Match Report | Kettering Town (A)
The Yeltz surrender an early goal lead at Kettering but still manage to come home with a respectable point
Brief Overview
Our only goal of the game came inside the opening five minutes. The last two visits to Latimer Park had ended goalless, but Jim Kellermann’s free-kick to Jason Cowley in the box ended that torrid goalscoring record, as the Yeltz number 9 scored his ninth of the campaign by finding the bottom left.
The hosts equaliser came with just over 16 minutes left to play. A corner from Lewis Coyle down the right was put into a dangerous area in the six yard box. So awkward that Dan Meredith was hapless at putting the ball into his own net. The first Yeltz player to score an own goal since the opening day of last season, where Jak Hickman scored an OG against Leiston.
Match Report
The Yeltz started like a team who needed a response from a deflating Emirates FA Cup home exit to Stafford Rangers during the week. Even though the opening stages of this game were pretty lacklustre in terms of chances, the early goal certainly set a precedence for the remainder of the half, in particular. Just after the quarter hour mark, Paul White was forced into his first save. A Dan Meredith pass to the electric Todd Parker, saw the midfielder find Jim Kellermann. The latter latched onto the ball, and hit a shot towards the near post that the Poppies shotstopper was equal too.
Despite the strong first 20 minutes, we were very lucky, but also resilient to keep the hosts out. Both Dan Platt & Matt Preston got their bodies on the line to block Ed Panter’s shot amongst a scramble, following Tai Fleming’s ball into the box. This was a slight and rare blip in the first half, and chances soon came our way again. A Josh Bailey corner found Parker on the near side, whose ball into the box saw Vanylson Silva force a save down low. Soon involved again, Silva got underneath the ball to see a shot fly over the bar from a Ben Cassidy cross.
It was an influential introduction into the XI after being benched for the game midweek for Kellermann, who curled an effort just wide on 33 minutes, showing his confidence to deny the overlap over from Bailey to go for it himself. The Poppies didn’t look like a side who had won four of their five league games at home this campaign, and other than the earlier scramble, never really looked like levelling the game before the players headed off.
At the end of the 45, two chances which Lewis Coyle was at the centre off went a miss. The first saw the Kettering number 19 miss the bottom right from 30 yards after a midfield combination from Fleming and Will Van Lier. The second came from a corner, after Theo Alexandrou’s pass to Van Lier. The delivery from Coyle was headed away by Jason Cowley, who aside from his goal had a fairly uneventful half.
The tempo changed in the second half, and suddenly, the hosts started to put their print on the action. A 25 yard shot grabbed by Platt inside 30 seconds was a wake up call for what was to come in the following minutes. A ball through to Jack Newell found Panter down the right, who whipped a cross to the left. It was Alexandrou who took hold of the ball, and forced Platt into a stop down low. Two minutes later came the big chance. Released down the left, Alexandrou continued to torment us, as he cut inside and curled an effort to force a diving save.
We were bereft of goal mouth action throughout the whole of the second half, even if a shot from Bailey only just went over White’s crossbar on 56 minutes. Instead, the hosts continued to dominate possession, and the attacking endeavours. A corner was won just before the hour mark, after a Lawson D’Ath pass to Panter in the box. Last season’s Poppies top scorer knocked the ball off Ryan Wynter for a corner. A nervy Platt came off his line in an attempt to intercept the ball in the air from Coyle’s cross, but Cowley was there to the rescue in the six yard box to head the ball away.
The Poppies have won 12 points from losing positions since the start of March, so a one goal lead never really looked likely to hold out, which it didn’t. But, three minutes after Meredith’s own goal gifted the home side back into the game, we very nearly re-took the lead. It was Cassidy who found himself in the box. Time was on his side to have a shot blocked, before the ball rebounded to Cowley, whose low driven effort was saved by White. Kettering’s ability to finally break down our backline and end a 250+ minute drought at home against the Yeltz gave them the confidence to thrive.
Five minutes before the 90 were up, Fleming gave the ball to Panter in the box. The striker’s shot at an angle under pressure wriggled its way towards the line, but the line outside of the right post. Their pressure at our goal continued into stoppage time. Additional minutes of which us media lot had no idea how much had been added, and as so the majority of the 1,000 plus packed into the ground. We held strong, and managed the final minutes very well to limit the home side to half chances at best. A draw is a very strong result from a team who have only lost six times in over a year at home. Two big home games arrive in the next week and six points up for grabs will be oh so cherished if achieved.
Attendance: 1,042
Teams
Kettering XI: Paul White (GK), Jack Newell, Tom Leak, Harvey Peters, Lawson D’Ath (C), Ed Panter, Theo Alexandrou (Michael Gyasi 66’), Tai Fleming, Ismael Fatadjo (Emmanuel Maja 90’), Will Van Lier (Bayley Brown 72’), Lewis Coyle (Ryan Haynes 90+6’)
Unused Subs: Kai Fifield
Yeltz XI: Dan Platt (GK), Ben Cassidy (Ty Barnett 82’), Matt Preston, Ryan Wynter (C), Todd Parker, Jason Cowley, Vanylson Silva, Milan Butterfield, Josh Bailey (Ryan Wollacott 75’), Jim Kellermann (Samson Hewett 86’), Dan Meredith
Unused Subs: Gael Mfuamba (GK) & Patrick Wood