Boss Le Masurier left to rue struggling Kettering Town's second-half collapse at Needham

The team's third straight defeat leaves the Poppies stuck fourth from bottom and in the relegation zone, four points adrift of safety ahead of next Saturday's crunch clash at fellow strugglers Stourbridge.

Playing for the first time since the 6-0 embarrassment at St Ives on Boxing Day, the Poppies were once again found wanting, but Le Masurier declared himself happier with aspects of his team's performance despite another heavy defeat.

The first half was pretty even until Needham took the lead on 43 minutes, and the game remained in the balance until they doubled their lead just before the hour.

From then on though it was one-way traffic as the new league leaders pushed for more goals, and they succeeded in adding another two against a dispirited Poppies outfit.

"Nobody wants to concede goals, but I think on Saturday for 55 or 60 minutes we were well in the game," said Le Masurier.

"I was happy with the first-half performance, apart from the goal which I felt we could have done better with, as we allowed the cross too easy.

"But we said at half-time, if we play similar to how we had done in the first half, and give that same work-rate and energy, and add a bit of quality, the match could turn in our favour.

"Unfortunately in the second half, we still had the work-rate but the quality we lost and we got very sloppy.

"The second goal we gave the ball away in midfield, for the third goal we gave the ball away on the halfway line, and then by the fourth goal the floodgates were open, and I think you could tell from some of the body language the game was done.

"Unfortunately, we didn't show that quality in the second half to be patient and keep the ball, and when you don't do that against a team like Needham Market then you are going to be punished, and that is eventually what happened."

An angry Le Masurier had blasted his players following the loss at St Ives, and had called for them to show more fight and courage, and in the main he felt they responded to that request and did show they were up for the fight, even if they couldn’t maintain it for 90 minutes.

"I would argue the fact that for 55 or 60 minutes, I think it was there, we saw that," said the Poppoes boss. "Then for 30 minutes it definitely wasn't, and it was back to normal.

"Unfortunately, for the past few weeks Kettering fans will believe that is normality.

"There is probably a lack of trust in what they are going to get on a Saturday afternoon at the moment, and that is down to us and down to the players to try and prove they are good enough.

"But I was more happy with Saturday, especially for the first 55, 60 minutes, than I was on Boxing Day when we didn't give anything. We just lacked quality on Saturday."

Interview by Peter Short