SATURDAY 1st MARCH 2008

VAUXHALL MOTORS 0 v 6 KETTERING TOWN

BLUE SQUARE NORTH

The full-time leaders of the Blue Square North, Kettering Town, put relegation-threatened Vauxhall Motors to the sword at Rivacre Park on Saturday, to underline their determination to gain promotion back to the top flight..

The Poppies took charge of proceedings from early on and home keeper Andrew Murphy made three smart saves before the visitors finally edged in front on 22 minutes.  Ironically, it came when Murphy spilt a shot from Craig Westcarr from distance and Chris Beardsley was on hand to tuck away the loose ball from twelve yards out.  Six minutes later, Jon Brady struck a sweet second from the right-hand edge of the area following a sweeping move and inch-perfect cross-field pass, to put him in space.

The Motormen rallied and it took a superb save by Lee Harper to deny Keith Smith following the hosts best move of the half, quickly followed by a decent stop from a fiercely-struck Paul Taylor shot.  But on 39 minutes, Kettering moved further ahead when Westcarr proved his quality with an outstanding finish, as he controlled a firm pass instantly before turning and firing a shot well beyond the reach of Murphy into the bottom corner.

Motors’ situation worsened five minutes after the break when defender Mark Maddox was harshly dismissed for a wild, but not malicious challenge on his home debut and shortly after, Brett Solkhon headed home a fourth from close in following a well-worked corner.  On 62 minutes, it became 5-0 when a defensive slip on the edge of their own box, enabled Jean-Paul Marna to join the goalscorers with a crisp shot from 20 yards, which took a deflection on route.

And in the 80th minute, man-of-the-match Westcarr struck again, when he clipped home a driven cross-cum-shot from substitute Andy Hall to complete the rout.

Vauxhall: Murphy, Williams, Owens, Hitchen, Robinson, Maddox, Heler, Griffiths,  Smith, Egerton (Field 63), Taylor.  Sub not used: McGrail, Roberts, Reed.