Torrential rain, gale winds and a must-win game...... all the settings that seem to be becoming common place for Saturday matches for the Ladies!

There was no doubt that Belper 2s were going to be a tough side to beat today, but Kettering started the game well. Tackling strong and showing some better structure and understanding of the formation that has perhaps been missing in the past few games. The passing was confident and the ball through to both Harriet and Charlie up front was finding its way there. However, Belper showed composure and grit in their play and moved the ball well through the phases, and quickly. A sideline hit soon led to a penalty corner as Sophie didn't hear the umpire say that she wasn't 5 metres away, and as she moved to engage with the player, the umpire quite rightly awarded the corner. Another goal conceded from a short corner and it was clear that heads dropped, as this seems to be becoming an area of our performance that we are lacking confidence in.

The goal lifted Belper and not Kettering who resorted to dropping deep, inviting pressure and failing to make the second or third passes after an initial good one. Belper continued to press forward drawing some great saves from Daisy in goal yet again.

As the second half began, Kettering again looked like they had been given an energy bar and pushed forward with some excellent play from Imogen, Sophie and Harriet down the left. But it was Belper who were next to score, and again from a short corner! A foot in the circle led to the corner, which took an unfortunate deflection over Daisy who had initially came out with force to clear the initial shot. With 14 minutes left to play, Kettering needed to up their game if they were to get something from this game, and were soon given a corner of their own as Beth out the ball onto a Belper foot in their circle. Another thing that seems to be happening is that we are scoring from short corners, as well as conceding them, and this one was no different, being the only one of the game we won. Charlie's straight strike proved too powerful for the defender on the post as the ball went straight through her, deflecting the ball past her own keeper.

With minutes left, Kettering needed to get the ball into attack but the crash ball through just wasn't working and allowed Belper to pick the ball up with ease. Daisy was again called in to action to make some crucial saves to keep the score line down, but this wasn't enough to spur the home side on to get the final goal for the draw.

With the threat of another lockdown looming, nobody really knows what this will mean for the league, but Ketterings losing streak is having a negative effect in team confidence at the moment, evident in the deflated and flat atmosphere, so perhaps a mini break might not be the worst thing?! Fitness and confidence - that's all we need!