Match Report Kettering Town v Stourbridge 22 Oct 2024

Pitching in Southern League Premier Division Central

Tuesday 22nd October 2024  8:00pm

Kettering Town Stourbridge
1 Dan Jezeph 1 Ollie Taylor 
2 Ben Hart 2 Jesse Bavanganga    
12 Lewis White 12 Jourdain Masidi 
5 Connor Johnson (Capt) 4 Dom Lewis 
3 Aaron Powell 5 Jordaan Brown 
4 Devon Kelly-Evans 6 Joel Kettle  (Capt) 
8 Andi Thanoj Off 6617 Souleyman Mandey Off 86
17 Luca Miller Off 468 Jack Fletcher  Off 85
16 Isiah Noel-Williams Off 869 Ethan Freemantle 
18 Jonny Edwards Off 8510 Alex Bradley       Off 72
11 Tyree Wilson Off 4611 Miro Pais            Off 66
      
 Substitutes  Substitutes 
9 Nile Ranger On 462 Will Grewal-Pollard On 85
10 Gary Stohrer On 667 Jai Verma On 66
14 Harlain Mbayo On 4614 Darryl Knights On 86
21 Bruno Andrade On 8619 Sam Unitt On 72
22 Gary Hooper On 8520 Elliott Durrell 

Referee:  Gareth Davies    Assistants:  William Norriss and Ali Cera

After Saturday’s win over Sudbury, and with other results going their way, Kettering found themselves top of the table. Whilst Stourbridge’s 5-1 demolition job at Hitchin meant that this evening’s game would be an early season first against second match up. Kettering would be looking to reverse last season’s results against Stourbridge, who won both meetings between the teams despite Kettering taking a two-goal lead in the home game.

Two changes were made to Saturday’s team. Lewis White returned to the starting XI with Harlain Mbayo dropping to the bench. Luca Miller, who had come on as a substitute for Wes York at the weekend to score the winner, would start the game due to Wes being ruled out through injury. The free spot on the sub’s bench would be taken by Bruno Andrade, available after completing his three-match suspension.

The pitch was looking a little worn after Saturday’s game with plenty of rain being deposited on it throughout a wet Sunday. There was a heavy dew, and under the floodlights, the pitch had a silvery sheen which served to make the surface slippery. The evening was still, dry and mild, perfect conditions for football.

The kick-off was delayed by fifteen minutes not due to crowd congestion despite the attendance being over 1500, but the fact that Stourbridge’s transport had been delayed. There were loud ironic cheers from the Prosaw stand as the teams changed ends meaning that Kettering would kick-off attacking that stand. Stourbridge would be playing in an interesting shirt modelled on their club crest featuring a white body with one red sleeve with the other black and red shorts.

Kettering started well with Miller crowding out a defender deep inside the Stourbridge half earning his team a throw-in close to the corner flag. The throw-in led to Hart aiming a ball in towards the near post where it was latched onto by Miller who turned the ball goalwards, but it was blocked by a defender and cleared. Kettering won two free kicks in quick succession on the edge of Stourbridge’s penalty area. Hart delivered the ball to the far post but was headed away by a defender, but it was recycled by Kettering back to Hart who was still in an advanced position, but he was caught late by Pais. However, once again the set-piece came to nothing.

Kettering continued to press, but after five minutes play Stourbridge lifted a clearance downfield. Freemantle and Johnson challenged for the ball in the air close to the half-way line. The Stourbridge man got his head to the ball and raced forward. He sent in a cross, but White racing back intercepted it, but opting for safety first sent it behind for the first corner of the game. The corner from the stand side by Bradley was eventually claimed by Jezeph.

Twelve minutes had been played when once again Kettering were awarded a free kick after Pais fouled Hart. Thanoj took the set-piece, and tested keeper Taylor, but the Stourbridge man was equal to it tipping it over the bar for an unproductive corner.

Five minutes later, Stourbridge had a great chance to open the scoring. Awarded a free kick midway inside Kettering’s half on the open side, Bradley lifted the ball towards the far post where it was sent back towards the near post. Dom Lewis ran onto the ball and powered a header goalwards from about five yards out. Jezeph on his line produced a tremendous save with lightning-fast reactions pushing the ball up and over the bar. The resulting corner was followed by two in quick succession. The second kick led to the ball being aimed towards the far post where it was nodded back into the middle where a glancing header turned the ball towards the goal just inside the post where it struck Hart on the upper arm. The Stourbridge fans behind the goal and their players claimed a penalty, but only demonstrated their ignorance of the latest IFAB guidelines, which Referee Mr Davies was acquainted with, and allowed play to continue with Jezeph taking hold of the ball and looking to initiate a quick counterattack. He was stopped in this attempt by being impeded by Kettle who was booked for this action.

Stourbridge had their best spell of the game with a series of attacks. Freemantle was stopped in his tracks being flagged off-side. No such trouble for Bradley moments later when he carried the ball forward from his own half. With players to his left and right in support, he chose to take it on his own, but his shot was a tame one to Jezeph. During this spell, the first Kettering player was booked when Hart fouled Pais who himself had committed at least three fouls on Hart. The resulting set piece came to nothing. Freemantle was proving a handful, and on the half hour mark carried the ball forward after receiving the ball from a suspiciously looking off-side teammate riding a couple of challenges and benefiting from the bounce of the ball going his way, but his attempt at goal found Jezeph equal to it.

