Boss Lavery bemoans shocking start as Poppies slump to defeat at title rivals Bedford Town

A win at the New Eyrie would have seen the Poppies leapfrog the Eagles, but a disastrous start saw former Kettering striker Bruno Andrade score twice in the opening eight minutes to ensure the home side get off to a flyer.

Leon Lobjoit made it 3-0 five minutes into the second half, and although Devon Kelly-Evans pulled one back on 57 minutes and the home side were reduced to 10 men with the sending off of defender Carl Mensah after 77, the misfiring Poppies could not fight their way back into the game.

It means, ahead of Saturday afternoon's fixtures, Kettering remain in third place, but now six points adrift of Bedford, although they do still have four games in hand on the leaders.

Lavery was left to reflect on a poor result, and felt his side gave themselves 'a mountain to climb' with their disastrous start.

"Nobody likes losing games, and I am the worst for that," said the Poppies boss.

"The two goals in the first eight minutes have probably cost us the game, because once you go 2-0 down it is a mountain to climb.

"But I still believe we could have climbed it as we dominated the game, and dominated the ball.

"At half-time I have had a few words, but then we have come out for the second half and conceded straight away.

"If we don't concede that goal, and can then go and score the next goal then it changes the whole game if we could have got it back to 2-1.

"But Bedford played well, there were two great finishes from Bruno and we know what he can do, that's why I signed him. But he has come back to bite us hasn't he?"

Lavery felt the Poppies could have still got some reward for their efforts, and insisted: "We were still in the game at 3-1.

"If you go and get the next goal and make it 3-2 then it is a proper game then with five or 10 minutes to go, but it wasn't to be.

"Bedford got a lot of numbers behind the ball, they defended well. We weren't clinical enough in their box, and were poor going forward.

"There were a lot of balls that went flashing across the box and there was nobody there to finish. It is a numbers game when you talk about defending then, and they had five to our two.

"So if you are a gambler, they are going to come out on top aren't they?"

And he added: "It was never a 3-1 game. I spoke to their manager (Lee Bircham) at the end and he said 'you'll still go and win the league'.

"I don't know if he is just saying that, but I know we are a good side.

"We have showed we are a good side in this match, but the game is won and lost in both boxes.

"We weren't clinical enough in their box when we were attacking, and we were poor when defending for that 10 or 15 minutes.

"For the neutral that was a great game, but not for me.

"The 3-1 scoreline makes it look a battering, but it wasn't. We have controlled the game, but haven't hurt them."

The match was watched by a huge crowd of 1,973, with an estimated 900 making the short trip from Kettering, and Lavery apologised to the travelling support for the scoreline, but not the performance.

"I am gutted I have sent the fans away with no points," said the Poppies boss.

"I said to the lads, the worst-case scenario is we take away a point, so I apologise to the fans.

"I still think we played well, we didn't play poory, we dominated the game without getting in front."

The Poppies return to action on Tuesday night when they entertain fellow title hopefuls Halesowen Town (ko 7.45pm).

Quotes courtesy of Peter Short