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Stevenage Athletic 1-3 Kettering TownSaturday, 8 January 1972
Southern League Division One North Referee: Attendance: Less than 300 Scorers: Costello (82) Stevenage team
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Match coverage
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Stevenage Gazette, Thursday, January 13, 1972
STEVENAGE SUNK BY ATKINSON, GULLY
Stevenage Athletic 1 Kettering Town 3
RON ATKINSON, the man who figures so strongly in Oxford United's climb from the Southern League to the Second Division in the sixties, is player-manager of Kettering these days. They were the visitors at Broadhall Way on Saturday, and Atkinson masterminded Stevenage's third successive defeat.
Throughout the 90 minutes, Athletic could find little answer to Atkinson's skill and work rate in midfield. Just to cap it all, Atkinson scored the final goal of the game to kill Stevenage's hopes of a point after they had rallied to 2-1.
In the end, all Stevenage had to show for their efforts was yet another defeat. This was their ninth reversal in the last 12 outings, and there was little in Saturday's performance to indicate that they might be about to end this nightmare run.
Athletic's many problems are reflected in their dwindling attendance figures. The gate dipped to a new low of less than 300, and the missing fans are not going to turn up again until those results start to improve.
Stevenage gave away their customary early goal, and found themselves a further goal down by half-time. Just before the break they looked rather more menacing, and this trend continued after half-time. If Spillane had netted his second-half penalty instead of missing it, Athletic would have been in with a great chance of salvaging a point.
But only eight minutes remained when Stevenage finally scored their goal. Normally a goal is a signal for a strong Athletic revival, but the home side's joy was cut short when Atkinson promptly made it 3-1 to silence the crowd.
WORKED HARD
John Burke, making his return to the first team, had a hair-rising debut. An all-too-familiar defensive catastrophe put him under pressure after only three minutes. GULLY slipped away, wrong-footed Burke, and calmly tapped the ball into the empty net.
So Stevenage faced an uphill battle virtually from the start, and they could make little headway against promotion-chasing Kettering. Chris Long and Keith Hargreaves could not get the approach play moving, and many would-be attacks turned out to be abortive.
Tony Butcher looked as though he has yet to re-adjust after his long break from football, and David Spillane never posed a serious threat to the Town defence, although he worked hard.
In contrast, Gully was causing the home defence all sorts of trouble. Burke had to take prompt action to stop him getting in another shot, and Lou Costello had to save on the line to prevent Gully making it 2-0 in the 20th minute.
Then a sloppy back pass by Costello forced Burke into action again. The Stevenage keeper was quick to clear the danger as Gully moved in. And later in the second half, Burke saved at Gully's feet as the Kettering forward menaced again.
The Kettering defence gave very little away, but Butcher broke through on one occasion only to be robbed by brave work by keeper Mackleworth. The safe play of Mackleworth made up for any errors by the visitors' back row.
On the stroke of half-time GULLY finally got the second goal he had threatened for so long, climbing to meet Howell's free kick with a fine header.
Stevenage were more lively at the start of the second half, but still found the Kettering defence an insurmountable barrier until the 82nd minute, when COSTELLO came up for a Hargreaves corner, and confidently nodded home.
The game seemed set for a proverbial grandstand finish, but Town quickly won a corner. The Stevenage defence was slow to clear, and ATKINSON had time to prod the ball over the line, crowning a fine individual display.
STEVENAGE SUNK BY ATKINSON, GULLY
Stevenage Athletic 1 Kettering Town 3
RON ATKINSON, the man who figures so strongly in Oxford United's climb from the Southern League to the Second Division in the sixties, is player-manager of Kettering these days. They were the visitors at Broadhall Way on Saturday, and Atkinson masterminded Stevenage's third successive defeat.
Throughout the 90 minutes, Athletic could find little answer to Atkinson's skill and work rate in midfield. Just to cap it all, Atkinson scored the final goal of the game to kill Stevenage's hopes of a point after they had rallied to 2-1.
In the end, all Stevenage had to show for their efforts was yet another defeat. This was their ninth reversal in the last 12 outings, and there was little in Saturday's performance to indicate that they might be about to end this nightmare run.
Athletic's many problems are reflected in their dwindling attendance figures. The gate dipped to a new low of less than 300, and the missing fans are not going to turn up again until those results start to improve.
Stevenage gave away their customary early goal, and found themselves a further goal down by half-time. Just before the break they looked rather more menacing, and this trend continued after half-time. If Spillane had netted his second-half penalty instead of missing it, Athletic would have been in with a great chance of salvaging a point.
But only eight minutes remained when Stevenage finally scored their goal. Normally a goal is a signal for a strong Athletic revival, but the home side's joy was cut short when Atkinson promptly made it 3-1 to silence the crowd.
WORKED HARD
John Burke, making his return to the first team, had a hair-rising debut. An all-too-familiar defensive catastrophe put him under pressure after only three minutes. GULLY slipped away, wrong-footed Burke, and calmly tapped the ball into the empty net.
So Stevenage faced an uphill battle virtually from the start, and they could make little headway against promotion-chasing Kettering. Chris Long and Keith Hargreaves could not get the approach play moving, and many would-be attacks turned out to be abortive.
Tony Butcher looked as though he has yet to re-adjust after his long break from football, and David Spillane never posed a serious threat to the Town defence, although he worked hard.
In contrast, Gully was causing the home defence all sorts of trouble. Burke had to take prompt action to stop him getting in another shot, and Lou Costello had to save on the line to prevent Gully making it 2-0 in the 20th minute.
Then a sloppy back pass by Costello forced Burke into action again. The Stevenage keeper was quick to clear the danger as Gully moved in. And later in the second half, Burke saved at Gully's feet as the Kettering forward menaced again.
The Kettering defence gave very little away, but Butcher broke through on one occasion only to be robbed by brave work by keeper Mackleworth. The safe play of Mackleworth made up for any errors by the visitors' back row.
On the stroke of half-time GULLY finally got the second goal he had threatened for so long, climbing to meet Howell's free kick with a fine header.
Stevenage were more lively at the start of the second half, but still found the Kettering defence an insurmountable barrier until the 82nd minute, when COSTELLO came up for a Hargreaves corner, and confidently nodded home.
The game seemed set for a proverbial grandstand finish, but Town quickly won a corner. The Stevenage defence was slow to clear, and ATKINSON had time to prod the ball over the line, crowning a fine individual display.