Kettering 4-2 Saints 2nds

It is a measure of the journey that Kettering Men have made that 5 year’s ago this was a fixture against Saints 5th team. Next year the Club should be looking at a promotion to play their first team having blown away Saints 2nds in 50 minutes before tiring and taking their foot off the gas slightly.
Quickly out of the blocks Kettering possession based game and willingness to get the ball forward early saw a number of chances come and go before Dom Cusk slid the ball past the keeper. Lewis Pywell, who is looking sharp in front of goal, smashed home the second before the break. Generally playing on the counter attack any Saints incursions were well coped with by the Kettering backline.
The second half saw Kettering put the game to bed with a quick fire double. James Hogg was upended in the D and the resulting penalty was coolly dispatched by the reliable Pat Cawley. Jacques Lourens made it two in two with a short corner to end the game as a contest. Andy Sellers had a goal ruled out when the otherwise excellent umpires blew for a short corner just before he scored. Had it have gone to 5-0 Saints might have given up the ghost but Kettering’s all action style, and the after effects of a hard game on Wednesday, began to show as with only one sub Kettering began to tire. This gave 15 man Saints a foothold in the game as space opened up and a scrambled consolation quickly followed up with a 3 on 1 counter made the final minutes slightly more uncomfortable than they should have been. This showed Kettering the advantage of having a full bench to rotate, something they will be definitely taking into future games. With four players unavailable for this game skipper Grant Carlin has the luxury of the best strength in depth Kettering have had for many years.
Next Saturday sees Kettering face old rivals Market Harborough before a Monday night run out at Rugby. These will be the final two games before Kettering start their league adventures in Div 2N.