Frustration at Latimer Park as shot-shy Poppies are held by Peterborough Sports in bore draw

Off field events threatened to overshadow the action on the field, and so it transpired as neither side were able to go through the gears and threaten goal with any conviction.

As with so many times when a Gary Drury side visits Latimer Park, some feisty and farcical scenes did unfold, but not enough to impact the match.

As for the fans wishing to show their disapproval of the Kettering ownership, the muted chants and cries of ‘Akhtar Out’ on 22 minutes and at the final whistle bought very little reaction from the owner or director of football, Fabian Forde.

The visitors’ squad contained a number of former Poppies, including homegrown hero Luca Miller and the very pacey Ben Hart.

Both were kept relatively quiet in attack, but it was the dominating figure of Carl Mensah who proved to be the real thorn - cleaning up a number of Kettering attacks and gave very little opportunity for Eddie Panter or Michael Gyasi to cut in and make an impact.

A flat atmosphere filtered onto the pitch and it took until the 18th minute for the first time a defence was under pressure - a Tai Flemming long throw found a Kettering head sending it towards the near post but keeper Thomas Jackson was able to bravely claim the high ball.

Minutes later, Miller was played through in the centre of the field but could only see his shot turned away for a corner.

Panter turned on a sixpence and shot on 42 minutes in what was Kettering's first real clearcut effort but the ball was pounced on again by Jackson.

Thankfully, the second half did spark into life and the hosts enjoyed more of the opportunities.

Panter played through Gyasi on 51 minutes but with the Bedford loanee striker being forced wide, he couldn't hit the target.

Then came the first contentious moment of the game where Kettering felt aggrieved to not receive a penalty kick on 58 minutes - Michael Gyasi was caught in the back of the knee by Joe Burgess after cutting into the box from the left, but referee Callum Timperley waved away appeals much to the shock of Gyasi.

Burgess was the villain again three minutes later with a horror tackle from behind on Ryan Haynes which despite a discussion between officials only resulted in a yellow card.

Earlier, Harvey Williams did send an excellent ball across the face of goal for Sports, but no one in a purple shirt was on hand to turn in.

Theo Alexandrou tried an audacious curling effort from outside the box which didn't quite bend enough to trouble Jackson but Kettering were getting closer to opening the scoring.

A moment of farce bought some relief to the home fans as Mensah and Hart both received yellow cards for an internal altercation with the former almost pushing his team mate to the ground in disagreement!

With the game drawing to a close Jack Newell nearly grabbed the late win by first passing a Sports defender before toe-poking the ball towards goal but it narrowly trickled past the left post.

Kettering are still unbeaten after four games and it is important not to lose sight of that, but there is plenty to be concerned about as well.

The players seem to be reactionary in the final third, waiting for a mistake from the opposition instead of creating them.

The quality of delivery from set-pieces has been very poor, and the return of Lewis Coyle cannot come quick enough.

Panter and Gyasi do look a handful in their partnership but again they aren't hitting the target enough when in range.

So there is plenty to ponder for the management team of Nick Green and David Bridgwater who are still feeling their way into the role.

Next up for the Poppies is a trip to old foe Hitchin Town on Saturday.