Poppies closing in on the title with 3-0 win at Hyde
Hyde Utd 0 Kettering Town 3 Kettering Town manager Mark Cooper had an extra day to prepare his players for their BSN league match away to Hyde Utd this Sunday, with the Poppies closest rivals closing the gap to just 1pt yesterday, Kettering will be hoping to take advantage of one of their 3 games in-hand and extend their lead again as Mark Cooper introduces Anthony Robinson into the Poppies starting lineup. A slow start to the match for Kettering with the home side having the better of the early exchanges and the woodwork preventing Hyde from taking an early lead. It took the Poppies time to settle but with 20 minutes gone they were finally making inroads to the home defence. Tipton and Clee looked very lively for the visitors, putting themselves about in the Poppies penalty area and were a handful for a hardworking Kettering defence during the first 45 minutes. Kettering had few direct chances leading up to half-time and Dootson dealt comfortably with any that ended up on target. Half-time: Hyde Utd 0 Kettering Town 0 The second period was a different story however, with Kettering starting to pressure the home side from the restart and they finally made the breakthrough on the hour mark when Brett Solkhon fired home a rebound from Beardsley's ball into the box to make it 1-0. Kettering fully took the game to the home side and increased their lead just eight minutes later when David Bridges headed home from a Craig Westcarr corner to put the Poppies 2-0 up and firmly in the driving seat. Whatever was said by boss Mark Cooper at the break obviously did the trick as his players threatened to pile on further goals. However it took until the 77th minute before they scored a third, this time it was Craig Westcarr on the receiving end of the ball and the Poppies striker fired home to make it 3-0. At the final whistle the Poppies traveling support were quite rightly celebrating a solid win by their team despite a slow start and another 3pts that crucially puts them 4pts clear of second-placed Telford and still with two games in-hand. Att: 562 Kettering: Harper, Eaden, Jaszczun, Dempster, Branston, Solkhon, Brady, Bridges, Beardsley, Robinson, Westcarr. Subs: Marna, Mills, Kemp, Bussey, Galbraith. Hyde: Dootson, Morley, Teague, Killock, Brass, Band, Morris, Pickford, Clee, Tipton, Simms. Subs: Tolson, Rick, Innes, Gee, Cook. March 16, 2008
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