10 man Crusaders gain a valuable win

This was an exciting game which kept a good crowd on their toes right until the final whistle, as the Poppies threw everyone forward near the end in a vain attempt to salvage a point, but we defended well and held on to secure an invaluable win which lifted us to 6th. place and on the edge of the play-offs.

Heavy rain during the night did not augur well, but a chilly wind improved the situation and the sun came out, albeit rather feebly, while some more hard work on the pitch meant that it was quite playable by kick-off time and it turned out to be an excellent game.

Although we had the advantage of the slope, we faced a stiff breeze from the kick-off, but we started well and Rhys Tyler was prominent in some early attacks, although several crosses were cleared by the Kettering defence. Diak John earned a corner with a good overlap down the left, but it was eventually cleared after several attempted clearances.Stefan Brown fired well over the bar, but we eventually took the lead after 36 minutes, a good attack down the right from Tyler, ended with a low cross which was converted by Nat Jarvis, whilstJames Clark was too high with another attempt.

An altercation between Gary Horgan and Wilson Carvalho ended with Horgan’s sending off so that when Liam Canavan headed the equaliser after 62 minutes, the visitors appeared to have the edge,

However, a long throw from James Rusby was handled in the penalty area and Stefan Brown netted from the spot to retake the lead after 69 minutes.

The visitors attacked strongly near the end, even the goalkeeper coming up into the attack, but we did not give anything away and battled well to earn a valuable win.

Team;Strudley, Horgan,John, Boardman, Day, Rusby, Tyler,Jones, Jarvis(Preen),Brown,Clark.Subs; Goodger, Draycott, Stow.