Kettering managed to secure a semi-final spot in the East Midlands Cup against Ampthill. The odds were stacked against the Blues, a number of players (many of which are DPP players) were unavailable to play. Ampthill had similar resource issues esp considering this fixture was impacted by school half term holidays.

Ampthill were kind enough to allow us the use of their first team pitch. Kettering’s line-up was tweaked heavily and new combinations were going to be tested.

The game started and the personnel changes took a while to get used to. Kettering were hit by a couple of head injuries…another two DPP players out of the game. The game see-sawed between the two teams throughout. Kettering losing some confidence and self-belief at times and Ampthill scores often came from inaccuracies.

After a mixed start the middle part of the game was heavily weighted in Ampthil’s favour. Kettering tried their best in the last phases of the game to make a comeback but unfortunately Ampthill ended the game a score ahead.

There were many coaching points to learn from but ultimately the Kettering players failed to get any kind of forward dominance and we struggled. The players should realise that even with the injuries and missing players the coaching team were confident Kettering could see this game out. However, it’s no good the coaches believing this if the players don’t believe it. The ability level is good enough, it’s just believing in yourself and having confidence to play.

The cup run is over but a lot to learn and take away.