Captain for the Day Damien Askey won the toss, elected to change ends and play with the slope and following an excellent warm up session run by Matty Craig, the team was full of confidence. The game quickly developed into a long ball affair with both defences quickly on top and the midfield working hard to find areas of quality possession. The attacking prowess of Smithfield began to come to the fore with top scorer Rob Evans and Mark Stanway proving to be a constant thorn in the side for the Corner Pin back four, only letting themselves down with a club record of 26 offsides in the first half. Smithfield were made to pay for their over eagerness on 32 minutes when a Cornerpin striker broke free and smashed the ball past Ian Stanway (who was clearly the worse for wear) and Ben Clarke who came back to cover on the line.
Smithfield clearly took this as a wake up call and renewed there vigour in attack with Kevin Jones providing an excellent cross for Mark Stanway who headed just wide from 15 yards. Further chances fell to Evans and Mark Stanway however the keeper was never called into action. As a result of stretching the game Smithfield fell pray to a sucker punch just before half time when goalkeeper Ian Stanway was caught in no-mans land after slipping for the second week in a row, leaving the oncoming Cornerpin striker with an easy chance to double their advantage which was gratefully taken.
Half Time Score - Cornerpin Warriors 2 0 Smithfield Firestarters
A fiery half time team talk by Captain for the Day Damien Askey had little effect as Smithfield started the second half in the same vein as the finished the first. This was compounded by a lack of direction from senior management as Director of Football Tom Plant left just before half time to attend to urgent commitments. The lack of control in midfield and a distinct inability to pass to other team members resulted in the defence soaking up wave after wave of attacking play by Cornerpin, whilst tiring evermore. On the odd occasion that Smithfield found quality possession it was often wasted in the final third which had Stanway and Evans frustrated by the lack of service.
A ray of hope was visible on 62 minutes for Smithfield when a free kick was won by Aaron Bell 30 yards from the Corner Pin Goal. A beautifully flighted free kick by Captain for the Day Damien Askey beat a week offside trap and found Matt Maskery unmarked at the back post who powered a header past a statuesque goalkeeper to put Smithfield back in the game. The belief lasted little over a minute as Corner Pin displayed bouncebackability and began an attack down the right wing. A cross field ball from the wing inexplicably ran under Captain for the Day Damien Askeys foot and put the Cornerpin No. 9 in with a chance to complete his hat trick which he did with aplomb by finding the top right hand corner with a crisp 18 yard drive.
In an effort to push for goals, Manager Elect and Captain for the Day Damien Askey made two tactical substitutions on 70 minutes. Joey Seymour replaced Mark Stanway who had a disappointing second half and Nick Jackson replaced Aaron Bell. This prompted a re-shuffle on the right hand side with Nick dropping to right back and Matty Craig pushing forward to right wing. The changes appeared to have a positive effect as Seymour and Craig began linking up well on the right hand side and forced several corners each. The best of these was delivered by Jones whose in-swinging corner deceived everyone except the defender on the back post who gratefully headed the ball clear.
The goal that Smithfield needed came on 79 minutes when Chris Cobby robbed the Cornerpin right winger halfway inside his own half, powered with the ball to the halfway line and put in a long range pass which Evans ran onto and headed into the top left corner from 8 yards. The fire in Evans belly was ignited by this and he swiftly collected the ball from the back of the net and sprinted to the centre circle to enable a quick start to proceedings. Once again Smithfield fell foul of a quick reply and conceded a goal within 2 minutes of dragging themselves back into the game. A good break by the Corner Pin attack lead to a strike on goal which was tapped in at the far post despite the forward being clearly off-side. It was a momentary lapse in concentration by Smithfields own Linesman Shaun James whos only error of the game went severely punished, despite protests to the referee who himself had an uneven performance.
The last 8 minutes passed uneventfully with Dean Hickin replaced the tiring Cobby providing the only highlight as Smithfield pressed on valiantly and unsuccessfully for the two goals they needed to salvage a draw.
Final Score:
Corner Pin Warriors 4 2 Smithfield Firestarters
Man of the Match
Chris Cobby Settled well into an established back line and was solid in the tackle and provided an excellent pass to Evans for the second goal. If he can get his work sorted Smithfield could well have a little gem.
Technical Director Tony Craig will be disappointed by the result and no doubt will be looking to get better performance out of his players but must ask himself:-
1) Has the attitude of the centre half pairing become complacent?
2) Just when will Ian Stanway learn to kick?
3) Will Matt Roberts return to left back or has Chris Cobby laid down a marker?
4) Who is the best central midfield partnership?
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