Glover seeks big second half as Poppies reel some teams in

The Poppies reached the halfway stage of the season and rounded off 2022 on a high note as they finally claimed their first away league win of the campaign with a 2-1 success at 10-man Peterborough Sports on Boxing Day.

Despite that much-needed victory, which came courtesy of a penalty from Sheffield United loanee Frankie Maguire and a late winner from Gary Stohrer, Kettering will head into the new year in the final relegation spot.

However, the Boxing Day success ensured they closed the gap on those above them with just three points separating the Poppies in 21st from Leamington in 14th.

Those standings have seen a pre-season prophecy given to Glover by Leamington boss Paul Holleran come true.

And the Poppies boss, who is now preparing for the return clash with Sports at Latimer Park on New Year’s Day (Sunday), knows his team still have a lot of work to do if they are to ensure they don’t finish in the bottom four this season.

“Before the Gloucester game (on December 6), I did say to the staff that if we won we would pull a few clubs in,” Glover said.

“We didn’t win but winning at Peterborough Sports means we have brought a few into it.

“I spoke to Paul Holleran, the Leamington manager, at the start of the season and he said it would be tight and there would be a large band of teams involved in the bottom half and a large band of teams involved for the last play-off place.

“Paul has been in the league for a while, he knows his stuff and he has been accurate with that.

“We knew that we needed to start getting something away from home but we knew we could bring others into it.

“But there are still 60-odd points to play for and we need to make sure our second half of the season is better than the first half. That’s our target.

“But it is nice to see we are within touching distance of a few teams now. You don’t want to be cut adrift.

“It’s a good thing to see but we still have to work hard and make sure we do the business.”