Match Report - Saturday 1st September 2007
Padbury United 1 Tring Corinthians 5
Corinthians suffer Corbitt injury blow
Despite coming away with 3pts and 5 goals, Corinthians couldn't help feeling that this was a hollow victory in the circumstances.
Again Corinthians were wasteful, guilty of missing a hatful of chances from corners and numerous attempts when they had seemed as if they had broken the opposition backline only to find themselves offside. You could argue that the linesman was a little flag-happy, however more realistically the Corinthians were guilty of not timing their runs correctly. The score line should have, as in the previous two games been into double figures by half-time.
The injury to Corbitt has come when it seemed he and Andy Rose had got a very good understanding going between them, with Corbitt as the link man and Rose as the experienced holding player. Both players linked up well with both attacking midfielders, which in this instance were Hoque and Byrne. Corbitt was through on goal after 20 minutes when his touch let him down giving the keeper a chance to challenge for the ball - the result was a 50-50 with Corbitt coming of the worst!
It goes with out saying that "The Calypso Cat" as he has become known will be heavily missed. We wish him a speedy return!!
He was replaced on 26mins by the ever reliable Nick Hills who slipped-in comfortably alongside Rose. Corinthians saw a total of nine corners go to waste in the first half before Waite deciding he'd had enough messing around, controlled a ball from Rose 32 yards out, bought himself half a yard with the slightest of shoulder barges and unleashed a swerving bolt from his right boot into the top left hand corner of the net. 0-1!
The second goal ironically came from not a Corinthians corner but a Padbury corner. Having cleared the danger, the ball fell to Hoque, who as rehearsed on the training ground used Byrne as the decoy and ran the length of the field to slot home over the flailing keeper. 0-2!
The start of the second half saw Corinthians assert their dominance with Byrne winning a penalty on 50 minutes after being chopped inside the area. The referee pointed to the spot for a penalty, then after some strong verbal harassment changed his mind to give a free kick outside the area! ... (Deep breath)!
Despite this, Waite later tucked away his second of the afternoon controlling a ball on his chest before slotting calmly into the right side of the net after some wayward Corinthian shooting. He was later taken off after a back injury and replaced by debutant Harry Wheeler who made an instant impact by scoring from the narrowest of angles after a goal line clearance on 64 minutes.
A mix-up from a Padbury free-kick saw the opposition pull one back as both Coker and Smith thought the other had it covered only to see it end up in their own net. 1-4!. After a nervous 8 minutes Adam Parrett came on for Hoque with 18mins to go and added some assurance as Herring was freed up to play more centrally and sure enough he got himself into a scoring position within minutes when despite the numerous calls to lay the ball off slotted calmly under the keeper from just inside the box.
Corinthians now see themselves 3pts behind the lead with a game in hand. One wonders had they converted even half their chances in the two previous games whether they would be a point clear with a game in hand already...?
On the positive side, Corinthians seem to have seen off the early season jitters and to have found both their rhythm and their shooting boots. In stark contrast to last season's campaign, Corinthians see themselves in a strong position to challenge for top spot with an unbeaten record thus far.
Parrett was unavailable for comment, but it was evident from his expression on the touchline over the 90 minutes that he expects more from this team he has so much faith in to win the title.