Saints Stalemate

We welcomed Northampton Saints 5s to Bishop this weekend in our second pre-season fixture, and they graciously joined us prior to pushback in a minute's silence to former KHC Junior Academy Secretary Kate Drake Lee - thank you Saints.

Several of our players stepped up to support our 2nd team and also played in that match immediately prior to our own, yet they were set to face an equally demanding challenge against a team who proved capable of causing us problems. In fact they were to show just how capable they were early on, and a well worked team goal by the Saints saw them take the lead in the opening minutes - they certainly hadn't come just to see how nice Kettering is. This wasn't to stop us from doing what we know we can do, and some steady play by the Kettering midfield saw us begin to move the ball forward well. Having won a penalty corner, none other than Nick Cusk stepped forward to calmly place the ball in the Saints' net with a calm finish, 1-1 and game most definitely on.

Further steady and intelligent play from the Kettering players ensured we moved the ball around nicely, and a well created attack saw last season's top scorer Andy Bull through on goal who had no hesitation in putting the ball away where it belongs - in the opposition's net, 2-1. Saints weren't to take anything lying down though and they too had skilful players who moved the ball around intelligently, and whilst our midfield were able to break up their play a good amount of the time they began to find their way back through. On the whole the 3s defence remained tight, but eventually the Saints seized their chance to draw level, 2-2. The 3s were rotating subs fairly regularly and some positional changes disrupted our flow somewhat around the halfway point, but such is the nature of a pre-season fixture. A third goal for the visitors came, the responsibility squarely on the shoulders of the 3s captain in defence, yours truly.

The game was by no means over, indeed it was there to be won, and an excellent attack soon followed with Lee Paris slotting home the equaliser at the end of a great team move to bring us back level, 3-3. Our shape had returned and we were hopeful to push on for a winner, however the Saints remained capable and the game remained a strongly fought contest keeping everyone involved to the final whistle, but no further goals were to come and the match finshed honours even.

Each player put in a commendable performance, but notable mentions go to Harry Chambers, Frazer Cairns and Ewan Scholtz, who having played two matches in quick succession showed great character by continuing to give everything for each moment they were on the pitch. To Ethan Roberts, making his first appearance in the 3rd team, showed many of the attributes that we look for from every player, and Ben Smith, having missed our first match back last week showed why he is such a highly valued member of the team with a solid first game back.