Boro rue missed chances at Kettering

Stevenage will get home this evening and wonder how they didn’t end up taking all 3 points after a dominant second half performance. Although Kettering had a couple of opportunities in added time, the second half was mostly at the other end as a host of Boro players missed chances to give the Hertfordshire side the victory. Westley opted to use a 4-3-3 formation with Chris Beardsley coming in to face his old club. Eddie Odhiambo was dropped to the bench. Andy Drury also missed out due to injury and was replaced by David Bridges who made his first start of the season.

The game couldn’t of started better. Boro were awarded a free-kick about 25 yards out and a weak Joel Byrom effort ended in the back of the net after a huge error by Poppies goalkeeper Lee Harper. The former Arsenal and Northampton stopper allowed the ball to somehow go under his big frame and into the goal. It was the perfect start for Westley’s side. Stevenage continued to attack after the goal. Yemi Odubade’s pace was a threat in behind the Kettering defence and Scott Laird and Ronnie Henry were bursting forward at every opportunity.

After a dominating opening spell, Kettering began to get a foothold back in the game. Moses Ashikodi was becoming a growing threat to the Boro backline and along with the aerial presence of Damian Spencer, you felt Boro wouldn’t be able to just settle for the 1 goal. That proved to be the case as a mix up in defence between Ashton and Day allowed ex Watford striker Ashikodi to get the ball and slot it into an empty net. It was a soft goal to concede.

Stevenage had another few chances before half-time including a long range effort that just went wide of Harper’s post. Both sides went in at half-time level although the away side would be the more happier with their performance.

The second half was mostly dominated by Stevenage, but they couldn’t turn that possession into goals as the team again missed big chances to go back in front. Chris Beardsley never looked capable of scoring today and he missed a golden opportunity late on after being put clean through. You can tell now why his goal record isn’t anything to shout about at his previous clubs. Today he just seemed off the pace. He was quite slow and his first touch was poor. He’ll need to show a lot more in training next week if he is to start at Port Vale on Saturday.

Charlie Griffin also missed another simple chance in the air, while Bostwick and Bridges also went close. Without Boylan, Boro don’t seem to have a natural finisher in the side at the moment. I’m confident that if he’d been fit to play today then we may have won the game. Kettering were there for the taking and unfortunately we weren’t clinical enough to take all 3 points. Francis Green had a big chance late on which brought the best out of Chris Day at his near post, but that would have been harsh on Boro who didn’t deserve to lose.

In the end, a point isn’t a bad result away from home against one of the contenders for the play-offs at the end of the season, but I felt we played quite well today and were unlucky not to win the game. Next up for us is Port Vale in the FA Cup and they drew 1-1 today with Dagenham. They’re also 7 games unbeaten so it should be a good game.