Glennon strikes as Poppies battle back to beat disruptive Barwell

Winning games ugly is an essential part of a successful league campaign, and Simon Hollyhead's men showed that they had what it takes in a match that the Poppies would have struggled in last season.

The Canaries, with a host of former Kettering players, came with a simple game plan of disrupt and annoy - concerning for a side who play their home matches on a new artificial surface!

However, the Poppies defence did help matters and were woefully under par in the first half with errant passes aplenty and allowing the visitors far too much time on the ball to deliver teasing and dangerous crosses.

One of those former Poppies players had an excellent match - Tyree Wilson was a constant bright spark for the Leicestershire side with his pace and creativity on the right of the field.

Charlie Dowd was unable to get on the end of one of his passes on eight minutes, and Wilson let fly himself from range on 22 minutes as Barwell settled quicker into the game.

Wilson went even closer two minutes later when his shot from the right hit the far post, but the ball was only half cleared and a follow-up cross from Tyrell Waite was nodded home by Dowd from close range.

Kettering could not contain their frustration for the following period with blatant timewasting and dark arts from Barwell receiving choice words from both the dugout and crowd.

Jamar Loza rattled the crossbar on 40 minutes, and Finn Osborn saved well to keep out Nile Ranger's header on the stroke of half-time as the Poppies finally showed some determination.

Last season, Kettering would have wilted under the sheer annoyance of the situation that they found themselves in, but this is a different side with a different ethos.

With clear instructions and a double substitution at half-time, which included new signing Brendon Barker, Kettering set about their work.

Barker was an immediate threat and saw his effort from the middle of the goal area go just wide on the hour mark.

Finally one of Loza's runs into the box forced a Barwell mistake, with Rashann Frances upending the Poppies striker in a cloud of dust.

Loza dusted himself off to send Osborn the wrong way from the spot on 70 minutes.

With the game now seemingly only being played in one half of the pitch, Ranger won a dangerous free-kick outside the area, giving Will Glennon a chance to make a name for himself. And from 25 yards, he did just that, unleashing a pile-driver of a shot that gave the Barwell keeper no chance low to his left.

By now, the Barwell shenanigans had ceased, but the Poppies weren't in the mood for any further charity.

Loza had two further opportunities to put the game to bed - on 81 minutes his low shot from a tight angle was well parried away to safety by Osborn.

Minutes later, the same keeper had a moment to forget, running well outside of his area only to misjudge the bounce of the ball and Loza nipped in but couldn't get the final touch to turn the ball into the empty net.

Final whistle celebrations were a little more muted than after Tuesday's excellent performance against Leiston.

Players and management both knew this was a substandard performance and Kettering had gotten out of jail, needing two set pieces to get the win.

But three wins from three is the perfect preparation before two testing games against the league's big spenders, Harborough Town, on bank holiday Monday, and before that a visit to the Bitcoin millionaires, Real Bedford, on Saturday.