Men's 3rd XI win the league!

Kettering knew that a victory over visitors St Neots 4 would secure the division 6NW(S) title. However, the home side initially lacked their normal fluidity and were too anxious to get goals against a stubborn St Neots side who played with a kicking-back. Mark Hawkins found good pockets of space but the visiting defender was able to counteract his skills by using his goalkeeping privileges to block a couple of passes in the circle.
Short corners seemed a good opportunity to break down the visiting defence but they coped quite comfortably with the flicked efforts from Nick Cusk.
As the game progressed, Kettering improved. Andy Bull put a shot narrowly past the right hand post and then on 25 minutes, the striker went one better. He picked the ball up at the top of the circle and was forced onto his reverse stick side. However, he was still able to fire in a shot across the goal which went in at the far post. Five minutes later, Kettering doubled their advantage. Ryan Smith put in a clever aerial pass down the left wing and good work by Finn Smith and Josh Cox set up Hawkins to score at the far post.

At half-time Kettering were able to regroup and they started the second period by displaying their customary fluid hockey. Josh Cox picked up the ball on the right wing, burst forward and played the ball into Bull who had made a run into the circle. The striker cleverly took the pass first time and found the bottom corner of the goal to effectively seal the three points. The home side had their tails up now and Bull turned provider for Hawkins when he put a cross into the circle. Unfortunately for Kettering, his shot cannoned off the post to safety. Minutes later, Hawkins found himself in space but Bull's pace was slightly misplaced and the resultant shot went wide.
After 45 minutes, Kettering extended their lead. A short corner was switched to skipper Neil Manley who swept his shot into the far corner to make it 4-0. St Neots were under the cosh and they were further penalised with green and yellow cards. When a goalbound shot hit a defender's foot on the line, Kettering were awarded a penalty flick. Youngster Jacob Tattersall stepped up but his shot was saved by the kicking-back.
Undeterred, the midfielder soon got his goal. From a short corner, Cusk passed to Tattersall at the back post and he was able to deflect his shot home. Finn Smith once again tormented the visiting defence and he was unlucky to see his shot go narrowly wide. With five minutes left on the clock, Harry Chambers made a good run down the left and passed into Finn Smith. The forward picked out his strike partner Hawkins, whose excellent close control allowed him to coolly slot home at the back post.

In the end, it was a comfortable victory for Kettering and their consistent run of good form has seen them clinch promotion with two games to spare. Next week they travel to Wisbech with the aim of continuing the run of victories.