Tring Corinthians

Tring Corinthians 1 Holmer Green 3

Valuable lessons learnt for brave new Corinthians

Going into this game following the easy 4-0 victory over Div 1 side Amersham Town, Corinthians had every reason to be optimistic. Corinthians went into this game missing five players including the influential Steve Lewis (LM) Jordan Parrett (CB), last weeks’ MOM Nick Wells (CM) Adam Parrett (RM) and Goal Keeper Shaun Coker from the side that dealt with Amersham Town so convincingly.

In their place Corinthians welcomed into the side no less than 3 players for their debuts, David (“the cat”) Corbitt (CM) who was named captain, Nick (“the nut-job”) Guerney at (CB) and David (“stealth”) Finlay at (CM). Corinthians also welcomed the return of fans favourite Joynal Hoque to the right side of midfield and Nick Law in goal.

With key absentees it was a chance for Parrett & Barter to witness the versatility of their exciting young side. Lee Herring deputised for Steve Lewis on the left side of midfield whilst Steve Smith stepped into an attacking midfield role alongside Olly Waite who kept his place from the previous game. Nick O’Donovan was restored at the back with last weeks’ two-goal hero Will Hatton. Dave Corbitt and Dave Finlay made up the centre of Midfield with Luke Byrne continuing up front.

Corinthians started brightly and were the far better of the two sides as they moved the ball around at pace with Hoque a constant threat down the right-hand side. Corinthians were looking dangerous creating some early chances which Holmer Green did well to deal with in early stages. Holmer had yet to create a chance when after twenty five minutes Corinthians struck the first blow. With Holmer wary of the movement of the Corinthians players, an attack starting from the back involving 14 passes led to Luke Byrne picking the ball up just inside of Holmer’s half. As the Holmer players backed-off with half an eye on the darting movement from Herring and Smith, Byrne given this time to size up a chance, looked up, dropped his shoulder and unleashed a blistering thunderbolt from no less than 35 yards that rose into the top right hand corner of the Holmer Green net leaving the keeper stranded and the Holmer team including their new staff stunned!

Corinthians continued to press home their dominance with some fluent passing releasing Herring through behind the Holmer defence on a number of occasions only to be thwarted by the last defender. Then on 41mins a mix up in the Corinthians midfield led to a break away from Holmer front man Sam Grace who dribbled the ball into the Tring box and squared to fellow forward Craig Henney who, standing a clear 4 yards offside rolled the ball into the net. The Linesman raised his flag for off-side then bizarrely put it down again and the referee awarded a goal that should not have been.

Given the controversy surrounding this fixture, a goal against the run of play, that should not have stood just before the stroke of half time was like waving a red rag to an already angry Corinthian Bull. With Olly Waite coming off for concussion,  and Nick Guerney leaving the field with a damaged toe, Corinthians were forced to re-shuffle with Finlay moving into defence and Smith dropping back into defensive midfield.

Despite creating some chances with Herring looking particularly dangerous, Corinthians looked a much more ragged side in the second half. Desperate not to lose this fixture, the Corinthian players started to chase the game and hence started to lose their shape. Fifteen minutes into the second half, Corinthians suffered the sucker punch as Holmer scored their second breakaway goal, this time perfectly legitimate to make it 2-1. On 65 minutes Parrett brought on his remaining substitutes to finish the match. By this point Corinthians desperate to claw a goal back had lost both their shape and discipline and with 4 minutes remaining of the match, Holmer Green added a third to make the scoreline a flattering 1-3 to the visiting side.

Parrett had this to say:

The important thing to remember is that this game was a pre-season friendly. With the controversial off-field events surrounding this game my players went into this game as if it were a cup final and played like we were in one for 60 minutes. You cannot underestimate the effect that these off-field events have on players. Going into the game with a win-at-all-costs mentality meant that after going a goal down we lost both our shape and organisation and grew tired mentally. Had this game been against any other opposition I think we would have conducted ourselves with greater discipline more akin to that of a normal pre-season fixture and would have finished the game much stronger.

Having said that, I cannot take away from my players the amount of effort and commitment they put into winning this game, for a large part of the match we were the better side playing the better football for which I am very proud of them. Had their illegitimate goal not stood before half-time the result would probably have been a different story.

I’m glad this game is out the way now as I believe a burden will be lifted from my players. I’ve only had the lads for two and a bit weeks and in that time they have shown excellent levels of commitment, eagerness to learn, willingness to take on new ideas, and a superb desire to win. We will only get better as we gel and become a unified, organised outfit. Steve Smith summed it up for me when he said after the game "I'm ******* devastated" which resulted in another £2.00 fine, but which also I believe reflected the sentiments of all the lads on the day. They want to win so much and prove that they’re the best. But we must keep our minds fixed firmly on the goal ahead and take this game as a good lesson which we will use to our advantage when facing similar situations this season.

Pre-season is a journey of discovery and team bonding – it’s important we learn these lessons before the season starts. To learn how to win, it is just as important that we know how we lost – and I am glad that we are learning these lessons now with plenty of time and the whole season ahead.

We will win this league, and win it in style, and when we do we will look back at this game as nothing more than a jump-start to a season of success. Knowing the players as I do now as a superb bunch of characters with all the combined qualities necessary to succeed, my belief is even more steadfast that they will achieve their goals. Bring on Cranfield and Haringey – they’re going down!