Skipper Paul Barnes struck at the double to keep Doncaster Rovers firmly on place for the play-offs at the end of the season.
But his two-goal blast left a dispirited Kettering town rooted to the foot of the Conference table after their 18th league defeat.
Barnes opened the scoring as early as the ninth minute when he headed home at the near post from new signing Jason Blunt's right-wing cross.
He killed off any remaining resistance from the rock-bottom home side in first-half stoppage time with a simple close-range finish from Justin Jackson's low cutback.
In between these two strikes the Poppies battled away and went close through Craig Norman after his free-kick was charged down.
In the 33rd minute they almost produced an equaliser as Gez Murphy's flicked header from Scott Goodwin's corner rebounded off the face of the bar.
Murphy then ended a miserable week in which he had been transfer-listed when he received a red card for the second of two innocuous yellows.
That left the Poppies to play out the latter stages of the game with just ten men for the second game in succession.
But despite the numerical disadvantage they still managed to go close to reducing the arrears in a grandstand finish.
Michael Boyle-Chong had a deflected shot which a largely unemployed Andy Warrington scrambled round for a corner.
He then produced a first-time volley from the edge of the box that just slipped wide of the target.
When Warrington held on to Victor Asombang's angled effort under the crossbar it ended their chance of a consolation goal and condemned Town to another defeat which leaves them staring relegation in the face.