Poppies go top after narrow 3-2 win at home to Farsley Celtic

Kettering Town 3
Boucaud 26
Howe 28
Westcarr 57

Farsley Celtic 2
Reeves 33
Sugden 90

Poppies boss Morell Maison named an unchanged starting lineup, from Saturday's 0-0 draw at home to Hucknall Town, to face Farsley Celtic with the only change at Rockingham Road coming amongst the substitutes with the addition of Serge Makofo on the bench replacing Nathan Peprah.

Kettering settled in quickly on a breezy cool night, but it was Farsley Celtic who caused the early panic amongst the Poppies defenders as the ball was scrambled out for a corner and to the relief of the home support was eventually cleared on 4 minutes.

A Darren Caskey through ball to Jean-Paul Marna looked headed goalwards but neither the first attempt by Marna nor the follow-up by Rene Howe could find a way past the visitor's defence. Straight to the other end and again the Poppies defence were found wanting, but the shot was fired high over the bar as Osborn watched in the Poppies goal.

A free-kick by Caskey was delivered into the visitor's box, but Celtic keeper Cuss beat the arriving McIlwain to comfortably clear the danger after 12 minutes. Boucaud broke clear from midfield and the ball out to Westcarr was scrambled for a corner by the Celtic defence, but the resulting corner was booted clear for a Poppies throw-in on the half-way line.

A Craig Westcarr cross was almost stuck in the net by the outstretched leg of Darren Caskey but again Celtic keeper Cuss was able to clear. Craig McIlwain is the first into the referee's notebook after a foul in midfield, but the free-kick was cleared by the home defence on 20 minutes and the resulting breakaway came to nought for the Poppies.

A dangerous looking break by Reeves was stopped after an excellent tackle by Perpetuini and the resulting corner was cleared. The breakthrough finally came on 26 minutes when a Marna ball into the box was drilled hard into the bottom of the net past Cuss by Andre Boucaud to finally put the Poppies 1-0 up.

With just two minutes more on the clock Rene Howe made it 2-0 to Kettering by drilling the ball past Cuss in the visitor's goal to put the home side in the driving seat midway through the first-half. Kettering were fully on the offensive and came close to increasing their lead further but a shot by Marna went narrowly wide of the post.

Just when they looked to be firmly in control, another poor lapse in concentration allowed a Celtic free-kick to be converted past Osborn at the second attempt by Damien Reeves to reduce the Poppies lead to 2-1 on 33 minutes. Serrant almost equalized for Farsley as the Poppies defence again looked very suspect. Paul Crossley then went into the book for a bad foul on Rene Howe but the free-kick was held comfortably by Cuss.

The match lost a little impetus as the half-time whistle approached after the Celtic goal had taken the wind out of the Poppies sails somewhat and Farsley missed a glorious opportunity to equalize when Osborn dropped a shot on goal and Grant somehow managed to shoot wide from 4yds out.

Half-time: Kettering Town 2   Farsley Celtic 1

Kettering immediately on the attack and a corner caused problems for Cuss before he managed to collect in front of Dempster. A scuffle in the middle as tempers flared resulted in Luke Graham entering the referee's notebook. Marna broke forward and provided Craig Westcarr with a perfect through ball which the Poppies striker deftly carried through the remaining defenders and superby dispatched past Cuss to make it 3-1 to Kettering.

Farsley made a change as Pemberton was replaced by Stamer to provide the visitors with more attacking options. Westcarr forced a corner but John Dempster headed narrowly over the crossbar. Howe having to defend deep as the threat from Celtic remained very much alive almost midway through the second-half.

A double change on 70 minutes for Kettering as Andy Hall and Brett Solkhon replaced Darren Caskey and Andre Boucaud in the Poppies midfield. Carl Serrant is replaced by Sugden for Farsley. Hall wins a free-kick but Westcarr's ball was headed wide by Craig McIlwain, Cuss saved well from a Westcarr strike and Osborn needed to be alert to foil another Celtic attack.

Allanson came on for Knowles as Farsley made their final substitution going into the final quarter of the match. A break by Westcarr ended with a good save from Celtic keeper Cuss and on the counter Sugden caught a bobble and blasted his shot well over the Poppies crossbar. Serge Makofo came on for Westcarr with 10 minutes left on the clock.

Kettering forced on the defensive in a goalmouth scramble but the ball was eventually cleared by the Poppies hard-working defence to maintain their 2-goal lead with only 8 minutes left. Rene Howe was certainly struggling in the final minutes, but all the Poppies subs had been used and the concern is now over Kettering's top scorer not being badly injured. Osborn saved from Bambrook as Celtic continued to push to reduce the deficit.

With the final whistle approaching the home support were in buoyant mood as Kettering's 2-goal cushion seemed to assure them the top spot. However, Farsley pulled a goal back as Osborn was challenged and Ryan Sugden pounced on the loose ball to make it 3-2.

A nail-biting stoppage period for the home support mercifully came to an end as the final whistle sounded to announce Kettering's narrow 3-2 victory which sent them to the top of the Conference North table for the first time this season.

Att: 1,025

Kettering: Osborn, Graham, Dempster, Perpetuini, McIlwain, Theobald, Caskey, Boucaud, Marna, Westcarr, Howe. Subs: Hall, Bussey, Solkhon, Seanla, Makofo.

Farsley: Cuss, Stab, Pemberton, Crossley, R.Serrant, C.Serrant, Iqbal, Knowles, Bambrook, Reeves, Grant. Subs: Midgley, Stamer, Morgan, Sugden, Allanson.