Something different- Rugby Town 1-1 Kettering Town

Butlin Road                     Southern League Div. 1 Central                       Saturday January 18th 2014

In an enthralling local derby played by 2 in-form teams, Kettering preserved their now 15 game unbeaten run with a dramatic injury time equalizer from débutante Elliot Sandy

Rugby Town v Kettering Town

The experience rather came about by chance. In the week leading up to the game, I was going to choose between Boston Utd v Solihull Moors or Clifton All whites v Southwell City (because it is not far from my house at Uni). But I had an offer to celebrate graduation at a friend’s house near Walsall so I would spend Friday night there, which ruled out a long hop to Boston. Then, Nick told me about the Stafford/Droylsden game and with me being not far away, I offered to go and watch it with him.

Nick then thought of any localish game so we narrowed it down quickly to 2 choices. 1874 Northwich v Northwich Flixton Villa in the Northwest Counties league or Rugby Town v Kettering Town in the Southern League Div 1 Central. Both of us had a slight preference to the latter so that was decided.

So come Friday afternoon and my mate in Walsall said he could not do the night out on Friday- no big deal- Rugby was within 2  hours of Nottingham (despite the loss of the Great Central Railway) so I’d get the 12:10 from Nottingham, meeting Nick at Tamworth at 1:20pm before the 30 minute trip to Rugby. On the trip we did see some footy fans heading for Nuneaton. We thought Halifax or Chester (but it turned out to be Macclesfield and they would lose 1-0).

Rugby Station- Quite big

To be fair, the ground- Butlin Lane was really easy to get to from the station, though Nick did have to be on his toes to spot one of our turn-off points. We got to the ground just after 2pm. Butlin Road, for this standard of football is an excellent ground. It has a 500- seater main stand which runs about 1/4 of the length of the pitch. Covered terraces are at both ends, with the Northern End the bigger of the two. Then down the other side is a small stand with 2 small blocks of covered terracing either side. It is easily Conference Standard and- with a slightly extended main stand to meet seating requirement- would not look out of place at League 2.

Main Stand before play

Having paid £8 as an adult (concessions are available at £4 and U5’s are free I later found out) to get in, £2 on a programme (both towards the borderline expensive) and £2.50 on chips and a cuppa (respectable), we wandered round the ground, which is also quite open in places and on this breezy but dry day, the aerial battle could be one of interest.

Kettering are the best supported team in the league by a distance and brought a supporters coach of fans plus plenty more and the Rugby fans had also turned out in good numbers. Their fans even bringing out a huge flag, but sadly, being kids, they did take 20 minutes to get it up properly. Their fans, mostly kids, to their credit tried to put on an atmosphere, though the use of an airhorn was a bit ‘cup-final’ part-time fan mode and their songs were mostly anti-Kettering as opposed to pro-Rugby. They’ll learn.

As the game got underway, Rugby fans headed for the smaller Southern End (the end they were attacking) and Kettering fans the other end. We perched ourselves down the main stand side, in a section of uncovered terracing towards the southern end.

Rugby made the better start, almost creating a chance in the opening minute, but a last ditch bit of tracking back from a Kettering defender saved a likely goal. Kettering then grew somewhat into the game with a few hopeful long range shots, before Tommy Hull went down in the box but no penalty was given.

Rugby then took the lead on 12 minutes from a corner. Visitors’ keeper Denham Hinds made a right meal of his punch- it went straight up and Mason Rowley jumped the highest to head home from 2 yards to give the hosts a 1-0 lead.

That somewhat quietened the sizeable travelling support down and Kettering were again restricted to long range shots, whilst Rugby themselves seemed content to keep Kettering at arm’s length- David Kolodynski, the league’s top scorer firing over for the hosts too.

But after 25 minutes or so, Kettering got into a good rhythm and began dictating terms a lot more. Elliot Sandy (who had just signed from Brackley Town) fired wide from a corner before a couple of good blocks from Rugby defenders kept their lead intact. But the visitors blew 2 good chances shortly before half time. Firstly, Steve Kinniburgh’s unmarked diving header went just wide from a Sandy corner then on 5 minutes, a free header  yards out by in-form Dugi Ogbonna was straight at the home goalkeeper Niall Cooper.

