Southport 0 v 1 Kettering Town

Clearly looking positive with the new regime in charge of the team, Southport looked bright and sharp, carving out a couple of chances to take the early lead. Tony Gray, looking to score in his ninth successive league game, turned early on, going passed two defenders, before striking the ball low, but he was wide of the target. Moments later, Chris Holland broke forward, getting the ball to Gray, but the covering defender cleared the danger for a corner. Liam Blakeman nearly got on the end of a good move involving Neil Prince and Michael Powell, but Blakeman was just unable to connect with the ball as the goal was begging.

Stalemate broke out for quite a while as Kettering changed formation, placing a bit more pressure on the Southport midfield, with Jean-Paul Marna looking dangerous as he broke down the left wing, getting the ball towards Anthony Robinson, before being cut out by Matt Hocking for a corner. However, Southport kept prodding with Neil Prince playing a dangerous high ball towards Michael Rae, only for Guy Branston cutting the ball out for a corner.

Kettering looked dangerous on the break, but Southport kept prodding, just failing to get the ball over the line when Prince’s corner was delivered in, with Liam Blakeman and Chris Holland both having their successive shots cleared off the line by the desperate Kettering defence.

42 Mins – Anthony Robinson – yellow card (foul)

The game picked up momentum in the second half, with both sides prodding to ease themselves in front. Neil Prince continued to provide a range of challenging balls into the area from set pieces as Kevin Lee’s header from a free-kick went straight to Lee Harper, and Neil Robinson came close, but his chance was cut out by Tom Kemp.

Kettering took the lead from a set piece as Craig Westcarr’s left wing cross was diverted away from Steve Drench by Anthony Robinson into the goal.

Southport kept trying to get forward, but were in danger of getting caught with numbers up-front. Mark Duffy did well getting the ball through to Tony Gray who pressed forward, taking a shot from the edge of the box, but his shot just fell wide of the target.