Mark Cooper praised his defence for giving Kettering Town the platform to record their 2-0 win at the Trade Recruitment Stadium on Monday.

Second half goals by Craig Westcarr and Chris Beardsley sealed the win for last season's Blue Square North champions and afterwards Cooper commented, "I'm very pleased with our performance. We have some very good defenders - we've only conceded a goal a game before today - and to keep your forward line so quiet showed exactly how good they are.

"How solid we were at the back gave us the push to go on and win the match," he continued.

"We were worried about the pace that your wide lads have and tried to get our wide players to tuck back in when you had possession of the ball, and luckily enough it worked for us."

United's Ben Farrell was dismissed midway through the second half for a challenge on Craig Westcarr and Cooper agreed with Gary Brabin and most onlookers in declaring it a 'harsh' decision.

"I thought the sending off was very harsh - in my day it may not even have been a booking but the referee was extremely quick to get the card out," he said.

"Farrell was unlucky but I don't think it changed the result of the game. The key today - and whenever you go to any big club - is to make the fans quiet and get them frustrated, which we did.

"But having said that, you weren't at your best today. We've played well but Gary knows there is better to come from your players and we were lucky they weren't on their game. But I'm sure you'll go on to get a lot of results this season."

Interview by David Gray

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