Men's 3rd XI made to work hard to defeat Cambridge South 5

Kettering entertained Cambridge South 5th XI and they looked to continue their recent run of good league form. They started very brightly and quickly pressured the Cambridge defence. The breakthrough came after ten minutes. Kettering capped a period of sustained attacking when captain Neil Manley found Jacob Tattersall in space on the right hand side of the circle. The youngster cut inside his opponent and then fired in a reverse-stick shot that deflected over the Cambridge keeper.

The home side forced a series of short corners but they were denied by the combination of a fast defender, a good goalkeeper and some profligacy on their own part. They were made to pay the price when the visitors were awarded a short corner of their own after a rare foray into the Kettering circle. South flicked a shot from the top of the circle which goalkeeper Sam Berridge could only partially deflect and the scores were level.

Kettering didn't panic because they knew they were playing well and the goals would come. After 30 minutes the ball was in the back of the net but the goal was ruled out by the umpire. Undeterred, they regained their lead two minutes later. Ben Mills was picked out at the top of the circle and although he was forced onto his reverse stick, he was still able to fire in a powerful shot into the bottom corner.

At half-time, Kettering stressed the importance of scoring the next goal and that man Mills duly delivered. From a short corner the ball was played out to Mark Hawkins who stopped it cleanly for Mills to score with a well-placed drag flick. Kettering continued to control the second-half and Tattersall, playing in a less familiar role of right midfield, put in another starring performance. His positional play and deft control was too good for the visitors and he earned his side a number of short corner chances as well as forcing a number of saves from the very busy South goalkeeper.

Kettering's fourth came from yet another short corner. The ball was switched to Andy Bull who nutmegged the outrushing goalkeeper with his shot. The game was wrapped up in the 62nd minute when Tattersall found space in the centre of the circle and he finished with a composed shot into the corner of the goal.

Next week Kettering travel to Ely for a vital encounter that will go a long way to determine the outcome of the league.