Poppies offer up too many Christmas gifts as title-chasing Harborough take full advantage
Kettering Town were schooled by champions elect Harborough Town as they gifted their hosts too many chances during a 4-2 defeat in the Pitching In Southern League Premier Central on Saturday.
Bizarely, manager Liam McDonald labelled the performance as one of the best since joining the club and many in attendance will struggle to disagree as the Poppies enjoyed substantially more time on the ball, while forcing Elliott Taylor into a number of good saves.
There was also a flashpoint midway through the first half which saw Riley O'Sullivan punch Ismael Fatadjo in the groin which was not dealt with correctly by the officials, with the Harborough man not seeing red.
But the talking point will be the late Christmas gifts served up time and again by the Poppies defence - all four goals scored by the hosts were taken from the Argos catalogue of defensive muck-ups.
The first came inside two minutes when neither Levi Andoh or Will Glennon could clear from their own byline allowing David Kamara the opportunity to slide the ball under the now stranded Jason Alexander.
Kettering were undeterred by the early setback, launching a number of attacks from the left which saw Andoh's long range effort palmed away on eight minutes whilst Preston Bitemo and Fatadjo also stung the hands of the Harborough keeper.
Former Poppy Connor Kennedy retorted with the Bees' next effort as he rifled the ball toward the top right corner from just inside the box, but Alexander was able to leap up and divert for a corner. Kamara also wasted a glorious opportunity on 18 minutes as the game became a very open affair.
On 22 minutes Fatadjo bought down O'Sullivan by hauling the striker to the floor, but the response from the Harborough number nine was unacceptable as he lashed out, catching Fatadjo with force in the midriff in front of both benches and more importantly just yards from the the officials.
Only a yellow card was shown by referee Mitchell Cartwright, much to the dismay of the Kettering management.
After trading further chances, the hosts grabbed their second through their skipper.
Five blue shirts simply watched as Kennedy received the ball from outside the area and place the ball into the bottom corner beyond a beaten Alexander. Kennedy did not waste the opportunity to celebrate in front of the fans who used to cheer his name!
A fast start to the second half for Kettering could have seen them claw back in to the match.
Instead the defence parted ways again allowing O'Sullivan to lay off the ball for substitute Brad Hickey to fire home in acres of space - his first touch of the game just 50 seconds after the restart.
Kettering did continue to fight and continued to lay seige on the Harborough goal, but too many floaty high crosses were dealt with by the giants in yellow shirts.
After a number of corners, Andoh received a half clearence on the edge of the area and unleashed his shot through a sea of bodies to make the scoreline 3-1 with 15 minutes to go.
Kai Williams lofted his shot from just seven yards out on 84 minutes - an effort that was easier to score and denied the fans of a grandstand finish.
Instead Harborough put the game to bed as the stoppage time board was raised - a looping long throw evaded everyone in blue before the smallest of touches from Luis Rose turned the ball home.
Ethan Fitzhugh's low driven shot from 20 yards out to make the scoreline 4-2 will be a very minor footnote - a shame as it would be contender for goal of the month at any other time.
Fans can't deny that there is slowly a recognisable DNA forming in the Kettering squad that gives hope for future successes.
But a winning team is built from the back and finally the Poppies ownership are realising this.
Harborough Town scored four goals and yet home defender Rob McAuley received the man of the match award.
So, 2025 closed with a harsh lesson but all is not lost in 2026, which starts with a visit from Stratford Town at Latimer Park on Saturday (ko 3pm).