Good league form continues

Kettering Men's 3rd XI resumed their league campaign when they entertained St Neots 5. The home side were hoping to improve upon the narrow loss they suffered in the reverse fixture.

Kettering gave a league debut to Archie Colwill who showed great skill and composure in an accomplished display. Mike Ramsay and keeper Ray Norwood also made their first appearances in over a month.

The home side started brightly and passed the ball around nicely. Unfortunately, it was St Neots who took the lead. A penalty corner strike went through the keeper and defender Matthew Bennett was unable to prevent the ball going over the line.

Undaunted, Kettering reapplied themselves and exerted considerable pressure on the St Neots goal. The home side looked particularly dangerous down the right through a combination of Ramsay, Tony Heath and James Hogg. Heath set up Ben York at the back post but his shot went agonisingly wide.
The deserved equaliser was inspired by an unlikely source. Defender Richard Middleton surged down the right wing and crossed powerfully to Ramsay on the penalty spot. His shot on the turn was too good for the St Neots keeper and at half-time the scores were level.

In the second period, Kettering carried on where they left off. Even when Ramsay was sin-binned, the home side controlled the match. Hogg had a shot well saved before that man Middleton intervened again. His brilliantly timed tackle led to the award of a free hit in a dangerous area. The Heath-York combination was reunited, this time with goal-scoring effect.

St Neots tried to respond but they could not find a way through a well-marshalled home defence. Promising youngster Jacob Tattersall was always available as an outlet in the forward line and he interlinked well with Hogg and York on several occasions. Before the final whistle, there was time for another Heath-York manoeuvre but sadly it was smothered by the keeper.

In summary, a terrific performance from a maturing team who look forward to the trip to St Ives 5 next week.