Men's 3rd XI below par but still good enough to beat St Ives 5

Kettering entertained St Ives 5 on a lovely spring-like day. The team had to be re-jigged following unavailability higher up the club, so Ben Mayes made his 3rd XI debut and Phil Rowbotham returned after an injury lay-off.
The hosts made a perfect start when they took the lead after two minutes from a Nick Cusk penalty corner. His flicked shot was too accurate and powerful for the young St Ives keeper. They doubled their lead ten minutes later via skipper Neil Manley. Like a sniping scrum-half, he spotted a gap, took a quick free-hit and surged into the circle. He then fired a shot to the far post which the goalie couldn't keep out.
Kettering continued to look for more goals, but they couldn't quite hit the heights from the previous week. Good approach work from Ryan Smith and Josh Cox set up a chance for Finn Smith but he couldn't convert. Manley made an overlapping run down the right wing and put in a cross for Ryan Smith but his shot went just wide of the post. When a penalty corner was awarded, a switched pass to Neil Freeman gave the veteran defender a chance to score but his shot also slipped the wrong side of the upright.

In the second half, Kettering continued to dominate possession without converting it into goals. Finn Smith and Andy Bull often found themselves in good positions but tended to get in each other's way. Harry Chambers demonstrated his versatility by moving into a midfield role but he couldn't convert a chance on his reverse stick. Similarly, Finn Smith tried a backhand effort when perhaps forehand would have been more productive.
In the final quarter of the game, Kettering finally clicked into top gear and took advantage of a tiring opposition. Jacob Tattersall pulled the strings in midfield, despite playing with a rib injury from cricket practice. The youngster made a sublime reverse stick pass to release Andy Bull down the left wing and the striker finished coolly at the near post.
A few minutes later, a fast break from Tattersall and Finn Smith set up Bull to get his second. Kettering were flying now and when Finn Smith's shot was saved, Bull was on hand to flick home and complete his hat-trick. With the clock ticking down, Chambers and Tattersall surged down the left wing. Their incisive attack could only be halted by a deliberate kick from a St Ives defender. Bull stepped up to take the resultant penalty stroke and calmly beat the keeper down to his right.

Next week Kettering entertain Cambridge South in a rearranged fixture.