13.10.07
Man of the match: Andrew Taplin
Corinthians claimed their first league double of the season with a hard fought 2-1 away victory over Frilsham and Yattendon.
Corinthians were down to the bare eleven for this clash, with midfielder Joe Charters failing a vigorous late fitness test on his injured groin. Also missing were skipper Dan Groves, as well as Joff Charters and Chris Long who were out in Madrid visiting Nick Clarkson, and gaffer Matt Charters who was playing sweeper for the reserves.
The game started off fairly evenly with no chances for either side in the opening exchanges. This was until a quick free kick after 10 minutes from midfielder Andy Taplin sent the ball over the top to striker Daniel Huggins. Huggins still had a lot to do when he received the pass, but showed superb strength to hold off his marker, before firing a left-foot shot low and hard into the bottom corner.
Corinthians quickly doubled their lead when they won a corner on the left. Ben Charters sent the ball over and when the ball was headed out, it fell to Finbar Mulholland who feigned a shot with his right-foot before hitting the ball goalwards with his left. His shot took a big deflection which completely wrong-footed the Frilsham ‘keeper, and Corinthians found themselves 2-0 up.
The two Corinthians goals seemed to spur Frilsham and Yattendon into action and they began to force their way back into the game. Despite the increasing pressure, the centre-back trio of Richard Cotterill, Ian O’Reilly and John Quinton were looking solid and Corinthians’ goalkeeper Jamie Scott was rarely called into action.
Frilsham’s first real chance of the game came towards the end of the first half as a result of a corner. The ball was floated over and deflected goalwards by the Frilsham attacker until Jon Simmons, who was defending the back post, somehow managed to prevent the ball from going in the net. As the ball flicked up in the air, Simmons was just able to nod the ball clear, taking a heavy blow to the head in the process from the onrushing Frilsham centre-back.
So Corinthians went into the half-time break leading 2-0, but a second-half onslaught from Frilsham and Yattendon was expected as they attempted to get something out of the game.
The second-half started in this vain, with Frilsham putting increasing pressure on Corinthians back-line. Within 10 minutes of the restart the pressure finally told as Frilsham halved the deficit to take the score to 2-1. Simmons attempted to cut out a cross from the left, but his clearance cannoned off the Frilsham winger and past the helpless Scott into the net.
A slightly fortuitous goal for Frilsham but their possession and territory deserved it, and they would have been confident of at least forcing an equaliser with over 30 minutes remaining in the match. What followed was an outstanding rearguard action from AFC Corinthians. Frilsham were largely restricted to long range efforts as holding midfielders Taplin and Drew Wanke protected the Corinthians backline superbly, whilst Mulholland, Huggins and Dave Hurley continued to look dangerous on the break. Hurley could have made the game safe for Corinthians late on as he broke clear of the Frilsham defence with just the ‘keeper to beat, but his shot went just wide of the right post.
There were shouts from a Frilsham supporter on the sidelines towards the end that they don’t lose at home, but on this occasion they did as Corinthians held on and came away with all three points.
This result sends Corinthians up to third in the table and next week sees them welcome Cookham Dean to James Lane as they look to continue their good run of form.