[Chief Rum]

September 15, 2002

Northampton Chronicle & Echo

Rovers Edge Poppies Behind Hot Warrington

KETTERING-- It's always hard to beat a good keeper when he's on. And the Poppies ran into one Saturday afternoon at the Rock.

Despite eight shots and several good scoring chances, including six on net, the Poppies couldn't solve Doncaster's star keeper Andy Warrington, who was exceptional through the 1-0 win.

It was Warrington's fourth shutout in six matches, and Doncaster clearly has one of the best defenses in the Conference.

"Warrington was on," Kettering manager Matthew Kieta said. "I thought we would get him, but we just didn't bury our opportunities."

The Poppies dominated ball play, especially in the second half when the Rovers fell into a defensive tactic. The ball was in Doncaster's third of the pitch for an equal third of the match time, and most of the rest was spent fighting off Poppy drives in the middle.

The Rovers got their goal with simple workmanship, beating Kettering keeper Ian Bowling--who himself was pretty solid Saturday--in the 18th minute.

Winger Andy Watson intercepted a pass near midfield on the wing and used a give-and-go pass with midfielder Gareth owen to set him up along the left goal line. His pass to the box was deftly deflected by Kettering midfielder Davy Williamson, but Williamson and a crowd of others in the box appeared to limit Bowling's vision of where the ball went.

Unfortunately for Poppy fans, the ball rebounded to Scottish striker Jamie Peterson's foot, and he jammed it home just before Bowling could cycle over to get there, hitting it in off the post as if he were emphasizing the tightness of the shot. It was Paterson's third goal of the season.

Nevertheless, the Poppies continued to press. Their best opportunity was in the 51st minute. Striker Carlin itonga got free for an open shot into the box after a nice set of passes from midfielder Shaun Murray and fellow striker Ryan Trudgian. Warrington just barely reached Itonga's high shot with his fingertips to force a corner.

Two ensuing corner kicks produced no scores, including a Wayne Duik header that was deflected away from net before it could cross the line.

The victory was a huge one for the Rovers, who moved back into a tie for first place in the Conference with Stevenage. Kettering, which had a three-matchw in streak snapped, fell to ninth in the league standings, where it is tied with Yeovil Town and Leigh RMI.