Kettering go down fighting

Kettering Ladies 1st Team travelled up the road this weekend to face local rivals, Towcestor. The contest itself was fairly evenly matched with Kettering feeling like they should have taken at least a point from the game if not more. 

Kettering were lucky to not go 1-0 down in the first minute of the game when a well-struck ball was played right down the centre of the pitch for a player to then deflect. The shot rattle the cross bar before landing to be parried away by Nik Baker in goal. 

This initial wake up call was what the away side needed and they pressed forward, dominating possession and creating opportunities in the first 10 minutes. Frustratingly these opportunities were not turned into goals and Towcestor then fought their way back into the game. Excellent defensive work by Beth Lewis ensured that the home side were kept at bay, however, on the stroke of half time the home side won a penalty corner for a foot in the circle. Piling their whole team forward it was no surprise that a goal followed as an initial scramble saw the ball pass Jess Austin on the left post. 

Being only 1-0 down Kettering knew that they were still in the game and knew they just had to turn some of their opportunities into goals. Easier said than done! 

Once again Kettering pressed forward and the game was predominantly played in the middle of the field with there being very little between either team. Persistence paid off though when Kettering won their 3rd penalty corner of the half. The planned corner routine didn’t quite work out so it was another straight strike goal for Austin that was too powerful for the defender on the line to get behind. The game from this point became a bit scrappy as both teams dug in to try and gain the win. The final goal of the game from a dubious awarding of a penalty corner to the home side which took a deflection before finding its way into the goal. 

The frustration for the away side was the feeling that they didn’t deserve to lose this game and perhaps there were things that could have been changed earlier, but to quote captain Laura Beacon “hindsight is a wonderful thing!” Onwards and upwards for the home game against Belper next week.