Banbury United  v  Kettering Town

Pitching in Southern League Premier Division Central

Tuesday  21st October 2025   19:45

      Referee:  Nathanael Wormleighton    Assistants:  Richard Durie and Samuel Lomas

With the exit door at Latimer Park in full flow last week with the departure of 5 players it was still revolving before tonight’s game. The most significant was the resignation of Simon Hollyhead who had missed the match at Redditch. James Logan has been appointed as caretaker manager relieving Terry Thompson of the responsibility of leading the team from the bench. It is undetermined if any of the coaching team assembled by Simon would remain at the club but Shoheib Ebrahim took the pre-match warm up of the team. The nonappearance of Caden Voice at Banbury implies that his loan period has concluded and he has returned to Wolverhampton.

Tonight’s opponents 16^th placed Banbury had lost 3-0 at home to Halesowen at the weekend citing fatigue as a factor after two gruelling matches against Isthmian League St Albans in the FA Cup, finally losing 1-0 in a replay. Former Kettering player Kelvin Langmead, Banbury’s current manager, would be looking forward to a return to winning ways against his former club. Last season saw Kettering defeated 1-0 during the team’s post Christmas slump in a dire game settled by a goal from former Poppy Harry Riley with Dan Jarvis tormenting his former teammates from earlier in the season. Josh Flanagan a former Poppy would line up for Banbury tonight. He had a month on loan with the club in January 2023 from Brackley.

Kettering would line up tonight with a back four bolstered by the return from month long injuries to Will Glennon and Shane Flynn. Anthony Stewart was unavailable due to domestic issues and Levi Andoh would start on the bench due to a late arrival due to traffic. Midfield saw the return of Callum Powell and Andi Thanoj to the starting XI. Connor Stanley would be wanting to put on a good performance having, along with Forsyth, turned out for the hosts last season. Up front would see Wes York ploughing a lone furrow, due to an injury to Lewis Putman. Wes successfully filled that role last season before the arrival of Ranger. Eddie Oppong dropped to the bench alongside Romari Forde and Romeo Ebondo on a four-man bench.   

 The evening was mild with negligible wind and the pitch looked in wonderful condition perfect for good passing football.

Kettering in their blue away kit kicked off with Banbury United in all red with a yellow trim defending the goal in front of the Kettering supporters.

Banbury showed attacking intent from the start with Bloom and Guzynski exchanging passes before passing the ball forward to Lawson who, finding his path in the Kettering penalty area, threw himself to the floor attempting to win a very early penalty but the Referee was having none of his theatricals. A theme that Banbury would repeat throughout the evening. The ball broke to Banbury’s skipper Ofosu who advanced a few yards before firing in a shot which Alexander fielded with ease.

Kettering responded with York setting Stanley down the wing before delivering the ball towards the far post but no Kettering player was there. The ball ran onto Powell on the opposite wing but faced by two opponents he lost possession to the defence.

Shortly after, York once again sent Stanley scampering forward but he was closed down by three of his former teammates who forced him off the ball with a physical challenge. No free kick was given but the next time the ball went out of play Stanley went to the floor and required attention from Michael Hunter which soon had Connor back on his feet.

Kettering’s first chance came after six minutes with a fine passing move started in their own penalty area involving half a dozen players including Powell tight on touchline on Kettering’s left. During the move, Callum drifted across the whole width of the pitch to resume possession tight on the opposite touchline in front of the main stand. He cut inside and from the edge of the Banbury penalty area sent a shot towards goal which Harding, falling to his right, pushed the ball away from goal but was not able to gather the ball. Fatadjo following up the loose ball but when the ball was recycled it went behind for a goal kick.

Kettering were moving the ball well, showing the passing prowess displayed at the start of the season and after fourteen minutes threatened the host’s goal once again. Fatadjo picked the ball up in the middle of the park and fed it outside to York in front of the main stand. Wes threaded the ball forward into the penalty area for Stanley to run onto. Harding came out towards Connor but the forward side footed the ball past the keeper and towards the goal. Ofosu running back towards his own goal had overrun the ball but back heeled the ball away from the danger area before a teammate collected the loose ball and cleared it downfield.

Despite the visitor’s having the majority of the play, the first corner of the game went the way of Banbury after seventeen minutes when an attempted shot from Kettering’s left from Ball deflected behind after being blocked by Flynn but the set piece came to nothing.

