Mills and Mike's defensive delights

A quality point against a very strong Spalding 2s side on Saturday - certainly begging the question why they are below their third team in the league... With an injured Andy Sellers playing a managerial role from the side-line as a bonus, Kettering felt more confident than usual; and so the game began...
Spalding immediately showed themselves to be formidable opponents, spending the first 10 minutes of the half inside the Kettering sector. Kettering defended resolutely, but before long Spalding had gained the advantage - a well worked goal, exposing Kettering's non-committal marking. A final race to the ball between a Spalding forward and the Kettering goalie after a penetrating cross was only going to have one winner. 0 - 1. Yet, after this pivotal moment, the game seemed to blossom for Kettering, with Spalding barely getting in the home half from that moment. Some good attacking opportunities couldn't yield a goal - even with Tom Storey throwing himself on the ground several times to reach the ball as it flew in front of him. Alas, the first half ended with Kettering still that goal behind, but certainly not down and out.
The second half was by far the most interesting part of the game, at least from Kettering's point of view. Some nerve-wracking end-to-end play resulted in a short-corner for Kettering. Adam Mills' injection went straight to Adam Duell, who, in turn, slammed the ball into the bottom corner - going straight through the post-man. 1 - 1! The intense struggle for at least a point then began. Kettering couldn't find a winner, even with captain Ricky Payne unleashing his legendary reverse-stick shot. Spalding, in turn, were denied their winner several times: most brilliantly during a one-on-one with Matt Coe, the Spalding forward tried a lob, but Adam Mills had ran 3/4 of the length of the pitch(what must have felt like a marathon) to get back and cleared the ball off the line heroically (a stunt more than worthy of getting mentioned in the Evening Telegraph...). Michael Lavender pulled off a similar stunt; though his was the more traditional shot stop in a crowded 'D.' Both were vital moments, bringing on cheers from the crowd. As neither team could quite find a winner, the game ended 1-1 - a draw, unusually!

MoM: Adam Mills

DoD: Michael Lavender - for terrifying the crowd with his air-ball antics