Lacklustre Poppies lose 2-0 at Blyth Spartans
Blyth Spartans 2 Kettering Town 0 Poppies boss Mark Cooper has made just one change to Monday's starting lineup, Nicky Eaden replaces Tom Kemp at Croft Park against the Spartans. Kettering Town are just two wins away from clinching the Blue Square North Championship, regardless of what other teams do in their remaining league fixtures. The match started in wet blustery conditions, both teams taking time to settle down and not much in the way of action for either goalkeeper to deal with in the early stages as Kettering came closest with a Jaszczun strike that went just wide of the goalpost with 10 minutes gone. Twenty minutes gone and a pretty even match, however news filtered in that Barrow are beating Telford 1-0 at the new Bucks head ground and almost at the same time Blyth took the lead with a strike from Adam Webster that flew past a stranded Harper. Ironically, Telford are now 2-0 down at home to Barrow. It certainly looks as though Kettering will not be taking advantage as they fall 2-0 behind when Adam Webster latches onto a ball cutback from the goal-line to again beat poor Harper with ease. At this point it's the home side who look comfortably in control and Kettering who are struggling to cope in the wet blustery conditions. Not much going right for Kettering as a Branston headed goal is ruled out by the referee when he decided that Demspter had fouled a defender in the buildup, still 2-0 to Blyth approaching half-time. Kettering could easily have fallen further behind before the break but the Spartans spurned good scoring opportunities and the half-time whistle sounded with the score remaining 2-0 to the home side. Half-time: Blyth Spartans 2 Kettering Town 0 Second-half underway and Kettering will need to get straight back into this one if they are to come away with anything and I'm sure it was a classic case of Mark Cooper trying to turn things around in his half-time team talk. A tired-looking Beardsley is replaced by Marna shortly after the restart. Even Mark Cooper's team talk doesn't seem to have worked today as the home side are currently in control and could easily have added to their total if it weren't for some desperate defending by the Poppies. Not much at all in the creative department and at this stage it certainly looks like a totally different Kettering side from the one that has dominated their last five matches. Less than twenty minutes left and it looks like the champagne can be put back in the cupboard with the home side still creating all the chances and generally dictating the play. Brady is replaced by Mills with less than 15 minutes left, but on the preceding 75 minutes, the home side fully deserve their 2-0 lead and it doesn't look like changing. The final whistle brings down the curtain on a less-than classic performance from Kettering and maybe they were due one after a great run that has powered them into an almost unassailable position at the top of the BSN table. Congratulations to Blyth and it's onto next week's home match against Telford. Att: 465 Kettering: Harper, Eaden, Jaszczun, Dempster, Branston, Solkhon, Bridges, Brady, Robinson, Westcarr, Beardsley. Subs: Marna, Graham, Kemp, Bussey, Mills. Blyth: Houlahan, Bartlett, Birks, Christiansen, Boyle, Leeson, Brown, Williams, Webster, Gildea, Deal. Subs: Fenton, Dalton, Hedley, Snowden, Follett. March 26, 2008
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