Solid away win for 4's.

The 4ths travelled to the distant Wisbech for the fixture where we are in fact nearer to the sea than Kettering made abundantly clear by the plethora of seagulls present and the flatness of the surrounding scenery.

Arriving late because of the shear distance into the fens and also some road works the team gathered in the changing room for the team talk and also a little trip down memory lane with resident 4ths historian Tony Heath reminiscing at his last venture to the seaside town of Wisbech back in 1971 dropping in that he scored on said last appearance.

The game started in the usual fashion both teams trying to get the speed and feel of the game. Kettering with their clear plan of stretching the pitch using both wide midfielders and defenders as safe out balls, dragging the opposition wider and then using the ball intelligently to make some telling attacks. A few forays into the D were snubbed out by a resolute home defence ending in the attack fizzling out with no end product. However, pressure on the home defence at hit outs was yielding great profits and from one such event Curtis stole the ball and drove into the D to the byline and cut the ball back to the p-spot. The defence resorting to volleying the ball away to stop the approaching Tim McDowell from profiting. From the resulting short corner Heath rolled back the years (48 to be precise) and struvk a fierce and powerful shot into the goal. 1-0 to the good and this settled Kettering into the game plan. Paul Brooker the master of positioning and being where he is needed at that exact point in time, linking up with Curtis well down the right and striking up a lovely bond. Brooker picking the ball up on the right feeding Curtis; who was again revelling in that role where he drops deeper causing the defender to make the decision to follow or hold his line. Curtis played the ball back down the right completing the 1-2 with Brooker who glided past a player to cut the ball back to Curtis making it a 1-2-1-1-2 the defender conceding the foul on Curtis. From the resulting short, a 1-2 move between Brooker and Heath, set Brooker free to the left of the goal, this resulted in 5 shots from Brooker each 1 inch higher than the last, the final outcome was 10 minutes later when the keeper being fed up with Brooker's efforts decided to let the ball go over him. 2-0 to Kettering. the away team saw this an opportunity to relax and lose their intensity which only ended in Wisbech gaining some possession, territory and time in attack. Wisbech clawed one back in this period with the defence steady and solid all day apart from this lapse with slow reactions to a free hit and a pass across the D from Kettering to set the Wisbech striker nipping in and scoring the goal. Kettering sloppy since the 2nd goal needed to up their game. The forwards needing to hold the ball up better, the midfield needing to be crisper with the passing and the whole team needing to react quicker.

The 2nd half saw Kettering start with renewed vigour, which brought some sustained pressure and the 3rd goal came from a succession of short corners. Similar to the 2nd goal however Brooker swept in first time with aplomb. The next goal a lovely flowing move with with lots of fluid passing resulting in Tim McDowell being set free on the right to hit the ball in to the D committing the keeper into coming out to clear of danger but the very brave MIKE TANSER reverse sticked the ball past the keeper. Unhurt, TANSER was visibly buoyed. Constant pressure then ensued and lots of chances went begging. Until a goalmouth scramble, where the home defence pushed the ball to the edge of the D where Tim McDowell struck a lifted shot at goal which MIKE TANSER edged past the keeper into the vacant slip area also known as the goal. With the last play of the game the away skipper stole the ball and advanced through/round/passed a plethora of players playing a 1-2 and as he reached the D the umpire blew up just before Justin got the nose bleed.

MIKE TANSERS first goal was a great team effort with 8 players passing the ball in the move, well finished, it is deservedly in the running for goal of the season. This shows the progress the team has made this season and continues to do so

A special thankyou, should also go to the players that are on the fringes of the squad and don't play often. They all stepped up to the mark and didn't let the side down. Showing that if the men's section manage to get a 5th team together next season there is no reason that they won't be able to get some results.