The Evo-Stik League South – Division One Central – Wednesday 24th October 2018 7:45 p.m. kick-off

Corby Town 6 (2) Bromsgrove Sporting 0 (0) at The Steel Park

A second heavy defeat in five days for Sporting and there were some bright moments but the better teams will punish even the slightest of errors and that is a lesson to be learnt.

After last Saturday’s defeat at Bedford, there was a change of formation with Tom Taylor making his debut in a three-man central defence and Jake Heath making his first start in mid-field.

Both teams pretty much cancelled each other out in the early stages of a match played at a fairly hectic pace on a wide pitch. However the crunch came on the 13th minute when Dan Crane in goal for Sporting conceded a corner and from the resulting place kick Joel Carta headed home unmarked from close range.

Six minutes later Gary Mulligan hit the post for the home side following Connor Kennedy’s long throw. However Corby made no mistake on the 45th minute when Sporting failed to clear their lines and a loose ball came out to Jordan Francis who scored a beautiful goal from fifteen yards out curling the ball into the top right-hand corner of Crane’s net.

Richard Gregory replaced Cameron Peters up from for the Rouslers at the start of the second period to bolster Sporting’s attacking options but before he could do much, his side were three down when Sam Grouse slide a loose ball under Crane.

The Steelmen’s fourth came on 51 minutes courtesy of Elliot Sandy who had enough time to pick his spot from the edge of the goal area whilst number five came from Miles Smith who made a blistering run down the right before hitting an angled drive past Crane.

Sporting did press forward but a tight and well-organised Corby defence kept chances to a minimum. Gregory went down on the box on 66th minute but it was an easy decision for referee Mr Ricardo to wave, no foul.

The final score of the evening for Corby came on the 72nd minute with a beautifully taken corner from Francis who found Sam Warburton at the far post, he nodded the ball in front of the goal where Sandy was able to tap in.

Sporting did rally for the last few minutes with Jason Cowley working hard up front but none of his efforts troubled Dan George in the home goal.

So another chastening experience for Sporting who will go home and lick their wounds but there is nothing wrong with the squad or individual players, they just need to realise that they are playing at a higher level of football and improvements will come.

Line-up: Dan Crane, Aaron Roberts, Jack Wilson, Nathan Hayward (Charlie Dowd 60 mins), Craig Jones (Capt.), Danny Morris, Jake Heath, Josh Quaynor, Jason Cowley, Cameron Peters (Richard Gregory 46 mins), Tom Taylor (John Pykett 60 mins).

No doubt many Corby supporters were still pinching themselves on Thursday morning to confirm they had not dreamt the events of the previous evening. As a dream a 6-0 thrashing of league leaders Bromsgrove Sporting would have been satisfying enough. The fact that it was a reality took it to a whole new level.

This was a quality team performance by the Steelmen but top billing must go to Jordan Francis. The summer signing from Romulus has shown tantalising glimpses of his undoubted talent during the opening weeks of the season but scoring the best goal of the game and claiming assists for two more has now set the bar at a new height.

Bearing in mind the final score the opening exchanges were as tight as might have been expected from two teams with genuine title-winning aspirations.

When it finally arrived the opening goal came from a mistake by Bromsgrove goalkeeper Dan Crane whose miskicked attempted clearance fell to the feet of Jordon Crawford inside the penalty area. The former Steelman probably thought he had got away with it when he dived to block Crawford's shot but the resulting corner was headed past a static Crane by Joel Carta to give Corby a 13th minute lead.

The remainder of the first half continued to be a tight affair with no hint of the drama which was to come. One particular passage of play saw Bromsgrove enjoy several minutes of possession inside the Corby half until an offside flag did what the Corby defence had been unable to do and brought it to an end.

Connor Kennedy then went close for Corby when he got on the end of a Sam Warburton centre but saw his fierce shot blocked by the feet of Crane. The Steelmen did extend their lead in first half stoppage time with a real goal of the season contender. Again Crane was initially at fault as he failed to hold onto a shot by Crawford and as the ball popped up from the ensuing melee Kennedy headed it forward. The rest was all Jordan Francis magic as he calmly took aim and sent a bullet of a shot into the top corner of the net.

The visitors needed an early reply in the second half if they were going to get back into the game but instead it was Corby who struck again just two minutes in. This time Francis was the provider as he played the ball in from the wing to Sam Grouse who skipped away from the challenge of Crane and steered his shot past the covering defender.

Within a further four minutes Corby were on target again. Josh Quaynor was booked for a foul on Francis and Sam Warburton chipped the free kick into the penalty area. The ball struck Carta on the knee and fell invitingly or Elliot Sandy to crash it into the net from close range.

Just before the half hour mark four became five as Miles Smith won two tackles out on the flank to send Francis running free again and continued his own forward run to get on the end of the winger's centre to send his shot high into the net from inside the six yard box.

The scoring was completed in the 72nd minute when Ben Bradshaw knocked a deep corner back across goal and Sandy, virtually on his hands and knees, forced the ball over the line. Crane got to a long through pass a fraction ahead of Jake Bettles s the Steelmen went looking for more goals and one of the biggest cheers of the night was for a Crawford nutmeg on full back Aaron Roberts. It was that kind of evening!

CORBY TOWN:- Dan George; Miles Smith, Sam Warburton; Joel Carta, Jamie Anton, Gary Mulligan (captain); Jordan Francis (substitute Zac Allen), Connor Kennedy, Elliot Sandy (substitute Jake Bettles), Sam Grouse (substitute Ben Bradshaw), Jordon Crawford.
Unused substitutes: Dean McBride, Greg Ling.

BROMSGROVE SPORTING:- Dan Crane; Aaron Roberts, Jack Wilson; Nathan Hayward, Craig Jones (captain), Danny Morris; Jake Heath, Josh Quaynor, Jason Cowley, Cameron Peters (substitute Richard Gregory), Tom Taylor (substitute John Pykett).
Unused substitutes: Will Shorrock, Charlie Dowd, Ashanti Pryce.

REFEREE:- Mr Ruebyn Ricardo (Leicester).

ATTENDANCE:- 400.

Report courtesy of James McCafferty - Corby Town