Kettering Nomads FC

Nomad's second string re-visited the scene of last weeks epic Lower Junior Cup victory in search of a first league win of the season. With a return of 1 point from a possible 6, Nomads really needed to kick start their league campaign.

With Calum Conway and Nikki Glazebrook unavailable and skipper Jon Stokes away on his honeymoon at Billing Aquadrome, manager Rick Conway had the unusual option of starting with the same line up as the previous week. Darren Charsley, Laurie Macniven and Mark Perkins were added to the squad, with Casey Lynch failing to recover from last weeks "heartburn". With Hon still in possession of the skippers armband, he duly won the toss and elected to kick downhill.

Starting line up:  Heads, Kal Lee, Martin, H Lee, Stanley, Caskia, Judd, Hector, Harvey, Sanders, Hobson. Subs: Macniven, Perkins, Charsley.

The warm autumn sunshine and no wind made for perfect football conditions. Roade started at an electrifying pace, immediately putting Nomads under the cosh. With a succession of corners, free kicks and the lions share of possession, Roade utilised their wide men well trying to force an early lead. A (rare) poor goal kick from Heads led to the home team hitting the crossbar, whilst Heads was called upon twice to block goal bound efforts. With Nomads struggling to get into the game, Roade really should have gone ahead but somehow failed to capitalise, with their No.9 guilty of missing an absolute sitter with a header from inside six yards with the goal at his mercy. With half time beckoning, Nomads finally awoke from their slumber, forcing a succession of corners without really troubling the home team.

The half time team talk was eventful, with Conway and assistant Steve Walton offering words of advice and encouragement, whilst also making an enforced change with Macniven replacing the injured Kal Lee at left back. The second half kicked off with a transformed Nomads dictating the play, with Hector, Judd and Harvey having a bigger impact on the game. On the 70 minute mark, Conway rolled the dice and made a double substitution, replacing Hobson and Castka with Charsley and Perkins. This piece of managerial magic paid off almost immediately, when a well worked free kick led to Charsley turning and swivelling to volley Nomads into the lead.

Nomad's tails were well and truly up, and on 80 minutes they should have put the game beyond Roade when a delightful through ball from Hector found Sanders one on one with the keeper. Having slotted the ball underneath his oncoming frame, he watched as the ball agonisingly hit a bobble, changed direction and hit the post. This let off seemed to spur Roade on, who forced corner after corner as chaos ensued in the visiting teams penalty area. A bullet header was cleared off the line by Macniven, whilst a mix up between the two centre forwards meant another let off for Nomads. With the clock almost on 90 minutes and with Nomads looking like they had clung on to 3 points, a mis-timed tackle by the previously faultless Harvey led to a penalty. Could Heads be the hero????........no!!! The chunky monkey of a striker blasted the ball into the net to give Roade a late equaliser.

On reflection, a workmanlike Nomads performance nearly picked up a win at last seasons runners up, however after last weeks cup heartbreak, Roade will feel that a point was the least they deserved.