Poppies given scare by Quorn before late goal rush secures FA Trophy progress
Kettering Town needed to hold off a late Quorn scare before adding three goals at the end of the game to secure a 6-2 win and move into the next round of the FA Trophy.
It was the visitors Quorn that took the lead – needing just three minutes to counter a Kettering free kick, with Jesse Friend the grateful recipient of the final pass before slotting the into the net.
The Poppies equalised six minutes later after Panter created an opening and Ismael Fatadjo capitalised on a poor clearance and smashed home.
Kettering’s second was one for the photo album as captain Lawson D’Ath scored with an overhead bicycle kick!
And the hosts made it three just before the break when Will van Lier went on a mazy solo run before slipping the ball beyond Jake Laban in the Quorn goal.
It should have been 4-1 but Lewis Coyle saw his penalty saved by Laban, who dived correctly to his left.
This gave Quorn a sniff and they made it a single goal game on 65 minutes – Friend grabbing his second after Paul White fumbled a corner and could only watch as the ball was hammered home from close range.
Friend had a high shot on 80 minutes which would have earned him a hat-trick, but instead Kettering galvanised and added gloss to the score with three goals in five minutes.
They came from Blaine Rowe’s tap in, Panter’s header and Shaun Jeffers calmly scoring from the penalty spot.
The Poppies are back in league action on Tuesday night when they host Rushall Olympic at Latimer Park (ko 7.45pm).
Kettering go into that game in seventh place, after Alvechurch missed the chance to leapfrog them in the league table as they played out a dramatic 4-4 draw at Stratford Town – Nick Clayton-Phillips scoring their last-gaso equaliser.