Kettering Town  v  Hitchin Town

Pitching in Southern League Premier Division Central

Saturday  05 April 2025   3:00 pm

Referee:  Michael Patterson       Assistants:  William Norris and Thomas Kennedy

A 99^th minute equaliser by Stamford spoiled the prospect of a valuable three points on the road. Kettering controlled the game and the hosts only looked dangerous in the additional six minutes of time added on with a further three minutes tacked on after that. The result means that Kettering can afford no further setbacks needing to win all five of their remaining games to stand any chance of securing automatic promotion and even then, it is reliant on the other title contenders dropping points. Today’s visitors Hitchin Town sit bottom but one and nine points from safety. Reprieved from relegation last season due to the resignation of Coalville their survival looks doubtful this time around with them facing a visit from Bedford on Easter Monday. With a draw being of little use to either side a positive mentality is expected from both teams. Hitchin will be looking to repeat their performance of last season at Latimer Park when they trounced Kettering 4-0 in September. Kettering gained some revenge 4 days later when they beat the Canaries 1-0 in the FA Cup at Top Field. Having lost 5 of their last 6 away games their confidence will be low but the one draw came at Stratford.

Kettering made two changes to the team that started at Stamford Jonny Edwards and Sam McLintock would revert to the bench with Kai Fifield and Finlay Wilkinson taking their places in starting XI. Tyree Wilson and Terell Pennant were promoted to a substitutes spot but with no place in the match day squad for Nile Ranger, Terell Pennant or Luca Miller with still no sign of loan signing Tate Xavier-Jones.

It was a bright and sunny afternoon but a stiff breeze was blowing. The pitch had been sanded as part of the improvement programme but with no rain in the previous week the pitch looked hard and bouncy and could prove tricky for the players.

Kettering kicked off with Hitchin in an all-purple strip with pink trim defending the Tin Hat end. Despite both teams needing three points from the game, it was a cagey opening with neither side showing attacking intent with the first shot at goal coming after seven minutes from Hitchin with a shot from outside the penalty area by Martins which passed wide of the post.

Five minutes later, Kettering responded probing down Hitchin’s right. Powell lifted a ball into the penalty area but it drifted wide of the far post. Just shy of the twenty-minute mark, Kettering had some success down the same side when Loza got the better of the Hitchin right back but his cross into the box was caught above his head by the tall Stacey in the Hitchin goal.

Shortly after, a drive forward by Kelly-Evans from just inside his own half Devon played an angled ball for Loza to run onto. Collecting the ball, Jamar tuned inside crossing two defenders before firing in a right footed shot which saw Stacey falling to his left to turn the ball behind for the first corner of the match. The corner was easily cleared by Franklin.

Hitchin won their first corner after twenty-seven minutes when a ball was played off Hart  for a set piece on the stand side. The visitors sent their tall central defenders up but the corner came to nothing.

After thirty-three minutes, Hitchin were awarded a free kick wide on the open side touchline some thirty yards out from goal after Bature was knocked off the ball by Powell. The ball was lifted high into the penalty area where Jones had a free header but he put his effort well wide of the post.

With a little over five minutes left in the half , Kettering were awarded a free kick mid-way inside the Hitchin half. Thanoj lifted an out swinging ball into the penalty area where it was nodded towards goal by Johnson narrowly outjumping a defender but could put no power into the header and it was a simple collect by Stacey.

Kettering applied pressure on the Hitchin defence for the final minutes of the half winning a corner which came to nothing as Johnson was penalised for holding. Kettering, however, could not generate anything to cause Stacey to be called into action.

The final action of note in the half came from Mr Patterson who booked Heaps for a late tackle on Wilkinson. One minute of added time passed without incident.

    Half Time: Kettering Town  0  Hitchin Town  0

Neither side made any substitutions at half time.