With ten minutes left in the half, Pais once again brought down Hart on the edge of the penalty area. Ben lifted the ball towards the far post, but it was cleared by the visitors. As the board showing that there would be an additional two minutes to be played, Pais committed another foul on the edge of the penalty area, this time pulling back Noel-Williams. It was one two many for Mr Davies who showed Pais a yellow card. The free kick was sent into the wall with the rebound falling to White who attempted a shot from 30 plus yards sending the ball over the Prosaw stand.

Half Time: Kettering Town 0  Stourbridge 0

Richard Lavery made two personnel changes at half-time with Wilson and Miller withdrawn in favour of Ranger and Mbayo. These changes were coupled with a formation change moving from a 4-3-3 to a 3-5-2.

Early in the second half, Stourbridge had the first attack of note with Pais picking the ball just inside the Kettering half to run at the home defence. Encountering Mbayo just outside the penalty area, he loosed off a shot which passed at least five yards wide of the far post.

Pais was involved again after fifty-five minutes when Kettering spread the ball wide to Hart in space on the stand side. Ben made to go past the Stourbridge man driving towards the by-line to cross the ball but was taken down with a lunging tackle for another free kick on the edge of the penalty area. The caution received in the first half had not tempered Pais’s penchant for making rash challenges. Lewis White got onto the end of the ball lifted in by Hart but his header struck a defender, which took all the pace off the ball, making it an easy grab for Taylor.

A couple of minutes later, Kettering made progress down the open side through a series of throw-ins leading to a deep cross from Noel-Williams aimed towards the far post. Edwards rose highest but not high enough, and the ball bounced off the top of his head and behind for a goal-kick.

Kettering were assuming control of the game with Stourbridge’s attacks being on the counter when the home team’s attacks faltered, but when opportunities did come their way, their forwards directed their shots straight at Jezeph.

Jourdain Masidi became the third visitor to be booked committing a foul on Noel-Williams within a yard of the corner flag. The free kick was poor ending up in the arms of the keeper.

With twenty-five minutes to go, both sides made a substitution with Stohrer replacing Thanoj and persistent offender Pais replaced by Verma. Five minutes later, Stourbridge won a corner as Johnson turned the ball behind. The ball was aimed towards the near post where it was cleared by Hart who was fouled in the process. Before the restart ,Stourbridge made their second change after seventy-two minutes when Bradley making way for Unitt.

With a quarter of an hour left to play, the deadlock was broken. White played a long ball down the open side touch line with Kettle and Edwards in pursuit. Kettle won the chase, but Jonny pressurised the defender who close to the corner flag sent the ball back the way it had come. The ball was won by Powell who looked to cut inside but lost his footing on the dew-soaked surface. Aaron played to the whistle and regained his feet. The Referee was perfectly placed to see the incident being only a matter of yards from it. Aaron sent the ball towards the far post where Hart took a touch with his right foot before sending the ball goalwards through a defender’s legs. This took the pace off the ball, and Taylor waited for the ball to roll into his hands, but before that could happen Noel-Williams came from out of nowhere like an express train and got a toe on the ball to poke it past the keeper. 1-0 Kettering 75 mins

Five minutes after the goal, both sides made a further substitution with Gary Hooper coming on to make his Kettering debut replacing Edwards and Grewal-Pollard for Fletcher. Another five minutes passed before both sides made another substitution with Andrade replacing Noel-Williams and Knights for Mandey for the visitors.

Andrade was straight into action picking up the ball midway inside Stourbridge’s half and running directly at the defence. He was stopped by being tripped from behind just outside the penalty area by Unitt who was booked for the foul. Bruno took the kick from thirty yards but sent it not only over the bar but also the Tin Hat.

As normal time was running out, Stourbridge attempted to play the ball out from the back but good pressing by Powell led to the visitors coughing up possession and Aaron topped off his hard work by threading the ball through to Hooper. Gary evaded a desperate slide from Brown on the edge of the box leaving him 1v1 against Taylor. The former Norwich player was a class apart toying with the keeper before calmly pushing the ball through his legs to seal the game.              2-0 Kettering 89 mins

There would be an additional five minutes to play for Stourbridge to try and salvage something from the game. Masidi tried his luck from range, but his effort was wide. Deeper into injury time Stourbridge lifted the ball towards the far post from the open side where Freemantle attempted an overhead kick, which unlike Benbow’s spectacular effort from last season, he failed to connect as Kettering saw the game out.

Full Time: Kettering Town  2    Stourbridge  0

A game of two halves Stourbridge shaded the first, but did not capitalise on their chances. Half time changes by Mr Lavery produced dividends with Stourbridge not posing the same threat as before the break. Having a full bench of fit players helped the cause with all five substitutes contributing to the victory. Kettering kept plugging away and the pace and reactions of Isiah Noel-Williams pounced on the first hesitation shown by Stourbridge to snatch the opener. The second came about by the industry of Powell coupled with the skill of Hooper to send the huge crowd home with a smile on their faces. Stourbridge were a physical team, and the forthcoming weekend break will help bumps and bruises to heal. Kettering did not produce the style that they are capable of hopefully luring any Cobblers scouts into a false sense of security, but they grafted to ground out the result to win another three points.

Kettering Town yellow cards: Hart – foul, 

Stourbridge yellow cards: Kettle, Masidi, Unitt – fouls  Pais – persistent fouls

Attendance: 1551

Kettering Town Man-of-the-Match – chosen by the Stirrup Cup – Dan Jezeph – An unbelievable first half game kept Kettering in the match at a time when the game seemed like a basketball game with the teams taking it in turns to move the ball from end to end to try to score. Dan was alert to trouble and was quickly off his line to play a sweeper role to keep the visitors at bay coupled with a good shot stopping performance. He looks a lot fitter than when he joined the club last season, and his performances reflect that.

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