The Bucks are going up!!!

Kevin Wilkin’s men sealed their return to the National League North with a 4-2 win over Kettering Town in the Southern League Premier Central playoff final.

It was a slow start to the game as both sides felt each other out. It wasn’t until the 19th minute that the game saw its first shot on target; Wes York’s effort easily dealt with by Brandon Hall. A few moments later, Sam McLintock flashed a shot wide after Nile Ranger’s nod back to the edge of the box.

The Poppies were beginning to get on top, and they made that advantage pay in the 32nd minute. Ben Hart breezed past Jordan Cranston and drilled in a low cross, with Ranger on hand to turn the ball home from two yards out to give Kettering a 1-0 win.

The Bucks responded well after going a goal down. Cranston fired a freekick from the edge of the box over the bar, before Matty Stenson should perhaps have done better when he headed over from close range after good work from Dylan Allen-Hadley. Stenson then hit an audacious effort from 30 yards that whistled just wide, before the Bucks top scorer struck another attempt from the corner of the box over the bar. The Bucks were pressing but were reduced to efforts from distance, as the Poppies defended resolutely to ensure that they held a 1-0 lead at the break.

After half time, Wilkin’s men picked up where they left off, as the Bucks made a fast start to the second period. Cranston’s freekick took a flick off the wall before whizzing just wide, but from the resulting corner the Bucks found a leveller. Cranston’s 50th minute kick caused chaos, Oliver Cawthorne kept the ball alive, and it fell to Orrin Pendley, who hammered in from close range for a third goal in three games.

But with the Bucks looking threatening, the Poppies went down the other end and made it 2-1 almost immediately. Another cross from the right found its way all through to Jamar Loza at the back post, who turned the ball back in for York to thrash home from a matter of yards out.

Things then became a lot more open, albeit a little scrappy without too much incident. That was until the 71st minute, when the Bucks found another equaliser. Nabbing the ball back in their own half, Wilkin’s men moved the ball from back to front in a flash. A long ball up from Cawthorne, was flicked on by Luke Rowe to Stenson. The Bucks dangerman found some space with a delightful bit of skill and then played a perfectly weighted through ball to Jordan Piggott, who rounded keeper Dan Jezeph and slotted home into the empty net for 2-2.

The game was now on a knife-edge, with both side pushing to get their noses in front. And it was the Bucks who did just that. In the 81st minute, Stenson did well to hold of two defenders and lay the ball off to Jahdahn Fridye-Harper, who burst past Connor Johnson on the halfway and suddenly found himself with acres of space to run into. And run into it he did, galloping all the way down the right wing and into the box before firing in a superb shot across Jezeph and into the bottom corner. A first goal for the club for the Bucks’ unlikely hero.

Kettering pushed for a leveller, but the Bucks were defending well and repelled anything that the Poppies could throw at them. And in the 92nd minute, Rhys Hilton added the cherry on top of the Bucks’ promotion cake. Connor Johnson underhit a pass back, and Hilton nipped in, rounded Jezeph before sliding the ball into the net for 4-2.

The Bucks saw out the remainder of the game with little fuss to seal a triumphant return to the National League North after two seasons at Step 3.

Highlights

Match highlights are available on the Kettering YouTube channel.