26 Oct Match Report: Leiston 0 – 2 The Poppies
IN BRIEF:
The Poppies earned a hard fought win at Leiston tonight courtesy of two second half goals scored by Sam Bennett on 72 minutes and Ty Lewthwaite ten minutes later. After a fairly even first half, Leiston had a real go in the opening 20 minutes of the second half and as Kettering weathered the storm, they turned the game around to take the three points.
THE KETTERING SQUAD:
Tom Scott started in place of the injured Huw Dawson and Sam Bennett came in for Tyrone Lewthwaite who was on the substitutes bench.
THE TEAMS:
LEISTON:
1 Sam Donkin
2 Wyatt Hill
3 Sebastian Dunbar (Captain)
4 Albie Armin (14 Mitchell Jackson,39)
7 Ross Crane
8 Zachary Dronfield
10 Jack Manly (9 Kieran Higgs,75)
11 Joseph Marsden
18 Christopher Casement
19 Rossi Jarvis
20 Joseph Chidyausiku (12 Finlay Corrigan,60)
Unused Substitutes:
5 Adam Bailey-Dennis
15 Ryan Jarvis
Yellow card:
Marsden,74
KETTERING TOWN:
1 Billy Johnson
2 Owen Cochrane
3 Ben Toseland
5 Kelvin Langmead
6 Lewis White(4 Harry Reilly,64)
7 Leon Clarke (9 Tyrone Lewthwaite,70)
8 Gary Stohrer (Captain)
10 Sam Bennett (20 Will Mellors-Blair,78)
11 Rhys Sharpe
12 Dan Jarvis
18 Tom Scott
Unused Substitutes:
16 Luca Purse
19 O’Shane Stewart
Yellow cards:
Clarke,64; Reilly,69;Johnson,73;Stohrer,9
HOW THE GAME UNFOLDED:
The pitch look in very good order, given the recent rains and was greasy on top.
Sam Bennett won an early corner, which was cleared and Rhys Sharpe’s subsequent long throw into the six yard box suffered the same fate.
The first attempt on goal saw the Blues wide man, Ross Crane, put in a great shot which Billy Johnson saved and the loose ball hit a home player and went wide.
The Poppies threatened with a neat one two between Leon Clarke and Gary Stohrer, but the Poppies skipper lost control of the ball when in a shooting position. Then Tom Scott tried a long shot which drifted wide. Dan Jarvis also had a 25 yard shot which also fell just wide.
Johnson then did well to take a deflected Crane shot. Crane was causing Kettering some concern and another shot was taken by Johnson. More Crane danger saw him into the penalty area and under pressure he got his shot past Johnson – but fortunately for Kettering, Kelvin Langmead was there to clear away from the line.
As the game see-sawed, Leon Clarke’s cross found Bennett, whose shot was saved by Sam Donkin. Clarke then won a corner on the left with Langmead winning the header only to be penalised for a foul.
Leiston countered again with Jack Manly firing wide and Johnson made an excellent tackle on Crane 25 yards out to prevent a shot on an open goal.
The final goal attempt of the half saw Clarke fail to get a good contact on Sharpe’s cross.
Half Time:
LEISTON 0 – 0 KETTERING TOWN
There were no player changes at half time.
Kettering were first to show as Clarke got a touch on Sharpe’s cross but the ball dribbled to Donkin.
Leiston took control of the game in a very good spell, forcing Kettering to defend. A frantic spell on 52 minutes saw Crane again to the fore with Johnson saving yet again, and a second Crane shot was blocked out as was a follow up from Zachary Dronfield.
Next, Joe Marsden forced a good save from Johnson and, from the resulting corner, Johnson saved again and a second corner was cleared. Crane created another opening but shot wide. The Poppies had a narrow escape on 62 minutes. Substitute, Finlay Corrigan’s first touch of the ball saw him hit the bar with a drilled shot.
The Poppies weathered the storm and began to get back into the game. Rhys Sharpe’s deep cross somehow eluded Clarke, but Owen Cochrane got the loose ball and his cross grazed the crossbar. Not to be outdone, Sharpe got forward again on 72 minutes and his low cross was not cleared by a defender, allowing Sam Bennett to calmly finish past Donkin to put Kettering into the lead.
0-1 Kettering.
Tyrone Lewthwaite had replaced Clarke and he soon got a low shot in which Donkin held. Kettering continued to hold the upper hand and were controlling the game at this stage. Lewthwaite won a corner which was cleared but recycled allowing Sharpe to cross into the six yard box for Lewthwaite to head past Donkin.
0-2 Kettering.
As the mist came in to cloud some of the pitch at a low level there was a small chance that the game could be stopped. Leiston’s cause was not helped by Rossi Jarvis injuring his shoulder and leaving the pitch, reducing the home side to 10 men as all three substitutes had been used.
Kettering saw out the game comfortably as a Crane free kick was simple for Johnson, and another Crane shot was saved by the keeper.
Full Time:
LEISTON 0 – 2 KETTERING TOWN
Match Officials: Referee: Nathan Oakes Assistants: Jak Clark and Paul Quick
Attendance: 173 (KETTERING fans and officials estimated at 35)
Poppies Media, Elgoods Brewery Man of the Match: Billy Johnson
Match Report by Sadman KTFC
Forthcoming Home Games:
Tuesday October 31st: AFC Telford Utd at 7.45pm
Saturday November 4th: Royston at 3pm
Tuesday November 14th: Corby Town at 7.45pm (Hillier Senior Cup)
Saturday November 18th: Nuneaton Borough at 3pm
Forthcoming Away Games:
Saturday October 28th:Berkhamsted at 3pm
Tuesday November 7th: Leamington at 7.45pm
Saturday November 11th: Coalville at 3pm
Saturday November 25th Alvechurch at 3pm