Match Report
Kettering Town v St Ives Town
Pitching-In Southern League Premier Central 01-11-2025
A solid defensive performance from Ives ensured that they prevented new Poppies boss Liam McDonald from enjoying a happy return to Latimer Park. The visitors could so easily have got even more from the game with home keeper Jason Alexander being forced into two full length save to deny Jernade Meade on the half hour and substitute Alfie Shepherd three minutes from time.
The two minutes silence and the sounding of the last post to mark Remembrance Day were impeccably observed by the near one thousand crowd prior to kick off.
In his first few days in the job McDonald had brought in two new players to sharpen up the misfiring Poppies and lift them from their current mid table position. Full back Blaine Rowe came in to strengthen the hosts defence whilst striker Kai Williams was looked upon as the man to end their current goal drought. Ives manager Ricky Marheineke had similarly been looking to strengthen his attacking options after the recent departures of Amir Hadi and Jamal Adams but his more limited budget had prevented a deal being done ahead of this game.
The opening exchanges were cagy with both defences on top. Ollie Taylor in the Ives goal made an excellent claim of an early Poppies corner. But the first save for either keeper did not arrive until 17th minute when Taylor made a routine stop to a scuffed shot from the edge of the box from ex Ives centre back Will Glennon.
Gibou Njie was Ives saviour 90 seconds later. Ethan Creary picked up a yellow card for scything down the dangerous Callum Powell by the corner flag on the left. Ismael Fatadjo delivered the free kick into the six yard box where Taylor was impeded by Williams allowing the ball to curl in towards the back post where Njie was perfectly positioned to head it away from danger.
But Ives saviour one moment was also the man that almost lead to their downfall seconds later as they tried to play out from the back Njie was caught in possession by Fatadjo who put Williams clear through the right channel but as Taylor came to meet him the bustling striker snatched at the chance and fired well over the top.
The Poppies pressure continued and they wasted another golden opportunity in 23rd minute. Glennon’s perfectly weighted ball over the top was latched onto by Fatadjo who outpaced Creary and delivered a low cross from the left that beat all in the centre and arrived at the feet of skipper George Forsyth arriving unmarked at the back post. He had time to take a touch but instead blazed high and wide with only Taylor to beat.
Ives first effort at goal of the afternoon came in 27th minute. Kellan Hickinson cut inside from the left and was bundled over by Rowe 25 yards from goal. Skipper Michael Richens got the free kick over the hosts four man wall, but it kept rising and thudded into the underside of the roof of the stand behind the goal.
The closest that either team came to breaking the deadlock before the break was an opportunist effort from Meade in 31st minute. Picking up the ball fully 35 yards from goal he spotted the keeper off his line and tied to lob him. The effort was spot on and the big keeper needed to use his full 6’ 6” and some furious back peddling to leap and just claw the effort away.
Each side had one more opportunity before the break. In 39th minute a quick Ives break ended with Creary and Meade getting each other’s way to prevent either getting in a shot as a ball in from the right by Liam Cross ran along the edge of the D. Sixty seconds later at the other end Duncan Idehen did brilliantly to prevent Williams getting a shot on target after it looked like the speedy centre forward was going to burst through the centre.
The first half chance of the second half fell to the hosts as Rowe’s long throw was flicked on in the centre by Forsyth but the ball just evaded Fatadjo coming in at the back post. Idehen was in the right place to rescue Ives again in 53rd minute Fatadjo got a flick to a long punt that looked like it had put Williams away but the Ives centre back read the danger and was again in position to clear.
The hosts continued their good spell but the hard working Ives continued to keep them at bay and Taylor remained untested. They came close again in 67th minute when Connor Stanley played in Alfie Lweis down the right his low cross to the near post almost picked out his centre forward but Jordan Williams slid in to take the ball off his toe. Moments later it was Ives turn to go close again as Cross robbed Andi Thanoj and sprinted down the right before delivered a fizzing low cross that just evaded Theo Alexandrou sliding in at the back post.
Taylor remained alert in Ives goal collecting a 25 yard effort from Powell in 75th minute and then doing well to claim a corner under heavy pressure three minutes later. But as time started to tick down it began to look like it could be the visitors that would take the spoils and they had four good opportunities to do so in the last ten minutes.
In 83rd minute substitute Jiah Medrano’s long throw was knocked back to him and his return cross was missed by all in the middle and arrived at the feet of Creary beyond the back post. But the young defender snatched at the chance and fired well wide. Four minutes later young Shepherd went close to opening his account for the Ives. Cutting in from the left he let fly with a fierce rising drive that Alexander was forced to tip over the top but had the shot been either side of the big keeper rather than straight at him it could have been a different story.
A couple of Ives corners followed and from the second of those Williams was unlucky to have been adjudged to have fouled Alexander as he got above the keeper to get on the end of Meade’s hanging flag kick inside the six yard box. The final chance two minutes into added time fell to another of the substitutes. Creary burst down the right and got to the bye line his pull back picked out Jahrel McKoy but the youngster’s first time effort lacked power and was straight at keeper Alexander who made a comfortable save.
An entertaining game that could have gone either way, the Poppies will feel that they should have done better with all of the possession that they enjoyed but it was Ives that came closest to grabbing full reward. Both sides remain in a tightly packed middle of the table and both have tough away games to come next Saturday with Ives at League leaders Spalding and the Poppies visiting third placed Quorn.
Final Score: Kettering Town 0 St Ives Town 0 Half Time 0 – 0
Goals:
KETTERING:
ST IVES:
Team Line Ups:
KETTERING: Alexander, Flynn (White 85), Forsyth (capt), Glennon, Thanoj, Williams, Stanley, Rowe, Fatadjo (York 71), Lewis, Powell (Oppong 90), Unused subs: Andoh, Forde,
ST IVES: Taylor, Creary, Richens (capt) (McKoy 76), Williams, Idehen, Cross, Miles (Medrano 62), Hickinson (Shepherd 64), Njie, Alexandrou, Meade, Unused subs: Smith, Gyamfi
Referee: Joshua Crofts
Cards: Yellow: KETTERING: Glennon (54) ST IVES: Creary (18), Cross (57), Miles (60), Idehen (64)
IVES SUPPORTERS MAN OF THE MATCH: Jordan Williams
Attendance: 991