Evo-Stik League Southern Premier Division

Corby Town     2 – 1   Cirencester Town   

 Match Report by Dave Pyzer

Corby was the destination for the Centurions for their latest Premier Division fixture to play high flying Corby Town – currently in 3rd place in the league table and top of the 6 match form guide. The reverse fixture was a  0 – 0 draw.

The starting eleven for the Centurions had one change from last week’s home fixture against 2nd placed St. Neots with Brad Hooper replacing the injured Jamie Reid.

Corby kicked off but soon conceded possession to their visitors enabling Ben Prictor to mount a driving run down the left flank that came to an abrupt end level with the penalty spot. The resulting free kick was comfortably cleared.

A couple of minutes later Mark Pritchett launched a long ball out of defence that Nat Jarvis collected inside the home box. He held the ball, then slipped it to Aidan Bennett who had cut in from the left flank to the edge of the box and a defender got his head in the way of Bennett’s shot sending it high into the air for Paul Walker in the home goal to catch.

Cirencester had started well but Corby are not at the top end of the table for nothing and in the next couple of minutes mounted a number of attacks down their left flank through the dangerous Greg Mills – first his shot from the left front edge of the penalty area was saved low down by Glyn Garner then he exchanged passes with Elliott Chamberlain before crossing towards the back post but it was cleared.

Cirencester then enjoyed a period of possession as they exchanged a number of passes down the left flank culminating in Ed Williams turning inside to beat two defenders before shooting wide of the far post from the front left edge of the penalty area.

Not to be outdone Corby then did the same down their left flank with Mills and Kalern Thomas releasing Chamberlain who shot over the bar from the front edge of the penalty area.

Nat Jarvis collected a ball in the left corner and was awarded a free kick as he cut inside – the resultant free kick was headed over the bar by Gethin Jones from the centre edge of the 6 yard box.

Within a minute of this incident the Cirencester supporters watched anxiously as a block challenge, 10 yards inside their half, rebounded and sailed over the defender making the clearance attempt and Garner who had advanced to the edge of his penalty area. The ball landed just wide of the right post.

Corby broke the stalemate in the 17th minute when Mills received the ball on the left, drove into the box – parallel with the bye-line, and crossed along the front edge of the 6 yard box for an unmarked Spencer Weir-Daley to tap in at the far post as the defence was drawn to the front post.  1 – 0.

Just after the mid-point of the half one of the Assistant Referees pulled up with an injury and there was a delay as an appeal was made to the crowd for any attending qualified F.A. official to make themselves known. After seven minutes the game resumed as the Corby Assistant Manager & Goalkeeping Coach was coerced into taking the role.  

Five minutes later Pritchett intercepted an attempted through ball and moved it on to Prictor and after an exchange of passes between Brad Hooper and Bennett the ball was fed to Matt Liddiard who switched play to Ed Williams on the right flank. Williams deep cross was met by the head of Jarvis to the left of the far post but it landed on the top of the net.

The reaction from Corby was immediate as once again Mills, Thomas and Chamberlain combined down the left before Mills laid the ball back to Weir-Daley on the front left edge of the penalty area but his strike was deflected over the bar for a corner.

With eight minutes of the half remaining Cirencester nearly got the equaliser they had been searching for as a free kick on the right flank reached Jones on the centre edge of the 6 yard box but he drove his effort over the bar.

Both sides survived a further attack on their respective goals before an eventful half was brought to an end. 

Half Time:   1 - 0

The second half got off to a perfect start for the home side as they increased their lead three minutes after the re-start following a free kick on their right flank, just inside their half. The kick was launched towards the left side of the penalty area and Weir-Daley headed it into the path of Elliott Chamberlain as he made a darting run, from right to left, and from the front edge of the area he cleverly played a deft flick with the outside of his right foot that took the ball over the advancing Garner and into the back of the net inside the right post. 2 – 0.   

Undeterred Cirencester created a couple of chances as first James Mortimer-Jones had a fierce shot blocked and then Prictor and Jarvis combined to create space for Bennett but the home side survived.

Cirencester tried a ’route one’ attack as Garner punted the ball downfield to Jarvis who moved it on to Bennett, back to Jarvis and his shot was deflected over the bar for a right wing corner. The corner kick was collected by Bennett on the left side of the penalty area and he cut back to his right and sent a curling shot that looked destined for the top right corner of the net until Walker launched himself to tip it round for another corner. 

In between these efforts Ben Milnes latched onto a loose ball and struck a powerful drive wide of the right post from 25 yards, right of centre.

The Cirencester pressure was rewarded in the 62nd minute when a corner kick from the left to the back post was handled as Jarvis attempted to bundle it over the line. A penalty kick was awarded and Edi Appleton issued with a Red Card as a result.

Nat Jarvis stepped up and placed his left footed spot kick inside the right post with Walker diving in the opposite direction.  2 – 1.

Corby Manager Tommy Wright immediately replaced Wilson Carvalho with Curtis Hartley.

Cirencester continued to push forward against the ten men seeking to get an equaliser and Corby made another change to hold them out with Liam McInally replacing the earlier dangerous Greg Mills.

Thirty minutes into the half there was a period of ‘head tennis’ in the Corby penalty area but they eventually cleared the danger.

Try as they did Cirencester could not break through the determined home defence who were throwing bodies into tackles and blocks with commendable commitment to survive the pressure and retain the lead.     

Final Score: 2 - 1

A well balanced first half with a momentary lack of concentration in the Centurions' defence proving the difference. Both sides had mounted numerous attacks down their flanks - Greg Mills had created a lot of problems for the visiting defence – but not too much end product for Cirencester as Nat Jarvis was having to search for the ball on the edge of the box as opposed to inside it.

Once the Red Card had been issued Corby dug-in providing plenty of possession for Cirencester but the home side were still dangerous on the break, particularly during the last five minutes.

A disappointing result for the Centurions but they should not be too down-hearted as in the last two weeks they have shown that they are able to compete with the best in the Division.

Attendance: 502  -  highest attendance figure in the Division on the day.                                 

Referee:      Ben Cooke

Corby Town: