| Venue: Latimer Park Date: 24-09-22 Kettering Town 0 Harriers 3 Att: 851 (away fans: 100) |
The Harriers cruise to an easy victory
Report: Phil Lench
On the expected Kettering Town pitch, that was more suited to a beach ball rather than a football, the Harriers had finished the hosts off by halftime leaving them looking like the relegation candidates that they are. Goals from Yusifu Ceesay, Krystian Pearce and Ethan Freemantle put us into such an unassailable position by half time that in the second half we seemed happy enough to treat the game as a training exercise.
With an unchanged starting eleven from last Saturdays FA Cup win against Tamworth we saw the absence of Amari Morgan-Smith on the bench the only difference along with Jamie Emery missing out due to just five subs and not seven. AMS was obviously still feeling the effects of the bad tackle last week.
For the hosts we came up against Andre Wright and Cameron Gregory once again. Wright was sporting a large man bun that made him un-recogniseable at first while Gregory seems to have gained a few inches in height. Andre Wright lived up to his nickname of Andre Wrong throughout the game.
The game got underway with the Harriers in the supremacy and looking for a goal as soon as they possibly could. After a couple of corners that came to nought it was Ceesay who opened the scoring with a calmly taken goal drawing Gregory off his line then slipping the ball past him. It was good to see a more controlled side of him after disappointing in recent games with his ability to trip over the ball when it was least wanted.
Playing more as a striker than a wideman he continued to make forays forwards while the recognised striker, Freemantle, tended to stay out wide more. That became frustrating at times with both players looking to play one or the other in but both too far apart.
Almost ten minutes after the first goal the second arrived. Another corner was awarded and, in a copycat of his first goal for us against Spennymoor Town, it was Krystian Pearce that got highest and first to the ball to bury it into the back of the net. In all that time Kettering had yet to meaningfully get into our half of the pitch. Such was our dominance.
It was following that goal the the home side finally woke up and began to encroach towards Tom Palmers goal without really threatening. Wright was playing far to deep to be of danger to us so nothing’s changed there then. Decarrey Sheriff scuffed instead of shooting and a ruck of free kicks that were either easily saved or sailed over. Then it was game over.
The Reds broke away and with no one in the way Ethan Freemantle was played in, by Ceesay, to slide the ball home. The game had been won by half-time.
HT: 0 – 3
It would have been nice to have increased our lead further in the search for a better goal difference but instead we opted to take it easy. Probably for the best considering the state of the pitch and the risk of more injuries.
As a consequence this part of the report will be brief.
Kettering had their first real sight of goal just a few minutes in but somehow Brad Gascoigne headed the ball down onto the ground so hard that it rebounded over the crossbar. Mystified why he headed it down in the first place when it was a gift goal waiting to happen.
Minutes later he was at it again but this time he lifted the ball way over the bar instead of shooting straight. You can see why they’re struggling when a central defender gets in front of goal rather than a recognised striker even if he does miss sitters.
Our first foray forward of the half saw Zak Brown fire high over then a minute later shoot tamely at Gregory. We then saw a candidate for goal of the season when Keziah Martin turned and shot on the edge of the area. The ball flew towards the goal but Gregory got to it and tipped it over the bar.
With ten minutes left we came into substitute time and Ceesay made way for Ben Margetson then a few minutes later Gabby Rogers came on for Brown. In the dying minutes, and both sides content with passing the ball around, Joe Foulkes went down with a head injury. He went off and Kai Lissimore came on for the final minute. With the game now won and dusted the players came off to the fans applause with Joe touching the gap where a tooth once was.
It’s now on to Buxton FC on Tuesday for the second of our three away games in a row. Hopefully we’ll see them give us more of a game than the Poppies did.
FT: 0 – 3
Goals for Harriers: Ceesay 10, Pearce 18, Freemantle 45
The Harriers Online MotM is: Krystian Pearce
Talk about the game here
Latest table and stats here
| Kettering Town | Goals | Subs | Time | Cards |
| Gregory | ||||
| Cooper | ||||
| Reilly |  | 46 | ||
| Hill | ||||
| Sheriff | ||||
| Gascoigne | ||||
| Oluwabori |  | 73 | ||
| Stohrer | ||||
| Wright |  | 80 | ||
| Ward | ||||
| Sharpe | ||||
| Subs: | ||||
| Sault |  | 46 | ||
| Toseland | ||||
| Graham | ||||
| Bennett |  | 73 | ||
| Richard-Noel |  | 80 | ||
| Harriers | Goals | Subs | Time | Cards |
| Palmer | ||||
| Foulkes | | 90 | ||
| Richards | ||||
| Knight-Percival | ||||
| Pearce |  | |||
| Byrne | ||||
| Brown | | 87 | ||
| Martin | ||||
| Freemantle | | |||
| Hemmings | ||||
| Ceesay | | | 81 | |
| Subs: | ||||
| Leak | ||||
| Margetson | | 81 | ||
| Lissimore | | 90 | ||
| Rogers | | 87 | ||
| Hewett | ||||
| Referee: | ||||
| Mr Richie Watkins | ||||
| Nuneaton | ||||