With half time being called, our attention turned to Boston and in Nick’s case also Forest and Carlton Town scores. Boston were 2-1 up but had just conceded bang on half time and with our inability to convert half time leads, I was nervous about the 2nd half. Forest were also winning with the aid of 2 penalties but Carlton trailed 2-1.

2nd half action as Kettering pile on the pressure

One of the great things about non-league football is that you can move around the ground. We went opposite where we stood in the first half and the Kettering fans were now at the Southern end and, being a small terrace, they filled it- creating a really good atmosphere.

The visitors continued after half time where they left off- on the front foot.  Cooper had to beat away an Ogbonna shot, but 6 minutes into the 2nd half, Rugby should’ve gone 2 up, as Kolodynski set up Seb Lake-Gaskin, only for the big striker to fail to control the ball and allow Kinniburgh to recover and make the block, when he was clean through.

Then, the impressive Josh Moreman ran into the box, but wanted 4 or 5 touches too many and instead of shooting earlier, he got tackled to the frustrations of those behind the goal. By this time Nick and I were both starting to edge towards wanting an away goal, because it would be deserved and it would make for a great noise amongst the travelling fans.

Kettering really turned the screw and created several moments of panic in the home defence. Ogbonna had another shot well saved after he cut inside from the left hand channel, Jsmes Jepson then fired over before Moreman beat 2 tackles and fired a low shot which hit the post. Itseemed at this stage as if Kettering were going to do everything but score.

Kolodynski then had the ball in the net for Rugby after a neat finish but the ref had already blown up for offside.  Then, Nathan Fox had a free kick really well saved by Hinds on 70 minutes, about the only positive thing Hinds did all day- he really did not look comfortable catching, punching, kicking… the lot.

It seemed like Rugby had seen off the biggest pressure but the visitors kept coming as more scrambles in the box left the ball trickling just wide of the goal, before Rugby ought to have sealed the wwin on 85 minutes. A relatively tame shot was spilled by Hinds and from inside the 6 yard box, Kolodynski somehow managed to hit the top of the bar from the rebound.

As injury time approached, Kettering too k chances and piled bodies into the box. There was a shot off the line, a deflected free kick which wouldn’t fall goalwards, a couple of big headers from home defenders to clear good balls into the box, but on 93 minutes, they did get their just rewards. Another goalmouth scramble from a good run by Moreman eventually lead to Sandy smashing home from 10 yards to spark wild scenes on the away end as the Rugby players sank to their knees.

There was still time for another visitors attack, but it came to nothing and just as I said to Nick we could do with 5 more minutes of this, the ref called time on an enthralling game of football. The attendance was given at 773- almost double Rugby’s previous best this season and 3 times their average. I’d estimate between 250 and 350 Kettering fans- both sets of fans contributed to a great day’s entertainment. I think it was fair to say, we had called the right game to go to.

Kettering players applaud the fans at the end.

Rugby-  Cooper, Myles, Fox, Rowley, Haines, Cunniff, Towers (Belcher 59), Blythe, Kolodynski, Lake-Gaskin (C), Kaziboni. Unused Subs- Gudger, Palmer, Piggon, Williams

Kettering- Hinds, Clifton, Kenniburgh (C), Gooding, Crowie (Bukasa 46), Hull, Thorpe (Hamilton 80), Jepson (Fuller 80), Ogbonna, Moreman, Sandy. Unused Subs- Logan, Newman

Attendance- 773 (300 estimate Kettering)

Match Rating 9/10- Two in form sides, tried to get it down and play, great excitement towards the latter stages. Could easily have been 5-3

Prices- 6/10- A touch on the pricey side, but the chips were nice. Possibly £1.50 would’ve been ample for the programme but only a small gripe. £18.80 from Nottingham-Rugby return perhaps a bit steep but we’re using decent bits of track.

Atmosphere 9/10- Terrific crowd for this, the 8th tier. Both sets of fans really gave good vocal backing to their team.

Ground- 8/10. Wouldn’t look out of place in the Conference. I’d be surprised if I found a better ground at this level.

Overall- 9/10. Really enjoyable afternoon. No regrets not watching Boston today, even though they won 4-1 (I can see the highlights anyway). A brilliant advert for this level of football. Thanks also to Nick for being good company throughout the afternoon. Cheers!

Thanks for reading- I think it’s Nottingham Forest v Preston on Friday then Altrincham v Boston on Saturday for me next

Josh