Poppies v Glassboys

At long last, after what feels like an away-day exile of Tolkien-esque proportions, Kettering Town return to Latimer Park on Saturday, welcoming Stourbridge for Match Day Twenty — the club’s first home fixture since the opening dawn of November.

Stourbridge, the former stomping ground of Liam McDonald and Nick Green, arrive as the second relegation-zone side Kettering have faced in the space of a week. However, unlike Stamford — who obligingly sat at the bottom and yet still managed to trip the Poppies up — the Glassboys appear to have located something resembling form. Three draws (goalless with Barwell, a 3–3 thriller with Bromsgrove Sporting, and a stiff-necked 1–1 at Stratford) plus two narrow defeats have nudged them up to the heady heights of 19th. It’s not quite champagne football, but after 14 winless matches, even carbonated tap water will do.

Their away record, however, remains the kind of thing best viewed through clasped fingers: six points from ten attempts. A statistic only a mother — and possibly a very forgiving director of football — could love.

Kettering, though, can hardly boast. Tuesday’s 1–2 defeat at basement-dwelling Stamford was the sort of evening that makes supporters reconsider their midweek life choices. Still, the arrival of two new loanees — plus the rumoured appearance of another fresh face this weekend — gives the faintest glimmer of optimism that a first win in three may yet be coaxed into existence.

Form-wise, the Poppies are nestled uncomfortably in 20th, a single rung above Saturday’s visitors, with just four points from their last fifteen. Yet at home there is solace: eleven points from eight matches and a general sense that Latimer Park remains more friend than foe. In the grander scheme, Kettering sit 12th, eight points adrift of the play-off hopefuls from Needham Market, following a run of one win, one draw, and three defeats.

Elsewhere among the promotion pack, Harborough Town embark on a tricky trip to Barwell; Spalding United face the fourth-placed resilience of Redditch United; Real Bedford head to Leiston; and Needham Market host the currently managerless Alvechurch — never a straightforward proposition for either side.

As for Saturday’s main event, both Kettering and Stourbridge arrive in equally threadbare form, which may not bode well for the goal-hungry neutral. Yet with nineteen historical meetings stretching back to 1930–31, this fixture has a habit of misbehaving just when certainty seems near. Predictions, as ever in non-league football, should be made lightly and preferably with a disclaimer.

With the festive fixture list fast approaching, the Poppies would dearly love to unwrap an early present in the form of three much-needed points — and perhaps the start of a climb back toward the hallowed play-off places.

Get behind Liam and the lads this Saturday.

Enjoy the game.

STOURBRIDGE

Season        V        Comp           F-A     Att:    Poppies Scorers

1930-31        H        BDL              5-1     1008   Walker, Litchfield, Starsmore.3, Townsend

                     A        BDL              1-2                Starsmore

1969-70        H        FAT2            1-1     2100   Peck

                     A        FAT2R          2-1     3235   Gully, Daldy B

1971-72        H        SLD1N          2-0     1412   Webster, Ashby

                     A        SLD1N          1-1     609    Atkinson

1974-75        H        SLP              0-1     2250

                     A        SLP              4-2     1051   Large, Horsfall, Clayton.2

1975-76        H        SLP              2-0     1256   Goodhall, Wardrop

                     A        SLP              0-0     450

2012-13        H        ESP*            0-1     517

                     A        ESP              0-0     486

2018-19        H        ESLSPC       4-2     701    Meikle, Richens, Holman, Kelly

                     A        ESLSPC       2-1     1734   Solkhon, Knowles

                     H        FAT1Q         2-0     409    Toseland, Hoenes

2023-24        H        PISLPC        2-4     895    Bennett, Lewthwaite

                     A        PISLPC        1-2     699    Andrade

2024-25        H        PISLPC        2-0     1551   Noel-Williams, Hooper

                     A        PISLPC        3-1     912    Noel-Williams, Pennant, Edwards (p)

* Played at Corby Town

POPPIES WINS:               10                           GOALS FOR:                     35

GLASSBOYS WINS:         5                            GOALS AGAINST:              19

DRAWS                            4

Most goals in a game for the Poppies v Stourbridge (3)

Jackie Starsmore (1930-31)

Most goals in career Poppies v Stourbridge (4)

Jackie Starsmore

Played for both clubs (16)                                                  

Goalkeepers

Richard Massey, Anthony Robinson, James McPike, Henry Eze, Alastair Worby, Exodus Geohaghon, Will Grocott, Michael McGrath, Ellis Denney, Lathaniel Rowe-Turner, Matthew Barnes-Homer, Marshall Willock, Liam Daly, George Forsyth, Connor Stanley, Aksum White.

Managers (1)

Liam McDonald.

Assistant Manager at both clubs (1)

Nick Green

League debuts (8)

Joel Gyasi               05:09:12 (a)

Joe Lamplough        05:09:12 (a)

Tom Knowles          26:01:19 (a)  Scored on debut

Luca Miller              12:08:23 (h)

Tai Williams             12:08:23 (h)

Gary Hooper           22:10:24 (h)  Scored on debut

Sam McLintock        15:02:25 (a)

Kyle Storer              15:02:25 (a)

Kettering players who made their 100^th appearance v Stourbridge (1)

Rhys Sharpe           2023-24 (a)

STOURBRIDGE

Manager                           Darryl Knights

Nickname                         The Glassboys

Ground                             War Memorial Athletic Ground

Position in League           13pts – 19^th from 18 games

Top League scorer            6 – Jenson Sumnall

THE GLASSBOYS SO FAR….