Match report by Morgan Nock
A distraught, frustrating and ultimately disappointing day for Harriers saw them fail to make the play-offs and finish sixth in the Blue Square Premier. The 1-0 defeat by Kettering was made worse by Mansfield beating Stevenage, and we knew that a win would have had us finish in fifth place and extend our season by a few more games including a possible second visit to New Wembley.
2896 fans packed Aggborough, with 279 away supporters to watch an exciting game, which Harriers dominated throughout.
From start to finish Kettering had to endure large spells of pressure, but they finally caught Kiddy on the break in stoppage time.
There was an explosive start for the Harriers weak starting eleven, with Martin Brittain and Russell Penn replaced by Darryl Knights and David McDermott (where has he been?) when we saw Matt Barnes-Homer hit the target, forcing an awkward save for the rather portly keeper Lee Harper to make with a bit of a toe punt.
Shortly afterwards, Keith Lowe hit a stunning shot that the surprisingly mobile Harper managed to tip around the post. Lowe had another header just wide from a Darryl Knights corner soon after.
As the game began to settle the Harriers dominance started to show when Justin Richards had a shot cleared off the line by Exodus Geohaghan. Then two rash challenges ensued, first the Iyseden Christie like Kettering captain, Guy Branston, went straight through Chris McPhee, warranting a yellow card. Next forward Ryan Charles was robbed of the ball by McDermott and lashed out at him, but again only a yellow was shown.
Half an hour in, Richards flashed a shot across the face of goal, and Poppies fans breathed a huge sigh of relief. Shortly after, Matt Barnes-Homer again hit the target with a deflected shot which looped up and was saved easily by Harper.
Kettering had only really had one shot on target in memory, from Gareth Seddon which was saved easily by Bartlett.