Kettering 0 - 2 Stone

The Kettering Ladies XI travelled to Stone this weekend for their final game before the Christmas break. The opportunity to close the gap in the table to see the new year in with a good position was a promising prospect, however, Kettering couldn't quite find their rhythm today. Stone dictated play from the start with them pushing for a fast-paced game and causing Kettering to rush when on the ball which didn't lead to any fluidity. Despite this though, Kettering did manage to hold the home team to 0-0 by half time and did try to take advantage of a ridiculously bouncy pitch to send balls through to the opposing D. It was just unfortunate that these balls never quite found their target. Harriet Goswell's tireless running did reward itself with a penalty corner and Kettering were unlucky to not take the lead when joint player of the match, Kate Randle's shot lifted to find the roof of the net; at any other time in the game this would have been a very worthy finish. Sophie Reynolds, who shared the player of the match honours, also worked tirelessly in the centre of the field with Randle and by half time Kettering were sure they could take something from the match if they played their own game.
The second half started the same as the first and Kettering soon found themselves 1-0 behind when the home side reacted quicker to a dubious umpiring decision that saw them through on the goal. The away side were lucky to not go behind by another soon after this but for a champagne moment save from Kate Metcalfe who managed to get to the top of the circle and intercept the through ball to the second player. With nothing to lose Kettering changed their formation pushing Michelle Tanser further up the pitch and this seemed to be working with Kettering piling on the pressure. Again a long, bouncing ball was played out from the Stone defence and despite some strong defending from our back 3 and again a missed foul by the umpire, Stone managed to find the back of the net for their second goal. Kettering continued to press and were extremely unlucky to not be given a number of penalty corner decisions in the last 10 minutes of the game.
Overall, a frustrating game for the away side who once again felt they deserved at least a point from the game, and who had worked so hard to manage a lot of external factors that could have put them off right from the start.
Now a well-deserved rest for the team and hopefully the second half of the season will follow suit with last year's with more wins to come! Merry Christmas one and all!