Corby - Home

After the last few home games I'm sure a lot of the supporters must have been dreading the worst tonight, but instead we got a team performance that was much improved.

We had more shots on goal in the first 20 mins than in the last 3 games put together, and although we had to wait until the second half to get the ball in the net we did finally get a goal.  And that proved to be a winning goal as it finished 1-0 to Stour.

The only downside to tonight's game was the news that Luke Benbow was out of the team due to injury, not sure what's actually wrong with him but I've been told that he's got to have an x-ray.  So it looks like what I've said elsewhere about needing a replacement for him in case of injury has actually come true, just hope it's nothing serious as he would be a big loss to the team.

Having said that it was nice to finally get a win again, 3 well deserved points and hopefully it will be a starting block for better things this season.  The team proved tonight that they can play well without conceding a goal, so all we need now is consistency in our performances starting at Whitehawk on Saturday.

A much better overall performance across the pitch. With Benbow being ruled out in the warm-up, and Hague injured, the main problem of the night was a striker there to get on the end of passes and crosses, so I worry where the goals are going to come from.

Still, one can't complain at a late winner and a third clean sheet of the season!

All of the back four were rock solid - thought the Green/Westlake combination looked the best it has although we did get caught out on a couple of occasions in the first half, when they hit the post and also their striker fluffed another chance when he looked like he was in - I thought either because Westlake had committed himself forward or Green is still finding his feet in those situations at centre back. Scarr, Gould and Smikle did little wrong as well.

Once we got out of those moments unscathed, Corby didn't look like scoring again and seemed happy to be settling for a point, judging from how long the keeper took to take goal kicks, eventually ending in a much-deserved yellow card. Funny how he got much quicker after the goal....

Drew, Connor and Tonksy put a lot of effort in, but the standout performer for me in the middle was Jake Heath. He looked the most likely by far to make something happen in the final third and so it proved, with a delightful ball in for the goal.

Brilliant to see Duggan back, but not quite in the position we expected! He actually is brilliant to throw on up front late on just to provide a fresh impetus up front. Great ball in from Jake, and a striker-like header from Jack for the winner!

My main concern was Leon - he looked well off the pace - can't fault his commitment or effort, but I worry that his level isn't what it has been, and is weakening our midfield at the moment in a key area.

Overall though, a great three points. Players like Jake have certainly staked their claim for a starting place on Saturday.

A spirited and gritty 2nd half performance saw us secure a just-about deserved win. But it was only after the crowd's new favourite, ''Axeman'' Duggan, came on that we looked likely to score. The fact that he is a defender summed up last night's threadbare attacking options with injuries to Justin (long-term unfortunately), Brandon and Luke illustrating again an area where quality additions are essential.

In the first half, we were poor with only one real chance falling to Kayelden who worked his socks off alone up-front with not much success. Indeed, Corby through relying on the long ball had 3 or 4 chances
and we were lucky when one such chance hit our post.

Drew had a good game, particularly in the first period when he was getting involved in everything. Dan improved as the game went on and Junior was more like his old self.

To sum up, we had a much-needed win and, with Chris and Matt also out injured, says a lot of the spirit in the team, encouraged in no small way by a very supportive crowd.

Man of the match voting was as follows;

JAKE HEATH 9 votes

Jack Duggan. } 8
Kayelden Brown

Kristian Green 3

Junior Smikle
Dan Scarr } 2
Drew Canavan

Matt Gould }1
Darryl Westlake

Wine was won by BARRY CUFF

Thanks to everyone who took part