Twenty minutes had gone and Kettering were starting to apply pressure on the Banbury defence being content to retain possession, passing the ball around probing for an opening. Firstly, Fatadjo threaded a clever ball through to Powell but he put his shot just over the bar. Minutes later, Glennon lifted the ball down Kettering’s right towards Fatadjo who touched the ball back to Stanley who darted past two Banbury players then he glided past Ofosu before playing the ball outside to the overlapping White. Aksum’s cross went behind Fatadjo and York running into the box but Wes was able to turn around and touch the ball back to Flynn just inside the penalty area. Shane looked to be attempting a shot but miscued sending the ball straight to Fatadjo. Ismael took a touch to control the ball before striking the ball goalwards but the lunging form of Ofosu managed to get into the ball’s path and deflect it over the bar for Kettering’s first corner. The ball was swung into the middle where Harding rose with confidence and punched the ball clear with a firm two handed punch but only as far as a Kettering player who sent the ball back into the penalty area where it went behind for another corner off a defender which was cleared with ease. Kettering were swiftly back on the front foot producing another flowing move on the half hour mark culminating in a shot from York which went wide of the target but Banbury responded with their best move of the game breaking forward through Lawson, Styche and Abimbola facing three defenders. The forwards exchanged passes but Abimbola’s shot from the edge of the penalty area was poor going well wide.

It was the start of Banbury’s best spell of the first half. Shortly after, Lawson broke down Kettering’s right looking to exploit some space as a Kettering attack broke down but Thanoj tracked back well and tackled the forward sending the ball out of play for a throw-in. The ball was delivered into the penalty area. Kettering were defending with determination and a Banbury player with his back to the goal could only turn the ball back to Stokoe who from the edge of the area looked to curl the ball into the far top corner but his attempt was high and wide.

Shortly after, Banbury won a corner when a speculative lump forward by Flanagan was put behind by Flynn with Ball lurking close by. Before the kick was taken, the Referee had to hold up play to have words with the two captains Forsyth and Ofosu who were engaged in a pushing and shoving battle. The ball was lifted deep towards the far post where the two were tangling and both went to the floor. Mr Wormleighton sounded his whistle and awarded a free kick in Kettering’s favour.

With five minutes left in the half, Kettering won a corner on Banbury’s right when Powell was pinned in the corner but managed to get a positive outcome. The set piece was swung in by Lewis. Once again Harding came out to punch the ball but Ofosu leaped up but failed to make a good contact on the ball leaving the keeper swiping at thin air. The ball fell to Forsyth 10 yards out and Harding squared up to George to force him wide. Forsyth poked the ball forward where it was blocked by Abimbola sending it into the back of Harding’s legs from where it rebounded to Glennon. He turned the ball across the face of goal going through Ofosu’s legs and between two defenders to York who stretched out his right leg to stop the ball and then pivoted to smash the ball past a defender on the line and into the net. 0-1 Kettering 41 mins

Kettering should have made it two three minutes later when Thanoj played a ball from the halfway line towards the feet of York. Wes made to play the ball but let the ball pass him by wrong footing two defenders who expected him to play the ball. The ball ran through for Fatadjo to run onto close to the penalty spot. Ismael under pressure from Bloom, stretched to reach the ball but only managed to get his toe under the ball and lifted it over the bar in the last action of note of the half.

    Half Time:  Banbury United  0  Kettering Town 1 

Neither side made any changes at the break.

Kettering initiated a good attack inside the first minute of the restart breaking forward through Fatadjo, briefly outnumbering the defenders. Ismael played the ball to York but unfortunately it was behind Wes who had to reverse his path to collect the ball losing the impetus of the move. York tried to press home the attack but a defender got a foot in letting the ball to run free to Flynn in support. Shane flicked the ball outside to Powell who ran at the defence before cutting inside and firing off a shot which went high and wide.

Banbury responded in kind and from a free kick 10 yards inside the Kettering half McCreadie lifted the ball into the penalty area. Flanagan and a defender challenged for the ball in the air and it broke to Lawson on the opposite side of the goal. He hit a first time shot which went straight into Forsyth a yard away from him and then ricocheted around the edge of the goal area before the Assistant Referee raised his flag as Abimbola drifted into an offside position.

Just short of the fifty-five-minute mark, Flynn, having just returning from injury, was involved in a firm tackle and required treatment from Michael Hunter. While Shane was off the pitch, Banbury won a corner on Kettering’s left as a ball forward from Stokoe deflected behind. Flynn limped back onto the pitch to help defend the set piece. Immediately after the kick was taken, the Referee blew his whistle to halt proceedings as Styche and a defender went to the floor following a bout of pushing and pulling. Rather than deciding between a free kick or penalty, he allowed the kick to be retaken. The retaken kick was as poor as the first, but once again play was halted due to a kerfuffle in the box. On the third attempt Fatadjo headed the ball clear.

Just before the hour mark, Banbury attacked down Kettering’s right through Lawson who looked to cross the ball but it was blocked by White. The ball broke to McCreadie who delivered a lifted cross into the box. Forsyth leapt for the ball but it was just too high for him and dropped just behind him where it was stabbed partial clear but only to Abimbola just outside the penalty area but his firm shot passed over the bar.

