Thrapston Town 3 v Corby Hellenic Fisher 4
Thrapston’s league cup adventure ended
in controversial circumstances, but this will not detract
from a great game, from which both sides should take a great
deal of credit for their attitude and commitment.
Not so much the tinker-man, today the manager was more the
haveaquarterofyoursquadabsentandstilldowell-man, as until
shortly before kick off it looked like a bare 11 would take
the field, until an only partially fit Eric Curtis came to
the rescue, courtesy of a dash across county and a fixed penalty
speeding fine.
But how they did us proud!
It all looked like going Pete Tonge as early as the sixth
minute when the Hellenic bhoys went two up and Town looked
at sixes and sevens every time Hellenic pressed. A rout was
on the cards. But this years Thrapston don’t do routs,
instead they sorted themselves out and got a foothold in the
match, controlling the middle third through Jordan Davis and
Tom Alsop.
An then, by general consensus, an early contender for goal
of the season; 25 yards out and with back to goal, Alsop receives
the ball. He flicks it up once to turn, flicks it up again
to create space and then unleashes an unstoppable shot in
to far corner with his weaker left foot – game on.
Your correspondent’s recall of the Town equaliser is
hazy, but suffice to say Devante Hosgson must have used his
pace to get free of an Hellenic defender to score. All levelled
up, and still ten minutes of the first half to play. Cup football
at its finest.
Then a speculative shot deceives Alex Vitue in goal and Hellenic
are in front again. In the last minute of the half though,
Town get a free kick. With precision accuracy Josh Cummins
whips it in to the “corridor of uncertainty” between
back four and keeper, where Alsop is on hand to nod home the
equaliser. Breathless. Half time.
The second half, as is so often the case, was a much tighter
affair, though both sides had chances to win. Town’s
best fell to Luke Rivett, so needing and so deserving of a
goal. He did everything right, only to see his goal bound
effort brilliantly cleared off the line.
Then, to the controversy; 2 minutes to go and an offside
deep in Town half. A Hellenic player follows through strongly
after the whistle and polaxes Alex Vitue. A groggy Vitue is
able to continue, but then uncharacteristically and surely
related to the previous incident, spills a speculative shot
which is tapped in for the winner.
So deep disappointment, mixed with tremendous pride that
a side, on paper missing some better players, can show this
sort of character, in the face of adversity.
On the up side, it means one less fixture to rearrange and
a possible weekend off in a month’s time – every
cloud, etc,etc.
Final Score
Thrapston Town Three, Corby Hellenic Fisher Four
MOTM – for a sterling display at the heart of the defence,
including several last ditch challenges, the MOTM today went
to Connor Morson
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