VERDICT: New-look Poppies deliver Glover’s first win in impressive fashion

There was plenty to like about the new-look Poppies’ performance as they went one better having been held to a draw by Bradford (Park Avenue) at the weekend.

When they could, they passed the ball on the famous Latimer Park surface which was helped by the biblical rain that came down for most of the evening.

Both goals were scored by strikers with clinical finishes and, defensively, Kettering were pretty good as they also recorded their first clean sheet of the Vanarama National League North season.

But, perhaps most importantly, they had Lady Luck in their corner.

Telford, in general, hadn’t posed a huge threat when they were awarded a penalty with the Poppies leading 1-0.

But, in a stroke of good fortune, Mat Carson crashed his spot-kick off the inside of the post and it rebounded to safety. After that, the hosts didn’t look back.

And, overall, any other outcome on this night would have been unfair on Glover’s team who were well worth their first three points of the campaign.

There wasn’t a great deal to choose between the two sides for long spells in the first half with the lively Sam Bennett, in his first start for Kettering, shooting wide at the near post while Harry Flowers had the ball in the net for Telford, only to see his header ruled out for a foul.

But it was the Poppies who broke the deadlock four minutes before half-time.

And it owed a lot to the very impressive Ben Sault, who was excellent in an all-action display in midfield.

He switched the play from right to left with a fine diagonal pass and it sent Bennett clear.

The striker, who was with Wisbech Town last season, looked to have gone too wide but he cut back in and flashed his shot past visiting goalkeeper Luke Pilling.

The players returned for the second half in the heavy rain, which didn’t relent for the remainder of the evening. Indeed, had the game gone on for another 10 minutes, it may well would have been abandoned.

But Telford did pick things up with Devon Green having an effort deflected just wide before the big moment arrived when Rhys Sharpe brought down Carl Baker in the box.

It looked a clear penalty but, as Cameron Gregory was sent the wrong way, the woodwork came to the Poppies’ rescue.

And, just seven minutes after that miss, they grabbed the crucial second goal.

Peterborough United loanee Andrew Oluwabori was a livewire again and he seized on a slip in the midfield before charging into the area and beating Pilling, who had survived missing a backpass just seconds earlier, with a good, low finish.

It was fairly straightforward from there.

Keaton Ward was narrowly off target with a long-range effort while, at the other end, Brad Gascoigne produced a heroic block to deny Baker, which summed up the solid defensive effort from the big centre-half and his sparring partners Lewis White and Ben Toseland.

The Poppies were most definitely singing in the rain when the final whistle blew but it was a deserved success and one which will, no doubt, install plenty of confidence into what is another young team at Latimer Park.

The first win is on the board but there will still be plenty of work to do in the weeks and months ahead.

Poppies: Gregory; Reilly, White, Gascoigne, Toseland, Sharpe; Sault, Stohrer, Ward (sub Hill, 82 mins); Bennett (sub Wright, 87 mins), Oluwabori (sub Richard-Noel, 89 mins). Subs not used: Sheriff, Graham.

AFC Telford: Pilling; Piggott, Flowers, Brown, Carson; Nolan, Evans (sub Dugmore, 67 mins); C Baker, Ekpolo (sub McLintock, 67 mins), Green; Blissett (sub L Baker, 89 mins). Subs not used: Bood, Waite.

Referee: Jamie O’Connor.

Goals: Bennett (41 mins, 1-0), Oluwabori (64 mins, 2-0).

Bookings: Evans, Ekpolo, Sault, Nolan (all fouls).

Northants Telegraph man-of-the-match: Ben Sault - there were plenty of contenders with frontmen Sam Bennett and Andrew Oluwabori both on target in lively displays. But midfielder Sault caught the eye in his first start. He got around the pitch, he made tackles and passed the ball well - not least with a brilliant diagonal ball that set Bennett up for the opener.

Attendance: 472.