Poppies pegged back by Knitters

Kettering Town 2
Hinckley Utd 2

Kettering Town host near-neighbours Hinckley Utd as manager Kevin Wilson turns his attentions back to the bread and butter of the Conference North, with the Poppies looking for their first win in seven league matches.

Kettering's starting lineup includes goalkeeper Gary Hateley, in for the suspended Mark Osborn, and new signing Matty Lewis.

A scoreless first-half at Rockingham Road with both sides unable to find the telling-touch in front of goal to make the all-important breakthrough.

Lewis signs for Poppies

Kevin Wilson has secured the services of Evesham Utd striker Matty Lewis who has signed a contract until the end of the season and will be available for the Boxing Day clash at home to Hinckley Utd.

Wilson is also waiting to hear from Jason Taylor, who is wanted by both Kettering and rivals Nuneaton Borough. The former Nene Park striker looks set to decide very shortly in which camp his immediate future lies. Meanwhile in the opposite direction, another former Nene Park player, Robert Duffy has been released from Rockingham Road.

With the one-match suspension of Mark Osborn, Wilson is also trying to secure the services of a replacement for the Boxing Day clash and the current favourite appears to be Gary Hateley, who turned out in goal for the Poppies several times last season.

Poppies drawn away to Dagenham in Trophy

Kettering Town were handed a relatively short trip to Conference National outfit Dagenham & Redbridge in the Second Round of the FA Trophy following the draw made on Monday.

The full draw is as follows:

The ties will take place on Saturday 14th January 2006.

Last-gasp Moore penalty sees Poppies through against Farsley in Trophy

Kettering Town 2
Farsley Celtic 1
(FA Trophy 1st Round)

Kettering's hopes for a respite from their miserable league form took an early turn for the worse when the visitors went 1-0 up through Amjad Iqbal after just 9 mins.

A close fought 45 minutes and the home side unable to force an opening as the teams went into the half-time break with the visitors still holding their slender one-goal advantage.

Conference wants three-up, three-down

The Nationwide Conference is looking to gain parity with the Football League by pushing for a three-up, three-down promotion-relegation format between the Conference National and Football League Division Two.

Currently only two teams gain promotion from the top tier of non-league football, but with the expansion of the Conference National to 24 clubs next season, chairman John Moules is putting the Conference's case for an extra promotion place.

The case will be put forward to the 48 Football League chairman and is hoped to be ready for the 2007-08 season.

Osborn off as miserable run continues for Poppies at Workington

Workington 3
Kettering Town 2

Kettering Town's lineup at Workington saw the return of Jamie Paterson and Brett Solkhon, with Ryan Zico-Black also making a start. David Theobald and Liam Nicell were on the bench alongside recent signings Jordan Fowler and Michael McKenzie.

The Reds featured ex-Poppy favourite Ian Arnold in their lineup and the match started with a sodden pitch and heavy drizzle.

A dramatic and disastrous start for Kettering Town with goalkeeper Mark Osborn shown a Red card and Ian Arnold putting the home side 1-0 up from the penalty spot after just 13 mins.

The 10-man Poppies quickly recovered their composure and with Brett Solkhon taking over in goal they pulled back level with another penalty courtesy of Christian Moore on 17 mins.

With a half-hour gone and the home side pushing forward their one-man advantage, Kettering fell behind again with Ian Arnold scoring his second goal to give Workington a 2-1 lead on 30 mins.

10-man Kettering were somewhat relieved to be going into the dressing room at half-time only trailing by a single goal, but still had a mountain to climb in the second-half to salvage anything out of this match.

Poppies pegged back at Alfreton

Alfreton Town 1
Kettering Town 1

Kevin Wilson brought in Liam Nicell in place of Stefan Morely, Christian Moore in place of Robert Duffy and Brett Solkhon joined recent signings Ryan-Zico Black and Michael McKenzie on the bench after his long absence through injury.

A fairly even first 15 minutes and neither side able to make the breakthrough at North Street with a clear cut chance. The first-half continued in much the same pattern until just before the half-time break when Christian Moore scored to put Kettering 1-0 up.

Gascoigne out, Wilson back in charge

In a remarkable turnaround at Kettering Town Football Club, Paul Gascoigne's short-lived tenure as manager has ended and Kevin Wilson has accepted an offer to resume duties in charge of the first team again.

Gascoigne arrived in a blaze of media attention as part of the consortium takeover package headed by chairman Imraan Ladak and previous manager Wilson declined the Director of Football job he was offered following his ousting as first team boss just 39 days ago.

The reasons for the surprise announcement are best left to the Official website to detail and for the media to speculate, as the wrangling between both parties (chairman Imraan Ladak and Paul Gascoigne) looks set to continue at least for the short term.

Suffice it to say that the immediate outcome is that Paul Gascoigne is no longer manager and Wilson now has a three-year contract to continue where he was forced to leave off just over a month ago.

Lack-lustre Poppies beaten at home by gritty Barrow

Kettering Town 1
Barrow 3

This Saturday Kettering Town hosted Barrow at Rockingham Road as Poppies' manager Paul Gascoigne turned his attentions back to the 'bread and butter' of the Conference North campaign.

Follow the action on: Matchast

Christian Moore started on the bench alongside newcomers, Jordan Fowler, Kevin Dixon and Michael McKenzie.

Another defeat for lack-lustre Kettering as they took far too long to settle on a muddy pitch which Barrow got to grips with from the start.

It took the home side 71 minutes to get back into it but they couldn't press home their advantage and right at the death it was sloppy defending by Kettering as they conceded two very late goals to lose 3-1.