Glassboys smash brittle Poppies defence in Halloween horror show

To add to the spooky theme, 666 fans were in attendance to watch Charlie Wragg walk away with the match ball as a Glassboys side, now brimming with confidence, schooled Kettering in the art of attritional football.

The Poppies squad is now looking very one dimensional and, in a match, where gutsing it out was the order of the day, sending long balls to the diminutive figures of Eddie Panter, Theo Alexandrou and latterly Michael Gyasi was never going to work.

Stourbridge needed just eight minutes to take the lead when Kettering were cut open on the left to find Charlie Pavey.

He took a touch towards the byline to narrow the angle of goal even further but was still able to rifle his shot off the inside of the far post and into the net past a statuesque Paul White.

White did save Kettering’s blushes 10 minutes later, pulling off a brave block against Wragg and Jai Verma could only put the rebound shot wide.

Kettering were finding some joy through Jaiden White, who along with Lawson D’Ath were the only players to come away from the match with any credit.

White set up D’Ath on 26 minutes and the latter drove into the box on the right before seeing his close-range effort well blocked by Blake Earley, who was then able to get off the ground quickly enough to then keep out Alexandrou’s follow-up shot.

That was as good as it got for Kettering who went 2-0 down on the half hour mark.

Will Etheridge beat the offside trap to deliver the ball from the right beyond a sprawling White, and waiting in front of an empty net was Wragg to tap in from three yards out.

Blaine Rowe forced a goal saving block from Dom Lewis on 37 minutes but by now the energy was visibly draining from the Poppies side who had been kicking up hill at the War Memorial Ground.

The second half didn’t get any better as a couple of quick yellow cards were shown to frustrated Kettering players and Stourbridge were wise enough to keep their heads.

They scored their third on a counter when a Kettering shot was well blocked and suddenly a sea of red and white shirts flowed up field, eventually sending the ball to Wragg who neatly finished on 53 minutes.

White denied Wragg a second time when one-on-one with the striker on 61 minutes, but the inevitable hat-trick came on 76 minutes when a cross from the left found Wragg waiting at the back post to head home from six yards out.

Kettering did grab a conciliation on 84 minutes from a corner that caused a melee in the box and Jaiden White was able to poke the ball in - but it did little to gloss over what was a brutal and chastening defeat.

There is no time for the thin squad to get over such a bad performance, with a tough trip to high-flying Bury Town on Tuesday night their next action.