Westcarr off as Poppies struggle at Stalybridge Celtic
Kettering Town 0 Newly installed Kettering Town manager Graham Westley has brought in Brett Solkhon and Nathan Peprah to replace the suspended Craig McIlwain and injured John Dempster, the other change sees David Perpetuini brought in and Jean-Paul Marna starts on the bench. No goals in the opening half-hour as Kettering finding a stubborn Stalybridge defence so far denying them from getting on the scoresheet in a match they must win to keep their very slim title hopes alive, especially as rivals Droylsden are 1-0 up at home to Harrogate Town after 35 minutes. A fairly even first 45 minutes at Bower Fold as Kettering finding it difficult to gain the upperhand against Celtic who have made sure the Poppies haven't had it all their own way as the two teams trooped off to the dressing rooms all-square at 0-0. Half-time: Stalybridge Celtic 0 Kettering Town 0 The second-half continued very much as the first left off, although one moment of drama saw the Kettering players appealing for a penalty, but to the dismay of the traveling support the referee waved play on and the match remained goaless midway through the second period. The match took a turn for the worse as far as Kettering were concerned when Craig Westcarr reacted angrily to a tackle and once the ensuing melee had been brought back under control by the referee, the Poppies striker took the lone walk to the dressing room for an early bath. Poppies Caretaker boss Graham Westley is certainly not having a good start to his short tenure in the hot seat and makes a change with Serge Makofo coming on for Darren Caskey as Kettering play out the final quarter with 10 men. Chances at either end as Kettering battle on with a man disadvantage but Stalybridge are stretching them on occasions and could easily have broken the deadlock themselves. Dying seconds of the match and it looks headed for a 0-0 draw. News coming in that Droylsden are now 2-0 up and if results stay the same that will mean they are crowned champions. Not exactly an auspicious start for new manager Graham Westley, 0-0 at Stalybridge Celtic and ended the match with 10 men following the dismissal of striker Craig Westcarr, which could mean he's out of the play-off matches. Congratulations to Droylsden on their promotion to the Conference National as Conference North champions. Unfortunately at this point in time our prospects don't look that bright in terms of joining them. Fortunately we're assured of a play-off place already and there's still one more match to get some kind of confidence back into the team before the traumatic, nail-biting, tension-filled experience that is known as the play-offs starts. Att: Kettering: Osborn, Graham, Peprah, Solkhon, Theobald, Perpetuini, Caskey, Boucaud, Hall, Westcarr, Howe. Subs: Makofo, Bussey, Nicell, Seanla, Marna. Stalybridge: Bishop, Brodie, Black, Kay, Lever, Haran, Sykes, Winn, Parr, Ellington, Barlow. Subs: Prince, Cowan, Smith, Hume, Flynn. April 25, 2007
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Stalybridge Celtic 0