Only two minutes of the second half had been played when Kettering had a stroke of luck. Gudger player the ball back towards Jezeph in his own penalty area. Hart went to play the ball but on getting a call from his keeper stopped advancing and turned his back on the ball. Dan swung his leg at the ball making a firm contact but sent it directly into Hart. The ball could have gone anywhere and fortunately it went behind for an early corner for the visitors. The set piece came to nothing but shortly after Hitchin were presented another opportunity as Powell headed behind. The low trajectory corner from Stokoe into the wind from the stand side just cleared the head of Bature but fell kindly to Jones just behind him. The defender’s shot looked to be beating Jezeph but was blocked by Hart just short of the goal line. Syme contested the ball but Hart got to the ball just ahead of the Hitchin man and his clearance went off Syme for a goal kick.

Minutes later, Hitchin took the lead having played the start of the second half in Kettering’s half of the pitch. A long ball over the top from Heaps saw Gudger back pedalling trying to cover but was outpaced by Deall who got in front of the defender. Alex stuck to the forward though and forced him wide denying him the opportunity to shoot. Deall fed the ball back to the supporting Franklin who squared the ball to Heaps who delivered a curling ball into the penalty area. The ball bounced off the shins of dos Santos Martins straight to the feet of Hutchinson. The centre forward touched the ball back to the Luton loanee who moved to his left and lashed the ball home past the helpless Jezeph for his first Hitchin goal. 0-1 Hitchin 52 mins

Kettering responded by making a substitution withdrawing Fifield in a straight swap for Tyree Wilson. Shortly after, it almost got worse for the hosts. A foul on Stokoe gave Hitchin a free kick wide on the open side. The ball was sent in swinging into the penalty area where Deall sent the ball back across the goal where Hutchinson was guilty of mis-kicking the ball when a clean contact would have seen the visitor’s lead doubled. As it was the ball went behind for a corner. Kettering managed to clear the set piece taken short.

The pressure of Kettering was relieved by a foul on the half-way line on Wilson which led to Stokoe going into the Referee’s notebook. Just before the hour mark Jezeph went down to the floor and required treatment giving Kettering a chance to reset. While the play was halted Kettering made a double substitution with Jonny Edwards and Lewis White coming on replacing the two full backs Hart and Powell with the team swapping to a back three formation. Hitchin also made their first change with Kye Tearle replacing Heaps.

With twenty-five minutes to go, another ball over the top from Hitchin tested Kettering’s defence. Johnson attempted to head the ball away but set the ball up into the air and behind him. Hutchinson ran onto the loose ball with Gudger in pursuit. The forward collected the ball and turned inside the defender but he scuffed his shot somewhat and the ball rolled into Jezeph’s hands. Shortly after Kettering made their final change with Sam McLintock replacing Wilkinson.

Two minutes later on sixty-seven minutes, Kettering put unnecessary pressure on themselves when a poorly aimed pass at the back went out for a corner to the visitors. The Kettering defence cleared the set piece without any drama.

Hitchin made their second change after seventy-two minutes with Bradley Bell replacing Stokoe.

With under fifteen minutes left to play, York carried the ball forward with purpose he tried to square the ball to Loza but got lucky when it rebounded of the covering defender back to Wes. His second attempt failed to reach Jamar and was cleared by Hitchin. 

Eighty-one minutes had been played when Kettering had the chance to equalise. Kelly-Evans sent a ball into the Hitchin penalty area aiming for Edwards. The ball was intercepted by Syme but he pushed the ball straight at York. Wes took a touch with his left foot and with the goal looming large before him lifted his right footed effort over the bar from six yards out.

The significance of the miss was given even more credence a minute later when Kettering’s hopes of winning the league looked to have been blown away on this gusty afternoon. A high ball played forward was challenged for in the air between Hutchinson and Gudger. The Hitchin man won out and nodded the ball on for Deall to run onto in acres of space leaving him 1v1 against Jezeph. The forward looked offside with Gudger hesitating in running back vainly appealing but video replay showed the Assistant Referee to be fully vindicated in keeping his flag down. Hitchin’s top scorer took the chance, calmly and comprehensively beating Dan to send the ball low into the bottom left-hand corner of the goal. 0-2 Hitchin 83 mins

With Kettering’s hopes evaporating so was the crowd in the Prosaw stand as large numbers started making their way towards the exits looking to beat the queues out of the car park having seen enough. Hitchin were pressing for a third and won a corner almost directly after the restart when a Deall shot deflected behind off Kelly-Evans. Hitchin held their tall defenders back allowing Kettering to easily clear the set piece.

