Title challenge falters as spluttering Poppies crash

Kettering Town 0

Vauxhall Motors 1
Lawless 85

With Craig McIlwain not recovering in time it was Parys Okai that came into the starting lineup and Moses Olaleye taking his place on the bench. Otherwise an unchanged line-up for Kettering and manager Morell Maison.

A quiet first 45 minute period with the home side still apparently suffering the after-affects of Saturday's defeat, and so the half-time whistle sounded with neither side having troubled the scoresheet as the match remained deadlocked at the break.

Kettering came out for the second-half needing to shake themselves out of their stupor and step up the pace, but still struggled as the game continued to pass them by with the clock ticking away the minutes. The writing was on the wall and the home support knew it.

When the inevitable moment came, it was almost a gift, as John Lawless remained unmarked as the cross found him in the clear and he finished past Paul Musselwhite to send the Poppies crashing to their second league defeat in-a-row.

Zero points from what most Poppies fans expected to be two wins, casts serious doubts on Kettering's title challenge. Another poor performance following on from Saturday also casts some serious doubts on the integrity of some of the players. Now we'll expect to see what boss Morell Maison is really made of in the coming days.

Att: 736

Kettering: Musselwhite, Nicell, Graham, McKie, Okai, Solkhon, Boucaud, Hall, Abbey, Westcarr, Makofo. Subs: Olaleye, Howe, Marna, Caskey, Bussey.

Vauxhall: Lake, Furlong, Lawless, Dames, McMahon, McNulty, Field, Garrity, Whitaker, Mogan, O'Donnell. Subs: Rooney, Addo, Griffiths, Macauley, Dittmar.