Boro up to third as they record their 4th straight win

It wasn’t the greatest of performances at Broadhall Way, but Graham Westley’s Stevenage side dug deep tonight to beat Kettering Town by 2 goals to 1. It shows how much the team has improved in recent months as I’m sure back in November, Boro would of lost this type of game tonight. Kettering were as expected, physical and well organised and their two centre halves of Dempster and Geohaghan were keeping the deadly duo of Steve Morison and Mitchell Cole quiet. Going forward, Jason Lee led the line with Craig Westcarr offering a threat from out wide. Boro made one change from the team that won 4-2 away at Salisbury at the weekend with Lawrie Wilson returning to the side on the right wing replacing Mark Albrighton. Michael Bostwick dropped back to defence with Darren Murphy partnering David Bridges in midfield.

In what was a dull first half, both sides had few chances. The best Boro had to offer was a header from Bridges from a Cole cross and a long range effort from Darren Murphy which crashed off the crossbar. Craig Westcarr had Kettering’s best effort, but his free-kick was not good enough to beat Day. Both sides struggled to play any sort of football on a poor Broadhall Way pitch. It’s the worst state I’ve seen it in for some time. I can’t imagine it being any better for when Burton visit on Saturday in the FA Trophy.

Kettering went in front on the stroke of half-time after a lack of communication between Bostwick and Day allowed Seddon to cross and after Westcarr mis-cued, Jason Lee hammered in the opener. It was a sloppy goal to concede and would of disappointed Westley as Boro had looked reasonably comfortable at the back until then. Boro needed an early goal to get them back in it after half-time and they got it when Irishman Darren Murphy headed home 5 minutes in to the second half. It gave everyone in the ground a boost and Boro controlled the game from then on.

Kettering were mostly reduced to long range attempts and Westcarr again tried his luck, but Day kept it out at the second attempt. Boro also had efforts on goal with Morison and Murphy going close. The game looked to be petering out for a draw until a Mitchell Cole cross found substitute Peter Vincenti who was allowed far too much time on the ball to turn and shoot past Harper who was beaten on his near post. BHW erupted. Vincenti has again proved he is a vital member of the Boro squad and has chipped in with what could be some very important goals come the end of the season. 

The win keeps Boro in third place in the Blue Square Premier table, although the teams around us still have several games in hand to pick up the points they need to overtake us again. I’d say realistically we are still 8th-10th place in the league, but if we continue our unbeaten run then the play-offs look a realistic possibility by the time April comes around. There’s 15 games left. How many points can we win?