Shortly after, Banbury won a free kick on Kettering’s right as White tripped Lawson. Mr Wormleighton gave Aksum a lecture but no yellow card. McCreadie swung the ball into the box but it was positively cleared by Forsyth towards Powell on the halfway line. Callum looked to be pulled off his feet and Flanagan picked up the loose ball and fed it forward to Lawson. He turned inside of White and with time and space tried his luck from 25 yards. His dipping shot skidded off the dew-covered grass causing Alexander falling to his right to push the ball behind rather than risk collecting the ball. The corner was comprehensively headed clear by Forsyth.

On sixty-two minutes, Banbury made the first substitution of the match replacing George Ball who had been flattened by a heavy challenge early in the half by Joel Anker. Kettering utilised the stoppage to swap Levi Andoh for Aksum White.

It was not one way traffic though and, with a little over twenty-five minutes to go, Kettering were awarded a free kick just outside the Banbury penalty area following a foul on Thanoj. As Kettering were lining up for the kick with Powell and Glennon standing over the ball the Referee noticed some blood on Glennon’s shirt and ordered him off to have it replaced. Will trotted over to the Kettering bench to change it as Mr Wormleighton endeavoured to get the Banbury wall to retreat to the required distance. On completion of that task, the Kettering bench indicated that Glennon was ready to return to the field but the official refused to allow him to come on to participate in the attack. Powell sent the free kick into the wall and the chance came to nothing resulting in a goal kick.

Before the restart, Banbury withdrew their top scorer Reece Styche and replaced him with, dual registered with Bedford Town, Chris Wreh.

Banbury moved play downfield as Stokoe exchanged passes with Lawson who confronted Stanley on the edge of the penalty area and went to the floor looking for the free kick if not a penalty under the pressure of Connor’s heavy breathing. Banbury looked to take the kick quickly. However, although Kettering were alert, Mr Wormleighton was not and ordered the kick to be retaken. The set piece clipped the wall but flew straight to Alexander.

The game got it’s first yellow card with twenty minutes to go when Alfie Lewis was cautioned for bringing down Lawson who this time had a bona fide reason for going to the floor.

Two minutes later, and Flynn went down again requiring treatment. It spelt the end of action for Shane to be replaced by Eddie Oppong. The Referee insisted that Flynn walked around the outside of the pitch to reach the dugouts. This however, meant going behind the goal net which brought the player within arm’s length of the Banbury supporters behind the goal and thereby endangering the player. Fortunately, apart from verbal abuse all the youngster suffered was having beer thrown over him. The Assistant Referee attracted the Referee’s attention and informed him of the incident. Shane would have the last laugh though as the culprit was identified and ejected from the ground.

Play restarted with a Banbury throw-in adjacent to the Kettering penalty area and the ball was played to Lawson who ran into to the penalty area before throwing himself to the floor in an attempt to deceive Mr Wormleighton into awarding a penalty. However, the official saw through the attempted deception and play continued.

With fifteen minutes to go, Thanoj moved the ball outside to Stanley who took on Guzynski, got past him and raced down Kettering’s right wing outpacing the defender. On getting level with the edge of the penalty area, he turned the ball inside to Powell. Faced with two defenders he squared the ball to the other side of the penalty area to the open Oppong. Eddie took advantage of the space and fired in a shot which fizzed narrowly over the bar.

This was followed up shortly after by Powell attacking down the same wing, he checked his advance and turned inside lofting a shot towards goal but it passed high over the goal and out of the ground.

From the restart Banbury moved the ball down Kettering’s right. The Banbury player got the better of Andoh and delivered at deep cross which drifted past the far post. Oppong playing in the left back position was the coolest person in the ground as he headed the ball back into the middle where it was collected by Alexander.

Banbury, aware that time was running out, were starting to pump balls into the penalty area from the flanks but were either over hitting them to go out for goal kicks or sending them too close to Alexander who was collecting them with ease.

Kettering broke forward whenever possible to keep Banbury honest and not permit them to throw players forward with no regard to defence. Twice Kettering played balls forward towards Powell to threaten the host’s goal but he was caught offside both times.

As the game entered it’s final ten minutes of normal time, York in the middle of the park shimmed past two red shirted players before sending the ball forward for Oppong to chase. Harding was alert to the threat though and raced out of his goal narrowly beating Eddie to the ball and clearing it long down Kettering’s left where Lawson had switched sides. He was challenged by York and was adjudged to have fouled Wes giving Kettering a free kick and a chance to run some time of the clock and clear the ball.

