale, joining Roy O'Donovan and Clive Platt on the injured list while all eyes were on in-form loan striker Luke Norris after his goalscoring start to life as a Cobblers player.
And it was Norris who made it three goals in as many games when he netted a crucial equaliser ahead of the half-time whistle.
Cheltenham had struggled themselves at the start of the season but were keen to take a measure of revenge for their play-off semi-final defeat against Northampton.
They threw veteran striker Jamie Cureton on with 15 minutes remaining but the scoreline remained the same, much to the frustration of visiting boss Mark Yates.
He told his club's official website: "When we went 1-0 at only 70-75 percent we should have put our fot on their throat and killed them off."
Boothroyd agreed with the assessment of his opposite number, admitting that Town had not been at their best but praising his players for 'digging in' to achieve a result.