Kettering 0 AFC Telford 0 - Report

Cowan voiced his displeasure that his team had failed to heed his warnings about last weekend’s opponents Farsley Celtic in losing 2-0. And this fixture ticked many of the same boxes – among them a poor playing surface and opponents set up to maximise the conditions – that to repeat the errors of that defeat in West Yorkshire would have been hard to make excuses for, but thankfully the Bucks had learnt from their mistakes and dug in to secure a hard-earned point.

Last weekend’s bogey man was Jimmy Spencer, who roughed up the Bucks rearguard. One week later they faced a centre-forward of whom Bucks fans were well aware, in former New Bucks Head hero Kyle Perry.

Now 34 years old, Perry banged in more than 20 goals in the Bucks’ inaugural season of 2004/05, firing them to promotion and earning cult status. Perry has travelled largely up and down the higher end of the semi-professional ranks since then, and was recently added to the Poppies ranks by manager Paul Cox as he sought to stir his side from a lethargic start to the campaign.

The home side’s most likely path to success rested upon getting the ball to Perry, or in his general vicinity, and hoping that his sheer physical presence could unsettle the Bucks defence.

Acutely aware of his threat, Cowan brought Courtney Meppen-Walters back into the side for his first game since October 17, and the defender – as close as a physical match for Perry as the Bucks have – showed no ill effects from his hamstring injury. It may have been a calculated risk, but Meppen-Walters kept Perry shackled, minimising his impact.

Unfortunately, the Bucks’ recent injury woes showed few signs of abating. Forward Jason Oswell departed the action just after half-time with a hamstring injury, and was followed soon after by another returning absentee, Brendon Daniels. He left the field with what looked like a slight recurrence of his own hamstring injury, and the Bucks will be hoping that both Oswell and Daniels can recover quickly as they prepare for potential back-to-back FA Trophy ties and meetings over Christmas and New Year with fellow play-off sides Chester and Kidderminster Harriers.

As for the game itself, there were few frills, and few thrills either for the 514 fans at Latimer Park; being in a Tier 2 area, Kettering have been allowed the return of spectators, but their presence was muted by the fare on offer. With the pitch making any one-touch football risky, the closest either side came in the opening 15 minutes was when Perry collected a poor Theo Streete clearance, spread play to the left and then looked for the resulting cross at the far post, but fouled his marker as he looked to connect.

The almost exclusively home crowd didn’t warm to the Bucks’ approach, although in truth both sides gave as good as they took, and the visitors appeared in no mood to be dominated, choosing instead to try and take the upper hand.

The Poppies suffered a setback when their veteran skipper Luke Graham had to go off injured after only 20 minutes. They had optimistic penalty appeals ignored by referee Dean Watson later in the half – a Poppies player going to ground very easily – while Bucks keeper Russ Griffiths snuffed out one half-chance from a free-kick, dropping on to the ball in a six-yard box scramble as the Poppies pressed.

Midfielder Connor Kennedy raised levels of excitement when in possession – the young left-sided player seemed to possess a little more guile and craft than those around him in red and black, but his opportunities were few. Diminutive winger Callum Powell also claimed a penalty in first-half injury time, but appeared merely to have come off worst in physical contact with much bigger opponents in Streete and Meppen-Walters.

The second half opened with Kennedy warming the palms of Griffiths at his near post, while Lee Vaughan spurned a good opportunity on the overlap by failing to test Adam Collin, his shot from 20 yards clearing the crossbar.

With Oswell replaced by midfielder Andy Bond and Daniels withdrawn just after the hour for Matthew Barnes-Homer, the Bucks breathed a sigh of relief when, from a free-kick, Kennedy connected well at the far post but saw his header crash back off the crossbar before being cleared to safety.

The home side tried to crank up the pressure, utilising long throw-ins into the Bucks’ penalty area whenever in range, and sometimes when not in range too, but the unit of Vaughan, Streete, Meppen-Walters and Eddy Jones repelled the best the Poppies had to offer, with Jack Byrne lending invaluable assistance as the deep-lying cover in midfield.

As their frustration at being unable to penetrate the Bucks defence grew, Perry made great play of appearing to be tugged backwards in the 75th minute as he looked to connect with a free-kick, but rather than the desired penalty award, Perry was instead booked for simulation, much to his chagrin. Things then got a little fractious, with one incident of pushing and shoving sparked by a Meppen-Walters foul, for which he was booked, and Vaughan joining him on a yellow card soon after for a clear foul.

As the officials prepared to light the board to signal how much injury time was to be played, the Bucks almost grabbed all three points. Jordan Davies, who showed real desire to dig deep for his team, got behind the defence on the left and aimed a fierce shot at Collin’s goal which the keeper could only beat away into the path of James Hardy. It was a sharp chance, and the Bucks creative midfielder swung but couldn’t make a proper connection, putting the ball the wrong side of the post, at least for those on the field wearing white.

Hardy’s miss as good as confirmed that the outcome would be goalless, and so it proved. They could have returned from Burton Latimer, home of a famous breakfast cereal, with all three points, but the Bucks displayed enough appetite for the fight to suggest they’d certainly had their Weetabix.