St Ives Town V Kettering Town
Pitching-In Southern League Premier Central 14-02-2026
Ives came into Saturday’s fixture with Kettering Town looking for what would have been their first win of 2026, having picked up only one point from a possible twelve so far this year. Turning over a Poppies side that came into the game on the back of consecutive league wins was never going to be an easy assignment for Ives Manager Ricky Marheineke’s men. Unfortunately for the home faithful, Ives couldn’t manage to stop the rot as a sparkling display from Ed Panter, who scored a hat-trick on the day, saw Kettering run out 3-1 winners at quattro-tech Westwood Road.
Both sides came into the game having not played for a fortnight, with Ives’ game against Alvechurch and Kettering’s game with Redditch United both falling foul of the weather conditions last weekend.
Marheineke made two changes from his side’s disappointing 2-1 defeat to Bury Town, with Jahrel McKoy and debutant Dan Lawlor, coming in to replace Gibou Njie and the now departed Liam Cross. Lawlor made a good first impression on the Ives faithful, with some neat touches and eye-catching passes throughout. There was also a place on the bench for another new addition in the form of Rueben Wyatt, who joined the club on a youth loan from Tamworth earlier in the week.
Poppies Manager Liam McDonald made three changes from his sides’ 3-1 win over Needham Market, with Wes York and Ryan Inman being replaced by Nathan Jeche and Andi Thanoj in the starting line-up.
The first 10 minutes of the first half saw little in the way of goalmouth action as both sides looked to size each other up in the hopes of growing into the contest. It was the visitors who were the first to turn up the heat on a cold February afternoon in Cambridgeshire as Panter’s shot in the 11th minute, stung the hands of Ollie Taylor in the Ives goal, who palmed the effort away at the near post.
A minute later, the visitors had the ball in the back of the net, tapping home from close range, only to look across to see the linesman’s flag raised and the goal chalked off for offside. A let off for the home side, who were being put under some early pressure.
Panter forced another good save from Taylor 27 minutes into the half as he got on the end of a deep corner at the back post, with his well-directed header just about kept from crossing the line by the Ives keeper.
It was one-way traffic at this stage and with Ives struggling to get a foothold in the game, a challenge from skipper Michael Richens on Alfie Lewis just inside his own penalty area saw referee Thomas Way point to the spot as the visitors were awarded a penalty on 29 minutes. Panter stepped up and sent Taylor the wrong way to give the visitors a deserved lead. Ominous signs for the home side.
However, Ives responded very well to going behind and should’ve been level when Duncan Idehen was found superbly at the back post, only for the central defender to direct his close-range header wide of Jason Alexander’s goal.
Two minutes later, Ives did get themselves back on level terms as Tyrone Baker ran onto a hooked through ball by Richens and got to the ball before the onrushing Alexander, who was caught way out of his goal. Baker produced a lofted effort that took a big bounce before rippling the roof of the net to provide a much-needed goal for his side that saw the teams go into the break all square.
The visitors were dealt another blow just before the half time whistle blew as Levi Andoh picked up a knock and was not able to continue. He was replaced by Preston Bitemo.
Marheineke’s men came out the traps quickly in the second period and put the visitors under some early pressure in the second half. First it was Richens who forced a save from Alexander on 48 minutes as the Kettering keeper palmed his effort behind for a corner. Then, on 56 minutes, Jonny Edwards picked up the ball around 30 yards from goal and hit a sweet drive that troubled Alexander, who had to get across to make a good stop. Richens had another effort saved by the Poppies keeper a minute later as McDonald’s men were forced to weather the storm.
The visitors did just that and there resistance was rewarded moments later, when Panter was played through on goal and in a similar fashion to Baker’s goal in the first half, Kettering’s number 10 beat the onrushing Taylor to the ball and poked it past the keeper to regain his side’s advantage on 57 minutes.
Ismael Fatadjo had a golden opportunity in the 64th minute as he was played clean through on goal, but couldn’t quite force his effort past Taylor, Ives’ player of the match on the day.
The 74th minute of the game saw the home side make their first substitution, with new boy Wyatt sent on by Marheineke to replace Jernade Meade. The former Tamworth man had some decent touches and looked to influence the game as soon as he took to the field.
The home side tried to create some much-needed momentum as we entered the last 15 minutes of the contest. A long throw into the Poppies penalty area from Aaron Smith dropped to the feet of an Ives forward, who couldn’t keep his effort under the crossbar from close range. Some good defensive work from Andi Thanoj prevented another dangerous Ives attack minutes later as Marheineke’s men looked to get back on level terms for the second time in the contest.
However, similarly to the first half, the home side were punished for their missed opportunities as Panter, who had been sensational throughout, got on the end of a flowing move on the edge of the area that saw Bitemo find Lewis down the right-hand side. Lewis fired the ball across, with Panter tapping past Taylor from close range to claim his third goal of the game and eighth goal of the season.
Ives made two more changes on 82 minutes, with Alfie Shepherd and Kellan Hickinson coming on to replace Micheal Richens and Ethan Creary. However, the game continued to drift away from the home side as the clock ticked over into the 90th minute.
There were a few chances spurned by both sides in the six minutes of added on time at the end of the second half. Substitute Kia Fifield saw his close range effort saved by Taylor in the 93rd minute before Edwards unleashed a good effort on the turn in the 96th minute, which Alexander had to push away from goal.
However, neither side could add to their respective goal column’s before Whay blew the full time whistle as Ives suffered their 4th defeat in a row, leaving them six points clear of the relegation zone following the rest of the weekend’s results. The players will have to find a way to dust themselves down and get ready for a huge game against Stamford on Tuesday night, with both sides in desperate need of points.
Final Score: St Ives Town 1 Kettering Town 3 Half Time 1 – 1
Goals:
ST IVES: Baker 34
KETTERING TOWN: Panter 30 (pen), 57, 78
Team Line Ups:
ST IVES: Taylor, Creary (Hickinson 82), Smith, Richens (capt) (Shepherd 82), Idehen, McKoy, Edwards, Miles, Lawlor, Baker, Meade (Wyatt 74) Unused subs: Gibou Njie
KETTERING TOWN: Alexander, Andoh (Bitemo 43), Isaacson, Forsyth (capt), Thanoj, Jeche (Powell 63), Panter (Fifield 81), Coyle, Rowe, Fatadjo (Williams 81), Lewis Unused subs: none
Referee: Thomas Whay
Cards: Yellow: ST IVES: Smith (14), Lawlor (25), Richens (47), Idehen (61)
KETTERING TOWN: Panter (28), Forsyth (77),
IVES SUPPORTERS MAN OF THE MATCH: Ollie Taylor
Attendance: 445
