Sam’s ready to seize his opportunity with Poppies

Having impressed during pre-season and as a substitute in last Saturday’s 1-1 draw with Bradford (Park Avenue) at Latimer Park, the striker was handed his first start for the club on Tuesday night.

And the former Wisbech Town frontman delivered an eye-catching display capped by a fine finish to open the scoring four minutes before half-time as the Poppies claimed their first win of the Vanarama National League North season with a 2-0 home success over AFC Telford United.

Bennett earned himself a deal with Kettering after a successful trial period.

And, having moved up from Step 4 to Step 2, he is keen to show what he feels he is capable of.

“I am very grateful for the chance to move up a couple of levels,” the striker said.

“The manager (Lee Glover) has given me that chance and I believe in my ability. I am just very happy to be here and I will be giving it everything I have got.

“You have to take your opportunities when they come.

“The gaffer gave me that opportunity on Tuesday and I went out there and tried to show what I can do.

“It was great to get the goal, I felt I put on a good performance and that’s all anyone can do.”

Glover’s first win since taking charge was well-deserved and Bennett believes the victory will help bring what is a new group of players even closer together.

But he insists the Poppies must now try to “push on” when they head to Curzon Ashton on Saturday.

“It was a very good night for the boys,” Bennett said as he reflected on Tuesday’s victory.

“I thought we battled tremendously and we deserved all three points.

“We felt we should have won on Saturday but we came back, we worked so hard in tough conditions and we are buzzing with the result.

“It’s a new group so that first win is always going to be massive. It will bring the group that bit closer together but our focus is already on Saturday.

“It will be a tough game at Curzon Ashton but we have to try to push on now.”