Westcarr off as Poppies beaten 2-1 at home to Oxford Utd

March 19, 2009—

Kettering Town 1
Westcarr sent-off 42
Marna 77

Oxford Utd 2
Nelthorpe 5,
Willmott 7
Sandwith sent-off 81

Kettering Town will wrap up a remarkable six home fixtures in-a-row run when they host play-off rivals Oxford Utd on Thursday night at the A-Line Arena. The Poppies have won three of the five matches and drawn one, their only defeat came disappointingly at the weekend against Eastbourne Borough. Victory over Oxford would underline the Poppies play-off push but Utd have their own play-off ambitions.

GOAL:   A bad start for Kettering early on as Andre Boucaud concedes a free-kick which Craig Nelthorpe fires directly past Harper and into the net to Give Oxford a 1-0 lead with less than 5 minutes gone.

GOAL:   Things go from bad to worse for Kettering in a disastrous opening period as they concede a second goal from a corner. This time Craig Nelthorpe is the privider as Chris Willmott gets to the ball first and heads into the net to make it 2-0 to Oxford inside 7 minutes.

The first ten minutes was one-way traffic resulting in a very difficult task for the home side as they struggle to regain their composure. Some respite as Kevin Sandwith is booked for a foul on Brett Solkhon and Kettering begin to slowly recover from the early shock of the Poppies normally solid defence going 2 goals behind in two minutes as Alfie Potter fires in from outside the box which Turley holds.

Kettering begin to pressure the visitor's goal but so far the Oxford defence is solid and what does get through the back four is swept up by Turley between the posts. If Kettering cannot produce more in fromt of goal than in recent matches it's going to be a very long and disappointing night for the home fans.

If Kettering can pull a goal back before the break they may stand a chance of salvaging something from this one, but as it stands they have been unable to find a way past Billy Turley in the visitor's goal with ten minutes to half-time remaining.

I'm not exactly sure what the next step is from 'disastrous' but Kettering have surely reached it with the referee producing the red card and Craig Westcarr heads for the changing rooms leaving his fellow players a man short and 2-goals behind heading into the half-time break. Jean-Paul Marna is booked on the stroke of half-time to add to Mark Cooper's woes. Arguably the worst 45 minute period so far this season for Kettering and it'll take a not too minor-miracle to comeback from this one!

Half-time:   Kettering Town 0 Oxford Utd 2

The second-half gets underway and Kettering's ten-men will somehow have to take the game to their visitors who will certainly be buoyed by the first 45 minutes action that undeniably put them fully in the driving seat. Mark Cooper's answer is to send on an exra attacker in the shape of Gareth Seddon who replaces Darren Wrack. It's all or nothing for Kettering now.

Kettering understandably raining in shots on Billy Turley's goal in an effort to get an early goal back, but so far he's repulsed efforts from Gareth Seddon, Brett Solkhon and Jean-Paul Marna within the first 5 minutes of the restart. Oxford counter as Dempster and Bennet are forced to work hard to keep Kettering from falling further behind.

Long range volley from Gareth Seddon is comfortably collected by Billy Turley and as the hour mark arrives Seddon fires high over the crossbar to the dismay of the home fans. Adam Murray replaces Craig Farrell for Oxford. Brett Solkhon heads just over the bar from a corner on 65 minutes.

A booking for handball by Luke Potter allows Oxford to put some pressure on the Kettering goal but the danger is cleared and Chris Willmott is booked for a foul on Jean-Paul Marna with 20 minutes remaining. Harper caught scarmbling but the shot flies high over the crossbar.

GOAL:   Into the final 15 minutes and thr ball is played into the box before it's pushed out to Jean-Paul Marna who blasts it back into the net past a stranded Billy Turley and Kettering have pulled one back. Is this the start of what would be a remarkable comeback?

John Dempster's looping header almost forces the equaliser as the Poppies have the bit between their teeth for the final ten minutes of what is turning out to be a very dramatic night at the A-Line Arena. The referee decides to even the playing strength up late in the game by showing a second yellow followed by a red to Kevin Sandwith for handball and it's 10 a-side for the nail-biting finish.

A double substitution for Oxford as Eddie Hutchinson comes on for Lewis Haldane and Craig Nelthorpe goes off to be replaced by Chris Carruthers. Five minutes of normal time remaining, can Kettering scramble an equaliser and salvage a point. Chris Beardsley replaces Jean-paul Marna for the final push from the Poppies.

Into stoppage time, one last big effort from Kettering and almost a fairytale as Lee Harper moved up for a set piece but his volley wasn't cleanly hit and goes over the crossbar. Adam Chapman is booked with seconds left on the clock.

The referee blows the final whistle and a bitterly disappointing night for Kettering in front of the TV cameras. Despite a good second-half rally with a man-short that saw them pull a goal back, two goals conceded in the first 8 minutes of the match was to eventually prove their undoing. A big dent in the Poppies play-off hopes as Oxford Utd take away all three points providing a good boost to their own chances of a top-six finish at the end of the season.

Att: 1,716

Kettering Town: Harper, Bennett, Dempster, Geohaghon, L.Potter, Solkhon, Boucaud, Wrack, Westcarr, Marna, A.Potter. Subs: R.Graham, Seddon(Wrack 46), Beardsley, Lee, Whatsize..

Oxford Utd: Turley, Batt, Foster, Willmott, Sandwith, Haldane, Chapman, Clist, Nelthorpe, Constable, Farrell. Subs: Hinchliffe, Carruthers, Odubade, Murray(Farrell 64), Hutchinson.