Competent Start to the 2019/20 campaign

This week 4s travelled the vast distance to Moulton College to face Northampton Saints 6's on the hallowed water based pitch. All arrived in good time and congregated on the edge of the pitch. Nothing that the opposition had suddenly abandoned the astroturf, Kettering followed suit. Just in time, as the sprinklers opened up to spray the surface

Being early in the season,and the club now having 5 mens teams out. Availability of players was a slight issue, especially with a late injury pullout, but 12 players made the trip. A mix of players who played the majority of last year,some returning from long layoffs and a debut for SamTattersall playing his first mens match.

The plan was to keep it simple. Play with good structure, defend well, pass the ball with pace and for players to play with composure on the ball.

The team implemented the plan to perfection for the first twenty minutes. Good possession was had and Saints were restricted to a few speculative attacks. Kettering also enjoyed some of their own attacks and put the opposition under pressure. Some good passing moves, tenacious tackling in midfield and defence caused the confidence to grow. Yes,there was a bit of rust,but this soon fell away,and the team was playing like they did last year.

Then somewhat against the run of play, Saints put in a telling attack that stretched the away defense out of position. A slick pass to a player wide to the right of goal created some space which Kettering struggled to recover and close down. From a very acute angle close to the by line the Saints wide player let go a crisp but speculative shot which squeezed past the outstretched boot of the keeper and the post.

This spurred Kettering on. Players stepping up all across the pitch to try to seek the equaliser. Tim Plevin was immense at the back. Putting in some marauding runs into midfield to set up play. Paul Brooker, switched from being upfront to his usual wide right position and added balance and some guile to the play. A few short corners were won but with no success. The first half passed with Kettering in the ascendancy.

At the start of the second, Saints switched players around and put two upfront. This pushed Kettering back and created some more chances, but nothing clear cut. However,the tactic did have a high risk, in that Kettering could counter punch with some good hitting out to clear the danger. On numerous occasions the Kettering forward line found themselves with space to attack. This became more evident as the teams tired.

Then, the goal finally came. A counter attack finally found Sam Tattersall, playing left wing at this stage of the game, in the D. He showed some excellent skills to create some space and then slot past the keeper to open his account for the season. Also it capped off a promising debut where his positional play and hockey skills could not be faulted.

The game then petered out into a stalemate with neither side enjoying much more success. Saints thought they had got the winner, when during a melee in the goalmouth, after a short corner, the ball was slotted home. But only after the ball was hit by the defence onto the attackers foot.

Overall,a fair result by two closely matched teams. A good start to the season and should give confidence to the players and get better results in the league than the last campaign.