Our season is not over, insists Poppies assistant Ramshaw

Kettering Town assistant-manager John Ramshaw says the club will 'fight all the way' to try to make it into the play-offs

The Poppies’ hopes of achieving a top-five finish looked to be all-but over after they were beaten 3-1 by Merthyr Town at Latimer Park last weekend.

But they responded in impressive style last night (Tuesday) as new signing James Hall scored twice in a fine 4-1 home success over Frome Town.

Rene Howe and Brett Solkhon were also on target in the victory, which saw the Poppies move back to within eight points of Banbury United who sit in the final play-off place.

It still looks to be a tall order for Marcus Law’s team but when assistant-manager Ramshaw had it suggested to him that the Poppies’ season was over, he said: “I don’t accept that, it’s not even the end of January.

“How your season can be over before the end of January? I don’t accept that.

“There’s a lot of things that can happen in football as we know and I just think you keep going until the final game of the season.

“Whether we achieve it or not, we won’t know until the final game but we will keep fighting while we still have a chance.

“While there is an opportunity to make the play-offs, we will fight all the way and I don’t think the season is over at all.”

Ramshaw, meanwhile, felt frontman Hall showed he is a “good investment” for the Poppies as an energetic display was rewarded with two goals and the man-of-the-match award.

The Poppies certainly didn’t have things their own way against play-off chasing Frome but Ramshaw was pleased with what he saw.

“I thought they (Frome) were very lively in the first 20 minutes of each half,” he added.

“They came out and brought the game to us. We got the three goals and that knocked the wind out of their sails.

“But I thought they started the second half brightly again and we really had to be on our toes and there were some very good tackles around the final third to keep them at bay.

“We had to put in a bit of a performance to get the result.

“And tt was an exceptional debut (for Hall).

“We were aware of his talents, we know what he can do and we thought he would fit into our style of play and it’s proven so.

“I thought he was excellent, getting in behind defenders and he caused them all sorts of trouble with his pace. I think everybody is pleased that it has proved to be a good investment.”

The Poppies are back in action Sunday when they make the trip to Beaconsfield SYCOB’s home ground to play Hayes & Yeading United (1pm kick-off).