28-04-23. Match preview Vs Kettering Town

Preview: Phil Lench

Somehow the Harriers are tantalisingly close to this seasons play-off finals and we have just one more game to go and make a concerted effort getting over the line. It won’t all be down to us though because there are other sides also dreaming of getting into the final day placings too.

I can’t list all of the permutations available but outside the cut off line we find (in this order) Chorley FC, Harriers, Gloucester City, Curzon Ashton, Spennymoor Town and Darlington FC while possibly dropping out, if they lose, we have Buxton FC and Scarborough Athletic.

It’s going to be nail-biting for all those sets of fans and us just hoping that a win will actually be enough with our weak goal difference crucial in getting ourselves into seventh place or better.

We can only do what we can on the day though and that’s to win. Trouble is our visitors tomorrow, Kettering Town, also need points to stay in this division and they’re relying on AFC Fylde to go to Bradford (PA) and beat them resoundingly by scoring a hatful of goals and also Blyth Spartans to lose at Hereford FC. Favourable early goals in those two games could allow Kettering to sit back knowing that they’ll be safe and allow us to win.

We don’t want to rely on that scenario though.

Hopefully we’ll be up to full strength tomorrow with just Joe McGlynn and Ethan Freemantle out injured. Kettering will be without their captain Gary Stohrer after he got himself sent off at home to Chester FC last Saturday. They have no known injuries so they’ll  be putting out as strong a team as the possibly can.

To end the season in the play-offs is something no Harriers fan expected following the very poor season that we’ve been through with an underperforming team unable to score goals. That all seems to have been forgotten and now we look ‘about to do a York’ and creep into the play-offs in the final game of the season.

Can it be done? Hopefully but we have to cast our minds back to the final game of the season in 2009 and learn from that days shock result:

http://www.harriers-online.co.uk/season08-09/reports08-09/kett_h_26-4-09.shtml

Teams:

Harriers from:

Palmer, Dibble, Penny, Richards, Morrison, Knight-Percival, Foulkes, Leak, McNally, Pearce, Byrne, Leesley, Brown, Lissimore, Owen-Evans, Hall, Martin, Tolley, Bearne, Hemmings, Morgan-Smith.

Kettering Town from:

Mason, Lakin, Gascoine, Myles, Stohrer, Cooper, White, Sharpe, Sault, Hill, Forsyth, Reilly, Ward, Scott, Sheriff, Knowles, Bennett, Lewthwaite,  

Referee: Mr Richard Aspinall. Blackpool

Talk about the game here

Links to Kettering Town websites here

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