Play-off hope hit by a below-par display
Kettering Town's play-off hopes suffered potentially a fatal blow as they hit the self-destruct button at Moss Lane.
A calamitous first-half display handed Altrincham the points and left the Poppies' hopes of a top-five finish in the Blue Square Premier in tatters.
The absence of skipper Ian Roper was all too obvious as Kettering's defending left a lot to be desired.
They certainly didn't look like a side with the best away record in the country.
The game was done and dusted by half-time as the Poppies gifted their hosts a 2-0 lead, the only positive to come out of the opening period
was that they weren't five down because they easily could have been.
From the off, Lee Harper's men looked off the pace and things gradually got worse as they lost their shape time and again while their quality
of passing wouldn't have been welcome on the Weekley Glebe playing fields.
Birthday boy Marcus Kelly, who turned 24 yesterday, and John Dempster
registered their only serious attempts on target.
But apart from that, there was little to write home about even after Jean-Paul Marna and Danny Thomas had been thrown on at half-time in a desperate bid to turn things around.
The first gift of the night came just past the half-hour when Kwesi Appiah conceded possession cheaply and within a few seconds the ball was in the Kettering net as John McAliskey poked home after good work down the left by Nicky Clee.
If that was bad, the second was worse as Alton Thelwell, who had a night to forget in place of Roper, pulled Chris Senior back after he had passed the ball to goalkeeper Nathan Abbey.
Thelwell was perhaps lucky to escape with just a booking but Shaun Densmore piled on the misery by converting the penalty.
It could have been even worse before half-time as Senior nipped in from
another loose Thelwell back-pass but was snuffed out while the striker also tested Abbey again shortly after McAliskey saw an effort bounce off the crossbar.
Things didn't really improve after the break, although Marna in particular tried hard to turn things around by putting in the
required work-rate that was sorely lacking in other parts of the pitch.
Clee almost finished things when he flashed an effort just wide while the Poppies briefly threatened late on when James Jennings' header
was deflected just over the bar and Dempster saw an effort tipped over by Stuart Coburn.
But despite playing their best stuff in the final few minutes, any sort of fightback never really looked on the cards as the abject first-half display proved so costly.
Kettering may still harbour hopes of finishing in the top five. But they will stand no chance if there are more performances like this.
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Weather for Kettering
Monday 13 February 2012
Today
Cloudy
Temperature: 2 C to 7 C
Wind Speed: 20 mph
Wind direction: North west
Tomorrow
Cloudy
Temperature: 5 C to 7 C
Wind Speed: 17 mph
Wind direction: North west
