Over 45s go marching on

A chilly start and a drive to Evesham waiting for the call that the pitch was frosted over. No call, game one with a slight delay to let the pitch recover from the low temperatures of the night before. The hosts looked well up for the match, even having a sub goalkeeper, but were aware that Kettering put ten past Stourport in Round 1 and were last year's runners up. The host had some previous though as they were also runners up last year in the Over 35s plate final at Lee Valley.
The game started with Bretforton having the best of the opening phases but despite looking good in the warm up Kettering were not unduly worried by the hosts moving the ball about. A narrow escape early on saw Dusty Mason clear a goal bound shot but other than that it was the hosts who created the better opportunities. Kirsty Smith had a chance to score but couldn't make a clean contact and the visitors also forced a few short corners but none produced the breakthrough. The second half saw Kettering take a far more offensive position, pinning Bretforton back for long periods. A slight shuffling of the Kettering pack saw Chris Rowland-Jones snuff out any Bretforton threat.The game appeared to be going to penalties when with two minutes to go Kettering forced a short corner. A scramble saw Smith's wide shot inadvertently deflected in by a Bretforton defender's foot. Kettering comfortably played out the remainder of the game although Bretforton fought on but couldn't claim an equaliser.
This send Kettering through to the quarter finals of the Cup. A hard fought victory against a team that were disappointed not to win. The O45s Cup is becoming a hard competition to progress in.
Great travelling support and great to see Erica. Thanks to Nathan for umpiring.