With just over five minutes remaining, the ball was played forward to Lawson down Kettering’s left and he carried the ball into the penalty area closely followed by York. The forward looked to cut inside and, giving him the benefit of the doubt appeared to have slipped on the dew drenched grass, but whatever the cause of him going to the floor Mr Wormleighton considered that Wes had played no part in Lawson’s downfall and the ball ran through to Glennon who cleared the ball.

Moments later, the ball was played forward by Banbury and this time Abimbola threw himself to the deck claiming a penalty untouched by a Kettering player and once again the Referee saw no offence and allowed play to continue with the Kettering supporters expecting once the ball went out of play, he would caution the Banbury man for simulation but no such censure followed.

Banbury were now putting immense pressure on the Kettering defence but the blue wall was holding firm. However, any clearances seemed to fall to a Banbury player and come straight back. With a little over a minute of regulation time remaining, Flanagan looked to carry the ball out of his own half into Kettering territory. He was closed down by Fatadjo retained possession but Lewis joined Ismael in his harrying of the former Poppy. When Stanley joined his teammates Flanagan could not retain possession with Connor stealing the ball away just inside the Kettering half. Crossing the halfway line he cleverly flicked the ball square to Fatadjo who evaded a lunging challenge from McCreadie and threaded the ball between two defenders for Powell to run onto. Callum out strode Flanagan to reach the ball and was played on-side by Guzynski jogging back out on the wing to leave the Kettering man 1 on 1 with the keeper. Callum instead of slotting the ball past the keeper elected to try and take the ball around Harding. The keeper stood his ground and timed his move perfectly to sweep the ball with his hands of the toes of Powell and deny Callum the chance to seal the win.

Banbury moved play to the opposite end and in the ninetieth minute Guzynski curled the ball into the Kettering penalty area from the right. Both Abimbola and Lawson had beaten the offside trap and only had Alexander to beat. The ball bounced just before it reached Abimbola and he desperately lifted his leg to try and make contact with the ball. He got the slightest of touches which slightly altered the flight of the ball. Lawson sliding in behind him got his foot under the ball and lifted it over the bar from three yards out with the goal at his mercy.

The Referee announced that there would be an additional six minutes played reminiscent of the six minutes extra played in the Stamford game when Kettering let two points slip through their fingers.

Kettering had another chance to seal the game when Stanley carried the ball forward  into the Banbury  penalty area but he and Powell seemed to impede one another and the chance was gone.

It would prove to be Stanley’s last contribution as with two minutes of the six having been played  Kettering made their final substitution with Romari Forde replaced Connor Stanley who had run his socks off.

Kettering defended with fortitude restricting Banbury to a series of throw-ins down both flanks as hosts piled on the pressure. When the ball was delivered into the Kettering area Forsyth and Glennon were solid at the back. With time running out Oppong picked up a booking for kicking the ball away as the ball went out for yet another throw-in. Considering the leniency shown by Mr Wormleighton to the numerous simulations enacted by the Banbury players it appeared rather harsh. 

With ninety-six minutes having been played, Banbury had one final chance to rescue something from the match when Fatadjo conceded a free kick some 45 yards from goal. Harding, the keeper, came up from the back for one final roll of the dice. McCreadie lifted the ball into the penalty area. Glennon rose highest to head the ball away but only to Wreh lurking just inside the box. He sent his shot straight into the ground from where it struck Lewis. It bounced off Alfie out to the open Fatadjo midway inside Kettering’s half. Ismael squared the ball to Powell. Callum returned the pass to Fatadjo who then threaded a perfect ball through for Powell to run onto bisecting two defenders. Callum ran onto the ball outpacing Stokoe and side footed the ball into an empty net very similar to the fate that befell Kettering at Alvechurch.   

0-2 Kettering 98 mins

There was barely enough time for a restart before the final whistle was sounded.

 Full Time: Banbury United  0   Kettering Town  2 

 A much-improved performance from Kettering ending their run of three successive away games with three points. In all positions the players looked more energetic and sharper. The passing and movement of the team was like the team performed in pre-season and at the start of the league campaign with the players confident of their own ability assisted by Banbury giving them time and space to utilise their undoubted talent. Hopefully, this team mentality can be maintained over a period of time and not a case of players showcasing their ability in front of potential new managers attending this game, looking to secure their places in the team.

Banbury United yellow cards:   None   

Kettering Town yellow cards:  Lewis – foul, Oppong –  kicking ball away                                                                     

Attendance: 610

Kettering Town Man-of-the-Match – Will Glennon –  Looking to have fully recovered from his recent bout of illness, Will made an outstanding return to the heart of Kettering’s defence. Having had a month on the sidelines he showed no ill effects for his lay off with a faultless display earning an assist in the build up to the first goal. The KTFC supporters bus also voted him as their player of the match.