Clinical Spalding punish rejuvenated Kettering side

In oddly sunny weather, Kettering arrived at the playground/graveyard that houses the Spalding pitch. To everyone's pleasant surprise upon arriving, the shipping container that had previously passed as changing rooms was now gone and KM2s suited up in the conference room above the Spalding Hockey Club café - James Hogg would've been beside himself. Kettering wandered onto the side of the pitch and watched the end of the preceding game and before long their own match was underway...
As soon as the whistle blew, Kettering seemed to dominate. Richard Lashbrooke was typically classy and Tom Storey was extremely unlucky to miss by mere inches after sliding a shot under the keeper. It was nice to be playing good hockey again after a couple of weeks of having something lacking. In spite of Kettering pressure, Spalding were old hands - having played in the league above last season - and not only weathered the Kettering storm but managed to make the most of Kettering's eagerness to score. When Kettering committed eight players to a short corner, Spalding quickly dealt with the threat - thanks to a rapid number one runner - and overwhelmed Neil Freeman and Archie Colwill; calmly slotting home what was an excellent goal, though perhaps an avoidable one... The game restarted and the game began to level out. Kettering were still eager to push on ahead. The heavens opened just before Spalding's second. Biblical rain set the scene for a goal that came straight from the training ground and was executed to perfection. A Spalding player drove down the left baseline whilst the other forwards darted and weaved with incredible fluency. A man managed to break free and deflected the cross into the net. A truly perfect goal and one that Kettering couldn't begrudge them - they'd simply been outplayed. Kettering still kept pressing but their willingness to play direct balls into the 'D' was welcomed by the Spalding defence, who mopped up every cross without much trouble. A Spalding third came from keeper Matt Coe attempting to clear a knee-high shot with his weaker left leg and instead letting the shot fly straight through his legs. It was still 3 - 0 to the home team at half time.
Kettering began the second half by stepping up their play. Jack Bridges was playing the best that anybody had seen him and Adam Mills' exceptional drive down the pitch from right-back ended with his cross from the baseline being put in by Ben York. 3 - 1! As it always seems to be with KM2s, whenever they play like they're supposed to they're as good as they think. A second Kettering goal came from fantastic passing play, leading to Oliver Smith slotting the ball in past the goalie and making it 3 - 2! However it wasn't to be the romantic comeback that Kettering dreamed of... That being said, Spalding heads did go down and a period of Kettering possession in the opposition half resulted in some good play. Alas, it couldn't end in punishment for Spalding. Thunder rumbled as Spalding scored their fourth: a forward who'd escaped the view of Neil Freeman, in spite of lots of shouting to alert him, slipped the ball into the far-side netting to make it 4 -2. Spalding were certainly proving themselves to be exceptionally clinical, barely missing a shot all game. Spalding's fifth was an odd goal: a short-corner was well defended by three Kettering men (Adam Mills had ran early and was sent to the halfway line), though a powerful shot was still managed. It was saved by the keeper's stick and accidently deflected onto the head of another Spalding forward lingering on the line. Another short-corner was given with only three Kettering outfield players allowed to defend it, despite claims that the ball had left the 'D' after the initial shot. Regardless, Spalding scored the resulting short-corner. 5 - 2. Kettering still continued to push forward though and were never out the game. Things began to get heated and sticks and words began to fly along with lots of falling over, either the result of another player or the very wet and slippy pitch. Passions flew so high that in his haste to restart the game from a Spading 'sixteen', Smith threw the ball to the Spalding player in what was deemed to be a dangerous way - green card Smith. Never one to take injustices quietly, Smith foolishly voiced his discontent to the umpire - yellow card Smith. A last-minute SC couldn't provide Kettering with another goal, Jason Clarke deciding to take on a shot and ignoring the unmarked Tom Storey.
5 - 2: a flattering score-line for the hosts. Reggie Payne's men played the best they had in several weeks and will hopefully continue this form next week.