Kettering Town 1 Stevenage Borough 1

The points were shared in Kettering this afternoon as the story of two gifted goals was played out at the A-Line Arena. A second minute goal from Joel Byrom was cancelled out by an easy goal for Moses Ashikodi following a unfortunate deflection from a Chris Day clearance.

There were three changes to the side from the team that started in the FA Cup. Jon Ashton came into the back four, with David Bridges being handed a starting berth in the centre of midfield. Chris Beardsley was also thrust into the forward line.

Borough could not have asked for a better start as Beardsley was felled twenty-five yards from goal. That resulted in a free kick that Byrom converted with a little help from Lee Harper in the Kettering goal, who somehow saw the ball squirm through his legs into the net.

There was lots of Borough pressure with a pulsating beginning to the match. Michael Bostwick nearly doubled the lead with a superb low shot from outside the area, but Harper pulled off a great save this time around to turn it past the post.

Yemi Odubade continued to menace the defence as he has over the last few weeks, although he may wish he had opted to shoot when in the area as his lay off for Scott Laird was too heavy and the chance disappeared.

Kettering soon started to fire off some warning shots and Ashikodi in particular was looking to threaten the Borough rearguard. When he beat the offside trap, shadowed by Mark Roberts he could only unleash a tame shot at Day.

Inevitably it was Ashikodi who levelled the game. Day came out to the edge of his area to clear a long ball but could only hit it straight against Ashton and Damian Spencer, the ball landed at the feet of Ashikodi who passed the ball into the net, despite the best efforts by Ashton to block the ball en route.

The first half petered out although Kettering arguably had the better of the remaining fifteen minutes. The second half began as the first had finished with Kettering getting forward. Arguably the best chance of the opening exchanges came from Borough though as some fantastic work from Odubade to keep the ball in allowed Bostwick to send  a thunderbolt rising over the bar.

Borough continued to press and Odubade was involved again when his shot from inside the area was turned just wide by Harper who appeared to be trying to atone for his earlier mishap.

Both sides worked hard to get forward and test the opposite defence, Bostwick again sent the ball over the bar from a good position with a towering header.

Indeed Borough seemed to be getting the better of the half and this was underlined when Bridges nearly scored against his old club, sending a ball just wide of the far post after a period of good pressure. Charlie Griffin joined in this trend after some marvellous work from Ronnie Henry resulted in a floating ball into the area which Griffin headed just over the bar for the chance of the half.

So it continued as Borough tried to force the issue, closing down the ball and trying to win possession and the match. Byrom had a shot on the edge of the area that flew just wide of the post, moments after a free kick that was also sent wide.

Beardsley was next to have a golden opportunity and was unable to get the ball out of his feet when left one-on-one with the goalkeeper, allowing the defence to nip in and put the ball behind for a corner kick.

Kettering did try to throw the dice one last time with a late flurry, while Borough made two substitutions, including supersub Peter Vincenti. Unfortunately even he could not make the desired impact, and in fact, it was Day who ensured the points were shared with two great saves deep into injury time.

Borough would surely have taken a point before the game, and despite their dominance and chances, will surely walk away with the knowledge they are more than holding their own against the teams fighting at the top of the table.