Narrow loss for Men's 3rds

The Men's 3rds/4ths took on Market Harborough 3rds in their second friendly of the pre-season. Overall, the team put in a much improved performance from the previous week. Several players made their first appearance of the season which didn't help the cohesion, but did bolster the team overall.
Kettering learned their lesson from last week and were solid defensively. Some of the passing moves that Kettering put together were really slick and the team found themselves in many promising situations. Tom Storey looked very sharp in his first game of the season and he was ably supported by other young players, Dan Carter, Ethan Smart, Jacob Tattersall and Adam Mills. Unfortunately, Kettering couldn't apply the finishing touch and the first half finished goalless.
Early in the second half, the home side capitalised on a defensive slip and took the lead. That spurred Kettering on to re-double their efforts. Several penalty corners were awarded to the visitors but they couldn't be converted. Kettering kept pushing forward and Smart came close at the back post. Smart was also involved in the move that saw Carter's deflected shot well saved by the home keeper.
Kettering couldn't make the vital breakthrough, so the match finished 1-0. Much to be pleased with however and the pre-season build-up carries on next week with a 3rds v 4ths match.