Men's 3rd XI comfortably beat 4th XI colleagues

Kettering 3rd XI returned to league action with a comfortable win against their 4th team club colleagues. The 3rds avoided a potential banana skin and put in a professional performance that maintained their position at the top of the league.

The 4ths started brightly but their sporadic attacks were comfortably dealt with by Neil Freeman and Nick Cusk in the home defence. The 3rds gradually ramped up the pressure on the 4th team goal and the breakthrough came after 15 minutes. A clever aerial pass from Mark Hawkins released Andy Bull at the top of the circle and the striker was able to steer the ball home. The 3rds looked to maintain the pressure and they found a rich seam down their right flank via Hawkins and youngster Hal Robinson. Chances arose for Josh Cox and Jacob Tattersall but the 4ths defence was able to prevent the midfielders getting clean shots away.
The second goal came via some tenacity from Finn Smith. An attack down the left was seemingly dealt with by 4th team skipper Justin Smith but he dilly dallied in his own D and Smith pounced to steal possession. He then calmly squeezed the ball home in at the near post to make it 2-0.
A few minutes later, Smith bagged his braced courtesy of another assist from Hawkins. The veteran forward intercepted a wayward pass, drove into the circle and then calmly slipped the ball past the outrushing keeper Alistair Brooking. Smith controlled the ball before coolly slotting home with a reverse-stick shot.
Before the half was out, Brooking produced a top-drawer save to deny Bull his second. 3rd team skipper Neil Manley had taken a quick free hit and released Bull, but his shot from the top of the circle was deflected from under his crossbar by Brooking.

Into the second half and the 3rds looked to carry on where they left off, however they couldn't quite replicate their fluent first-half performance. Robinson and Ben Smith combined well down the right wing but goal-scoring chances were few and far between. The 3rds earned a number of penalty corners but replacement goalkeeper Tom Hampden-Smith was not overly troubled. The best opportunity fell to Josh Cox after a well-worked move down the right. The ball was switched across to Cox but his shot was saved by Hampden-Smith.
At the other end, Sam Berridge had a quiet afternoon but he was alert enough to clear the solitary shot he faced in the second-half.

Next week, the 3rds entertain Ely City 3rds.