VERDICT: Lack of goals is a major issue as Poppies draw another blank

It’s now four Vanarama National League North games in a row without scoring for Lee Glover’s team and it’s a good job they are looking, in general, defensively sound because to pick up three points from those matches is no mean feat when scoring is proving such a problem.

In truth, at this moment in time, the Poppies just look toothless.

This ended up being a night when neither goalkeeper had a serious save to make as both defences dominated the respective forward lines.

Kettering were slightly better in the second half than they were in the first, particularly after loanee Jimmy Knowles and Keaton Ward were introduced from the bench.

But they struggled to carve out any clear-cut chances to leave Glover with a real conundrum.

It’s stating the obvious but if you don’t score, you’ve got no chance of winning.

And, as the battle at the bottom really begins to tighten up, Kettering will have to find a certain number of wins in the final 14 matches of the season if they are to avoid the drop.

As previously observed, defensively the Poppies are looking good. Once again, George Cooper and Brad Gascoigne produced solid displays at the heart of the back four while full-backs Rhys Sharpe and, in particular, Ellis Myles are doing their jobs to a good standard.

It’s further up the pitch where the real issue lies. Is it a lack of confidence? A lack of belief? A lack of quality? It’s probably a mixture of all three.

Either way, it’s a far cry from the team that put three past Boston and Banbury in back-to-back games less than a month ago.

Rounding up the action from this game won’t take too long.

Farsley just about edged a poor first half with Carlton Ubaezuonu seeing an effort deflected over the crossbar while Luke Parkin drove a shot wide of the mark.

The Poppies, at least, seemed to have a bit more endeavour about them after the break and Decarrey Sheriff saw a shot blocked after he cut onto his left foot.

Ubaezuonu mis-kicked in front of goal at the other end after Harrison Foulkes, in his final game on loan from Derby County, had fumbled a cross.

But, as the game wore on, it was Kettering who looked the more likely with Farsley having to produce one moment of desperate defending from a corner.

And then, right at the death, their best chance of the game fell to George Forsyth who could only stab wide at the far post after Ward had delivered a free-kick into the box.

Another point on the board and a fourth clean sheet from the last five games were the only major positives on this night.

But Glover will know the goals will have to come if his team are to pull themselves away from the danger zone.

The next few weeks could be extremely tense…

Poppies: Foulkes; Myles, Cooper, Gascoigne, Sharpe; Forsyth, Stohrer, Maguire (sub Ward, 78 mins); Sheriff, Lewthwaite, Bennett (sub Knowles, 66 mins). Subs not used: Flanagan, Hill, Mason.

Farsley Celtic: Dearnley; Clayton, Butler, Allan; Scales, Atkinson, Devine, Butroid; Jessop (sub Wallace, 55 mins), Ubaezuonu, Parkin. Subs not used: Morgan, Turner, Asseno, Ingham.

Referee: Niall Smith.

Bookings: Forsyth (dissent), Butler (preventing the restart), Devine (foul), Parkin (kicking the ball away).

Northants Telegraph man-of-the-match: Ellis Myles – another impressive display from the experienced full-back. Strong in the tackle, calm on the ball. An example to the rest.

Attendance: 525.