Action from the FA Trophy Extra Preliminary round ties
ASECOND trip to North Worcestershire in the space of a week was a fruitful one for Corby Town, who booked their place in the next round of the FA Trophy with victory over Bromsgrove Sporting.
Having emphatically downed Alvechurch 4-1 in the FA Cup last Saturday at Lye Meadow, the Steelmen followed that up with a 3-1 success over the Rouslers at the Victoria Ground to set up a preliminary round tie at home to Yaxley on Saturday, October 13.
But in one of the standout moments of the fixture, Corby were awarded a controversial penalty on the stroke of half-time when Daniel Morris seemingly won the ball following a challenge on Jordan Crawford in the area.
Joel Carta scored from the spot to put the visitors 2-1 up at the time and Corby boss Steve Kinniburgh admitted it was a decision which could have gone either way
“The lad has won the ball but he’s come through the player too,” he explained.
“It gave the referee a decision to make given the new rules on fouls in the box and that’s what he’s done.
“You get some for you and you get some against you but you can’t dwell on it too much.”
Speaking of the travelling Corby fans, Kinniburgh added: “It’s magic for us. We had 70 to 100 fans here which gave the lads a huge boost.”
Corby took the lead in the 25th minute when Morris gave the ball away in the centre of the park, which allowed Carta to thread through Elliot Sandy who rounded the onrushing Jonathan Brown to slot home into an empty net.
Corby’s lead lasted just six minutes though, as their defence failed to clear from Will Shorrock’s cross, allowing John Pykett to rifle home from close range.
Carta’s controversial penalty then put the visitors back on the front foot before the Steelmen doubled their advantage five minutes into the second half.
That third goal came when Connor Kennedy deftly headed home at the back post from Sam Warburton’s corner.
And Sporting boss Brendan Kelly couldn’t hide his disapppointment following the defeat.
He said: “I was a bit confused with some of the decisions made by the officials but I won’t go on about that.
“Corby came and clearly had a gameplan. We had them watched
and they did exactly what we knew they were going to do.
“I’m a little bit disappointed the game wasn’t more of a spectacle as we were the only team trying to play football.
“Things didn’t go our way but Corby were well organised and resolute all over the pitch.
“The penalty broke our rhythm and then we were hit with the sucker-punch third goal which I thought we could have dealt with better.” STAR MAN: Connor Kennedy (Corby) ENTERTAINMENT: ★★★★★