Glover so happy to deliver as Poppies seal first away win of the season

Goals from Sheffield United loanee Frankie Maguire and captain Gary Stohrer secured a fine 2-1 success at Peterborough Sports, who played the whole of the second half with 10 men after former Poppies captain Connor Kennedy was sent-off for a second bookable offence shortly before half-time.

Maguire put Kettering in front from the penalty spot before Dan Lawlor levelled for the hosts, also from the spot, but Stohrer won it with five minutes to go to finally get his team off the mark on the road.

The Poppies remain in the bottom four of the Vanarama National League North but are now within reach of a host of clubs immediately above them.

And Glover was delighted with the reception he and his players got from the travelling supporters after they finally clinched that elusive first away win of the campaign.

The Poppies boss said: “We did okay at Darlington (in a 2-2 draw) and I asked them for the same type of performance but I told them this game would be feisty and gritty and they would have to stand up and be counted. But we got it!

“The support and the reception the players got afterwards means a great deal to me.

“I live in the area, I see a lot of fans in coffee shops and business meetings, people I don’t know coming up to me to talk about it.

“It’s nice to get that reception. We brought over 200 fans here and that’s a team that hadn’t won away from home.

“That’s the type of support we can take with us and I want to get more and more of that. I was really pleased we got the win for them.

“But we need to go again.

“I don’t want us to go into a home game and go into our shell. Let’s try to get back-to-back wins.

“Everyone thinks I am a broken record but I think we can climb the league.

“But we do need to start going back-to-back.”

Glover, meanwhile, felt there was little choice for the referee when it came to that big moment in the game when Kennedy was sent-off.

“Connor is a good lad and he plays on the edge,” Glover added.

“I’d have loved him to stay with us but we couldn’t afford him.

“The first tackle was borderline and when you have a yellow card, you have to be careful not to do it again and when he slides in and the lad is clearing the ball, there is only one option there.”

The Poppies and Sports are due to meet again at Latimer Park on New Year’s Day.