VERDICT: Poppies deliver on a big day as they take a step towards safety

And it was a day when the club, as a whole, delivered with volunteers working right up until 2pm to get rid of surface water on the pitch to ensure the game went ahead.

In true non-League style, even match referee Gareth Thomas and his assistants helped with the forking of the pitch.

The focus then turned to Lee Glover and his players and they did their bit as well.

And fair credit to them. They ended up taking a beating at King’s Lynn Town on Good Friday with a weak second-half display but, when it really mattered, they hit back.

But when you’re in a relegation scrap, you need things to go your way and the Poppies got that in the build-up to the opening goal.

As you’d expect, the early exchanges were nervy and there were few chances with Dan Turner curling an early effort wide while Decarrey Sheriff fired straight at Leamington goalkeeper Ted Cann on the turn.

But the crucial moment arrived on 37 minutes when the lively Jimmy Knowles got on the wrong side of Theo Streete in the Leamington box.

The centre-half pulled the young striker back and referee Mr Thomas wasted little time in awarding the penalty and then dishing out a red card to Streete for denying a goalscoring opportunity.

It looked fairly clear-cut and then, after a bit of a wait, young Knowles was the coolest man in the building as he sent Cann the wrong way from 12 yards.

To their credit, Leamington responded well to that setback both in the remainder of the first half and then in the second half.

They had a real go and it needed a fine stop from Owen Mason to keep them at bay as he tipped Turner’s curling effort over the crossbar.

At the other end, Kettering always looked a threat and Cann was forced to turn a Keaton Ward effort around the post.

The Poppies had a setback of their own when George Cooper was forced off with a groin problem but, in Lewis White, they had a worthy replacement and just nine minutes after he entered the fray, he grabbed the crucial second goal.

Ward sent a corner over from the left and White flicked it on and it dropped into the far corner to spark jubilant scenes from the vast majority of the 1,000-plus crowd.

That finally knocked the stuffing out of the visitors and there was room for a cherry on the top of Kettering’s cake when, in stoppage-time, another substitute Sam Bennett got through on goal and calmly rolled the ball past Cann to finish it off.

It was the perfect response after Good Friday and a good performance and crucial result when the pressure was right on Lee Glover’s team.

But there also has to be a word of caution. There’s still plenty of points for teams to play for and the Poppies aren’t there yet.

They’ll need at least one more win from the three tough-looking games left in the campaign to make absolutely sure of Step 2 football again next season…

Kettering: Mason; Myles, Cooper (sub White, 67 mins), Gascoigne, Sharpe; Forsyth, Stohrer; Sault (sub Hill, 85 mins), Ward, Sheriff; Knowles (sub Bennett, 82 mins). Subs not used: Lakin, Scott.

Leamington: Cann; Meredith, Lane, Streete, Hall; Clarke (sub Perry, 77 mins), Hulbert, Edwards (sub English, 85 mins), Walker, Turner; Mooney (sun Usher-Shipway, 73 mins). Subs not used: Moore, Mace.

Referee: Gareth Thomas.

Goals: Knowles pen (37 mins, 1-0), White (76 mins, 2-0), Bennett (90 mins, 3-0).

Bookings: Knowles (kicking ball away), Cooper (foul).

Sending-off: Streete (denying goalscoring opportunity).

Northants Telegraph man-of-the-match: Ellis Myles – there were plenty of contenders but once again, the experienced right-back oozed class right from the start. A cool head in a pressurised situation. Impressive, very impressive.

Attendance: 1,071.