Southport 1-2 Kettering

Ten-man Kettering Town withstood a furious comeback to hold on for victory away against Southport.

Town went ahead when James Dance slotted in from close range just before the break and Jean-Paul Marna doubled the lead with a fine 25-yard free-kick.

Ashley Westwood's dismissal for a professional foul on Liam Blakeman just after the hour gave the hosts hope.

But Paul Barratt's 25-yard strike in a frantic finale was all they could muster and Kettering took the points.

Southport manager Liam Watson told BBC Radio Merseyside:
"Obviously it's disappointing to come away from a game at home and you've got no points.

"But I'm pleased in the last half an hour that we showed good character and we need to start like that.

"Do we need to look at it and do we need to change the formation to stay in the game? We probably do."

Kettering Town manager Marcus Law told BBC Radio Northampton:
"I'm going to pinch myself and wake up in a minute. It's been a tremendous few days, with a fantastic group to work with, who've been very receptive.

"We'll work hard, and deal with any adversity and we showed a lot of character here.

"We got our rewards. We're an exciting team when we're attacking, and we're putting teams of the back foot from the outset."

Southport: McMillan, Lee, Flynn, Davis, Lever, Barratt, Blakeman (Powell 67), Moogan, McGinn, Daly, Tony Gray (Collins 80).
Subs Not Used: Winn, Williams, Dickinson.

Booked: Davis, Powell, Lee.

Goals: Barratt 83.

Kettering: Jack, Graham, Westwood, Roper, Dance, Solkhon (Kelly 89), Noubissie, Boucaud, Taylor, Marna (Furlong 90), Makofo (McKoy 88).
Subs Not Used: Cooper, Pryor.

Sent Off: Westwood (63).

Booked: Makofo.

Goals: Dance 39, Marna 45.

Att: 1,117.

Ref: Colin Harwood (Manchester).