Looking to use up as much time as possible Hitchin made a substitution on eighty-seven minutes with Dixon-Smith making way for Kobe Sinclair-Linton. A minute later Kettering were given the chance of gaining a consolation goal when Loza, the one Kettering player who could come out of the game with any credit drove hard into the Hitchin penalty area heading for the byline. The Hitchin captain Jones, instead of just shepherding the forward rashly went off his feet to attempt a tackle it was poorly timed and brought down Jamar giving Mr Patterson a simple decision to point at the spot. Edwards stepped up to take the kick, with supporters’ memories of his botched kick at Stratford foremost in the minds, as Jonny used the same slow-motion approach to the ball. The keeper moved the wrong way but if he had stood his ground would have easily saved the kick. 1-2 Kettering 89 mins

From the restart ,Hitchin played the ball forward and looked to keep the ball in the corner on the stand side in front of the Tin Hat. Winning a throw-in Franklin delayed excessively so in restarting the game and was booked for time wasting. When the throw was taken it went behind for a goal kick as it was announced that there would be a minimum of five additional minutes played.

Kettering moved the ball to the other end and won a corner on the stand side. Wilson’s kick unlike many of Kettering’s corners this season beat the first man but fell to an open defender who unchallenged by a red shirt calmly headed the ball away. Kettering retained possession though and the ball was worked to Loza but he sent his shot from 12 yards wide of the post.

With the winning post within sight, Hitchin made their final substitution with four minutes of additional time played as Will McNeill replaced goal scorer Deall.

With very little time remaining, York probed down Hitchin’s right. Wes played the ball back to Wilson who fed it backwards onto Gudger. Alex lifted a curling high ball into the box where Jones misjudged the flight of the ball due to the wind headed the ball up into the air and back towards his own goal. The ball fell towards Syme on the 6-yard line who tried to head the ball clear but the dropping ball meant he could generate little distance on the clearance and sent the ball directly to White lurking near the penalty spot. Lewis controlled the ball with a touch of his right foot before hitting it low through a crowded goalmouth and into the bottom right-hand corner of the goal. 2-2 Kettering 90+5 mins

Hitchin barely had time to restart before the Referee called time on a match which came to life in the closing moments. The Hitchin players were devastated as with two minutes of normal time remaining, they looked to be heading to a famous, thoroughly deserved victory and three vital points in their battle against relegation all snatched away from them with an escape act worthy of Harry Houdini.

   Full Time: Kettering Town  2   Hitchin Town  2

For the third Saturday in a row an injury time equaliser saw the points shared. This time Kettering were the fortunate recipients of a point as they were at home to Telford. By no means was this a convincing display and a neutral would be hard pushed to say which team had title hopes and which was battling against relegation. With the other contenders all drawing this point keeps Kettering in the hunt but if Kettering should make the play-offs with a performance such as this their involvement in those games will last little more than 90 minutes.

With all the new ‘quality’ players that have been added to the squad in the last few months it was good to see a player who has fallen from favour score the vital goal and his reaction to the remaining crowd in the Prosaw stand his understanding of what it means to the Kettering supporters. 

Kettering Town yellow cards:  none                                      

Hitchin Town yellow cards:  Heaps, Stokoe  – fouls   Franklin – time wasting                                       

Attendance: 1127

Kettering Town Man-of-the-Match selected by the Gates Family– Andi Thanoj – For a second home match in a row Andi has been selected as man-of-the-match standing out in a pretty anonymous Kettering midfield. Jamar Loza making his home Kettering debut was the team’s one threatening player who looked closest to scoring from open play in normal time with his incisive run leading to the penalty decision.