Kettering Preview

So it’s back to league action this Saturday when Kettering are the visitors to Broadhall Way. It’s been a long 3 weeks since Boro beat Cambridge 4-1 to go top of the Blue Square Premier. In that time we have had games against Wrexham and Eastbourne postponed as well as have the FA Trophy game against Vauxhall Motors called off twice before finally getting the go ahead on Tuesday night, in a game which Boro won comfortably. Westley’s side will be looking to continue where they left off after that good win in midweek against Vauxhall Motors.

The Trophy tie on Tuesday night was the ideal preparation for the team ahead of tomorrow’s big game. After nearly 3 weeks without a competitive fixture, a lot of players would have needed an extra game or two to get back into the swing of things again and that 90 minutes against Vauxhall Motors would have done the squad the world of good. Kettering though is a much tougher task for the leaders of the Conference. Although they’ve been very inconsistent since the departure of Mark Cooper, they are still a good side in this division and will not make it easy for us.

The visitors have only won 2 of their last 6 games in the league. Their last win was only in the week when they travelled to Ebbsfleet and won 2-1 thanks to goals from James Dance and Jean Paul Marna. Previous to that, Harper’s side had lost to Histon and Salisbury, been held to a 0-0 draw against Tamworth and been knocked out of both the FA Cup and FA Trophy by Leeds and Barrow respectively. Scoring goals have been a problem since Cooper’s departure and their failure to secure Anthony Elding after his release from Crewe hasn’t helped.

Rockingham Road has certainly been rocking since Cooper’s departure to Peterborough. The unexperienced Harper has struggled in his new role and has seen his assistant sacked only days after being appointed. Star players such as Exodus Geohaghon, Moses Ashikodi and Francis Green have all left and not really been replaced. Harper made a lot of loan moves before Christmas which has kept them ticking over, but they are not the force they were when we played them back in October.

As for Boro, they have gone from strength to strength since they earned a point against the Poppies. Graham Westley has assembled a very solid squad and has been clever in the January transfer window adding the experienced Tim Sills to his front line as well as Darragh Ryan who can play in a variety of different positions as well as adding cover for Scott Laird. I said when the signing of Sills was announced that I thought he was the final piece of the jigsaw and I still believe that. I think he’ll settle in immediately and the way we play compliments his aerial power.

Tomorrow’s game looks like a straight forward one to call, but I don’t think it will be as easy as the form book suggests. It wasn’t that long ago when Kettering went to Cambridge and Luton and picked up maximum points, plus their display’s against Leeds in the Cup deserved a lot more. I think they’ll also raise their game tomorrow as they always seem to do against us. The fact that we’re top of the league will also add some motivation into Harper’s young side. However, we are playing some really good stuff at the moment and if we remain consistent and focused then beating Kettering shouldn’t be a problem.

Prediction: Boro 2-1 Kettering