REPORT: Kettering Town 3-1 Quorn
Three set-piece goals saw Quorn come undone at Latimer Park after Cain Noble had fired the Reds into an early lead.
Image Courtesy of Non-League Dash
Noble, who made it two goals in two games, got onto the end of Simeon Cobourne’s cross, squeezing his shot in at the near post to fire Quorn into a 1-0 lead. Adam Harrison pulled off a remarkable save to keep the Reds in the lead, but couldn’t do anything in the 18th minute as Ben Isaacson headed home from a corner to level the scores.
Quorn almost retook the lead in the 21st minute as Noble got on the end of a Zhani Burgess cross, but Kettering ‘keeper Paul White managed to save with his legs as the game swung one way and then the other. White was called into action again just before the half hour mark with a routine save from a Ryan Beswick free kick.
The turning point in the match came in the 39th minute when debutant defender Ethan Young saw a straight red for hauling down Eddie Panter. Harrison made another stunning save from a free kick as the Reds managed to hang on until half time with the score at 1-1.
Whilst they dominated possession, the Poppies were limited in open play, never looking like scoring as they laboured, playing at a pace approaching tedium. There only route to goal looked as though it would be through set-pieces, and so it proved as Panter scored from another corner in the 62nd minute.
The Methodists pushed for an equaliser, but when Isaacson scored his second, again from a corner, the game looked to be up for Quorn. Following the goal Beswick rang the changes as he looked to rescue a point and Finn O’Boyle almost made for a nervy finish for the hosts, weaving his way past defenders in the box, before firing millimetres over the bar.
Beswick has always managed to turn disappointing results into a positive, and he will need to again as the result saw the Reds slide to fifth place in the league, and with teams below still having games in hand, Quorn now face a battle to make the playoffs. The next three matches become almost must-win contests as a trip to Stratford Town is followed by a Good Friday home game against relegation-threatened AFC Sudbury and an Easter Monday match at Stamford.
Before all of that though, the Reds play host to Barwell in the County Cup semi-final on Tuesday evening (19:45 KO). Season tickets are not valid for the fixture but ticket prices have been reduced to £10 for adults, £8 for concessions and £3 for under 16s with under 14s free.