Boss Cox left feeling a bit hard done by as Kettering Town lose out to Boston

The Poppies have now lost three games in a row in all competitions
Kettering Town manager Paul Cox. Pictures by Peter ShortKettering Town manager Paul Cox. Pictures by Peter Short
Kettering Town manager Paul Cox. Pictures by Peter Short

Paul Cox felt Kettering Town didn’t get what they deserved after they squandered a 2-0 lead as Boston United fought back to claim a 3-2 victory at Latimer Park.

The Poppies made a brilliant start with Connor Kennedy heading them into an early lead before Jordon Crawford’s first goal for the club made it 2-0 inside seven minutes.

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But Boston hit back and goals from Paul Green and Joe Leesley brought them level before Crawford forced a fine save from Marcus Dewhurst, who had earlier made a sharp stop to prevent Gerry McDonagh from putting Kettering 3-0 up.

Jordon Crawford scored his first goal for the Poppies in the defeat to BostonJordon Crawford scored his first goal for the Poppies in the defeat to Boston
Jordon Crawford scored his first goal for the Poppies in the defeat to Boston

However, the only goal of an even second half went to Boston with striker Jordan Burrow powering home a free header from a corner with only their third attempt on target.

The Poppies were unable to find a way back and Cox, who has now seen his team lose three in a row in all competitions, was left feeling a bit hard done by.

“I’ll be honest, I thought we did well,” the Kettering manager said.

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“I thought we got off to a great start but the problem we have at the moment, if you analyse the goals from the last three games, no-one has really created the goals, it’s been us switching off.

“We are losing concentration and we are getting punished for everything.

“It’s hard to take today. There were some great individual performances from us, I thought the lads worked hard and I thought the crowd appreciated our efforts.

“It just seems to be the case at the moment that every little mistake we make is being punished and the little mistakes that other teams make aren’t being punished.

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“There’s no sulking about it. We have to go on to the next game and if we put in the same sort of performance, we will start to win games.

“Boston have a very strong squad of players, which is all geared for promotion. We were up against a team who are tipped for promotion and that’s not our goal.

“We have competed. We are just a bit naive, particularly in the final third.

“Right at the end, their goalkeeper has dropped the ball in the six-yard box and no-one is there to tap it in.

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“They have a corner and their centre-forward has headed it into the top corner and we have been punished for not doing our job.

“I don’t think our performance warranted us losing the game.

“I have been hard on the boys when we haven’t shown up and I don’t think I needed to have a go at them today.

“They shouldn’t sulk too much. Sometimes you play well and don’t get what you deserve.

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“I hate losing but, as down as I was at Hereford and Gloucester, I thought our performance was back to near the standards we set earlier in the season.”

Cox, meanwhile, reaffirmed his desire to “freshen” the Poppies squad up with some new faces.

They head to AFC Telford United next weekend and the manager added: “The plan is to work hard with these players and help them improve but the squad does need freshening up.

“It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to work out where we need strengthening.

“But, at the end of the day, we aren’t blessed with the resources of other teams so we are going to have to wheel and deal and work really hard with what we have got.

“We will try to freshen it up.”