Kettering Nomads FC

13th February 2010

Symington 

Nomads allowed two more vital league points to slip through their fingers as, for the second week running, they put in a struggling display against opponents from the foot of the table . 

Manager Nathan Eady was looking for some sort of response from his team following the previous week's shock reverse at the hands of Stanwick. A mixture of enforced and tactical changes were made to the starting line up, as Jupitus shuffled his pack once more. D Morris came back into midfield in place of Clark, who was still trying to shake off a niggling heel injury, Norton replaced unavailable top scorer C Thurlow up front, and with Joy absent and captain Massie seeing a Valentine's weekend in Paris, complete with a tandem ride, berets and strings of garlic, as more important than getting back into the first team squad, Fray-Bentos- sponsored Ferguson was handed his first start of the season at centre half .

Starting line up:  Panter, Ingham, Evans, Smith, Ferguson, Piazza, Bright, D Morris, S Morris, Norton, Symington. Subs: Clark, R Thurlow, Newcombe.

Nomads needed to put last week's debacle behind them as soon as possible, and from the first whistle looked to play the game at their tempo, pushing back Spratton with some early pressure. The away side's tactics soon became apparent, as they committed a number of poor challenges to stop Nomad's more skilful players from running with the ball. However this was a double edged sword as it meant that Nomads were awarded several free kicks in dangerous positions. It was from these set pieces that the best early chances were created, with both Smith and Ferguson wasting opportunities that they would normally have tucked away.

Spratton were looking to catch Nomads on the counter attack, but were not causing any real problems as they lacked any sort of cutting edge. Nomads continued to have most of the play, but were starting to become increasingly frustrated at both their own poor passing and the continued strong arm tactics of their opponents.

Then disaster struck for the home side as Spratton took the lead against the run of play. A corner from the right was initially cleared, but as the Nomads defence then looked to push out to the edge of the area, the ball was perfectly delivered back into the box to allow a Spratton player to score with a neatly placed diving header.

Eady was forced into making a change at half time as Clark replaced the yet again injured Evans. In a bold move, Eady decided to switch to a 3-5-2 formation, with Clark taking up the 'in the hole' position behind the front two.

The second half got underway and Nomads immediately began to press for the elusive equaliser. Corners and free kicks continued to look like the best avenue for a goal, but time and time again the luck was not on their side and the ball would just not go in. Claims for a nailed on penalty were then somehow ignored by the referee as Symington was virtually assaulted from a long throw and as the half ticked by, it looked as if Nomads were going to slip to a second successive home defeat.

Finally the breakthrough came. D Morris went on a good run down the right flank before sending in a low cross. As the Spratton keeper tried to gather, Symington arrived at the near post to hit a slightly scuffed shot into the far corner. With twenty minutes remaining, Nomads were now searching for the winning goal and continued to camp in the Spratton half. Further chances were created, with the best seeing a Norton header flash just the wrong side of the post, before the Spratton keeper produced the save of the game to deny Smith from close range.

Despite a lot of huffing and puffing by the home side, the final whistle came and both sides had to settle for a draw. With none of their rivals playing, the point sees Nomads move up to fourth but they cannot afford any further slip ups in their remaining games in hand if they are to overhaul the current leaders.

Next week's game sees yet another home game, with the visitors this time being Stanion.