Kingstonian 1-2 Kettering Town
POPPIES IN LATE BLOOM AT THE MEADOW

A September defeat at Rockingham Road was followed by a similar result at Kingsmeadow to give K's their first "nil points" of the season, against the league leaders. Despite the confidence of having beaten the Midlanders just a month ago, and the cushion of a one goal half-time lead, the visitors were able to snatch the lead and hang on until the end. The K's team which took to the field was somewhat different from that of late, as Jerome John was back in goal due to Steve Farrelly's injury. With all the green tops having been stretched by Farrelly's giant frame, a still-normal-sized blue one had to be found for Jerome. Also, Marc Coates, whose last league appearance at Kingsmeadow saw him red-carded for Barrow earlier this season, replaced the suspended Gary Patterson, while Kofi Nyamah came in at left-back to replace Colin Luckett.

The first chance of a fairly uneventful first half was from a Geoff Pitcher free-kick from the edge of the box. Although the midfielder is having another good season, his goalscoring rate is not one to be envied. Before this game he had scored just two goals in the league and he looked to continue this form by blasting a long way over the Kingston Road stand. Steve Williams then went close at the other end after he headed a right-wing cross just wide, which was followed by a booking for Coates after he tackled Raynor a nano-second late.

Coates was enjoying much of the possession in the middle of the park and already looks to be a good acquisition. Just before the half-hour he sent the ball through on the right wing. Eddie was clearly in an offside position, and so decided to walk away from the ball leaving David Leworthy to chase. The Kettering defenders have obviously not kept up with the recent rule changes as they later berated the linesman for not awarding them a free-kick, but not until they had seen K's come close to scoring. Leworthy headed the ball past Craig Norman and then gave chase. With the K's striker lumbering along, and Norman seeming in no condition to overtake, it was simply a case of whoever was slowest would lose the chase. A short while later, Leworthy got there first, nudged the ball past the out-rushing goalkeeper and shot from the tightest of tight angles. The goal was open, but to be fair it would have taken an incredibly accurate shot to score. He came close, striking the post, but the score remained at nil-nil.

Just afterwards, Eddie played the ball back towards Kevin Rattray, who played it square to Geoff Pitcher, who again fired over. But he was getting closer. Seconds later the midfielder had proved the old "third time lucky" saying by securing the lead for the K's. Eddie managed to keep the ball in on the right, laid it back to Leworthy, whose cross was headed away from Kevin Rattray by skipper Vowden, but only as far as the edge of the box. And that was exactly where Pitcher was lying in wait. A sweet volley made the net bulge and K's went in at half-time a goal to the good.

Of course this should have been a platform on which K's could build. Although there weren't many chances in the half, most had fallen to the home side, and Kettering had once again looked to be anything but league leaders. Their travelling fans had made little or no noise and all the ingredients were there for Kingstonian to claim another impressive three points. But the best laid plans and all that......

Eight minutes were on the clock when a lofted high ball sailed into Kingstonian's penalty area. Jerome, who up until this point had had little to do, went up to catch the ball, as did Mark Harris. Neither managed to win the ball with the result that the ball trickled off for a corner. The resulting inquest seemed to produce a "must do better" conclusion, but the rest of the team failed to heed the warning. A cross from the right, just after the corner was cleared, was totally missed by Nyamah, Harris jumped but managed only to flick the ball on, Vowden flicked on intentionally and Steve Williams drove home from just a yard out. It was a scrappy goal but gave a lift to Kettering, and from that moment on there seemed to be a nervousness to K's play. And it took less than ten minutes for the lead to be handed to the league leaders.

Phil Eastwood set off on a run from somewhere near the half way line, managed to get to the edge of the box without being properly tackled where he was met by Pitcher. His tackle won the ball but only resulted in setting up Brett McNamara on the left who, standing all alone, drove the ball confidently past Jerome. Crossley may have got the last touch, but whoever it was, they'd given Kettering the lead. Neither goal was particularly well crafted, and both could have been prevented by better defending, but they weren't, and once Kettering had the lead, it seemed unlikely that they would surrender it.

The three substitutes came on with K's switching to a 4-4-2 formation. Nyamah, the sponsors man of the match, was moved up onto the left wing, which may be his best position as he didn't look quite so confident when he was on the receiving end of a winger's run. Mark Harris set about breaking up everything else that Kettering threw his way, and came close to restoring parity when he headed a Pitcher free-kick just wide. Pitcher himself was booked just after when the most ridiculous of blatant fouls - a two footed leap to trip Fisher - was punished quite properly with a yellow card. Maybe he was upset at inadvertently setting up the winning goal, but he certainly seemed annoyed at something, and was lucky to escape worse punishment when a similarly clear foul, this one literally right under the referee's nose, saw just a free-kick awarded.

There was just time for one more chance, and it fell to K's. A free-kick was given just outside the box after a deliberate hand ball, which gave Nyamah the chance to make a name for himself. He struck the kick sweetly, aiming for the top left hand corner, but a combination of Wilson's hand and/or crossbar deflected the ball away. The whistle then sounded, and Kettering confirmed the fact that they had just won a lucky three points by dancing gleefully towards their (now vociferous) supporters. K's had had the lead, and would have kept it if it weren't for some basic errors in defending. As for Kettering - it must be just a matter of time until they relinquish their lead at the top of the table. There is no way that they are good enough to win the Conference.