We got outdone, admits Kettering Town boss Culverhouse

The Poppies had the opportunity to move back into the top seven ahead of the Easter weekend.

But it was an opportunity they squandered as Guiseley, who arrived with former manager Steve Kittrick back at the helm boosted their survival hopes.

With the tricky Latimer Park surface hardening up, boss Culverhouse felt Guiseley played the conditions better than his team.

“Guiseley came with a game plan and executed it really well,” the Poppies manager said.

“It was like a basketball game. They sat in a low block, their two centre–halfs were excellent and got their heads on every first contact and even every second contact. They did us on our own pitch.

“The space was down the sides but the surface dictates. By the time the ball goes into wide areas, it’s already being volleyed on.

“I feel sorry for the players because they want to develop and they want to learn and it’s becoming quite hard here, literally.

“I think we play the pitch really well. Is it a style I like? No, not particularly.

“But we got outdone by a side who played the pitch better than us so we have to take our medicine and come back on Friday (against Gloucester City) and try to perform better.”

The defeat to Guiseley saw them drop to 10th place in the table but they remain just one point off the play-off places with six games to go.