Poppies claim narrow 3-2 win over Barrow
Barrow 2 Kettering Town boss Morell Maison made two changes to his starting lineup as Jean-Paul Marna came in to replace the suspended Craig Westcarr and Andy Hall returned to the midfield in place of Moses Olaleye. Neil Midgley came onto the bench alongside Adam Fry. The home side and Jean-Paul Marna in particular, looked lively up front in the opening minutes and almost scored shortly after the Frenchman was spoken to by the referee for a challenge on a Barrow player, as Kettering had the lion's share of the early play. Kettering settled well into a 4-4-2 formation with Andre Boucaud and Brett Solkhon in the central midfield roles and Serge Makofo and Andy Hall wide, on a fairly windy afternoon at Rockingham Road. The visitors spent the first 15 minutes on the defensive but looked dangerous on the break and came more into the game as the match progressed. A corner following disarray in the Poppies defence almost gave the visitors the lead but Andy Hall headed off the line and on the quick counter-attack Kettering almost took the lead themselves, but Brett Solkhons effort was cleared by the Barrow defence. Drama just on the edge of the Barrow penalty area as first Andy Hall, then Serge Makofo tried to find a way past the Bluebrids backline but were turned back, then a shot by Zema Abbey went wide of the visitors post as the game reached the 30 minute mark of the first-half. Kettering took the lead as Jean-Paul Marna's pass found Zema Abbey bearing down on goal and the Poppies striker shrugged off the attentions of Cotterill in the Barrow defence before burying the ball into the net to give the home side a 1-0 lead on 32 minutes. With half-time fast approaching a lapse in the Poppies defence led to a Barrow equaliser after a quick inter-change saw Andrew Bond fire past Osborn and the two sides went into the break all-square at 1-1. An early second-half substitution for Barrow as Steve Flitcroft came on for Chris Butler and the introduction of an electronic number board to signal the changes brought light-hearted 'oohs' from the home crowd. Rene Howe came on for Jean-Paul Marna and Stefan Morley came on for Andy hall as Morell Maison made his first changes of the afternoon. A scramble in the Poppies box was cleared and a quick break by Zema Abbey played in Brett Solkhon but his effort was denied by the Bluebirds defence as Kettering pressured forward. Another run by Serge Makofo ended with the Poppies winger firing just wide of the visitors post. Nick Rogan came on for Barrow's Alex Taylor midway through the second period. Just as the match seemed to be heading into a lull, Serge Makofo went on a darting run that ended with Rene Howe slotting the ball into the top right-hand corner to restore the Poppies lead at 2-1. With the match heading into the final stages, Serge Makofo went on yet another of his trademark runs and this time he finished the move himself by blasting the ball into the back of the Barrow net and Kettering into a 3-1 lead on 79 minutes. Three minutes from time Liam Nicell's tackle on Kyle Wilson led to a penalty for Barrow and Kyle Wilson blasted the ball past Osborn into the top right-hand corner to reduce the deficit to 3-2 and setup a nervous final few minutes for the home crowd to endure. The final whistle eventually signaled another narrow 3-2 victory for the Poppies. Att: 1,011 Kettering: Osborn, Koo-Boothe, Graham, Nicell, Solkhon, McIlwain, Boucaud, Hall, Makofo, Abbey, Marna. Subs: Fry, Howe, Midgley, Okai, Morley. Barrow: Speare, Jones, Howson, Wilson, Bond, Taylor, Stringfellow, Eckersley, Butler, Cotterill, Pope. Subs: Smith, Heffernan, Flitcroft, Brown, Rogan. Today's full Conference North results September 2, 2006
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