Corinthians 3 AS Rawreth 1

Essex Olympian League Division Two, Thursday April 29

It was a rare Thursday night game for me this week and it saw me venture to the outskirts of Rochford and the Stambridge Memorial Ground for an Essex Olympian Division Two encounter between Corinthians and AS Rawreth, and it saw goals from Leo Clarke, Jake Lang and Jake Hodder seal a hard-fought win for the hosts.

The hosts form has been not to bad since they returned to action at the start of the month with wins against Beacon Hill Rovers and Ryan, whilst they also netted a 3-3 draw with Old Southendian Reserves and a narrow 1-0 loss at home to leaders Leigh Town, and all four games have been at home, and this was their fifth on the trot.

They welcomed an AS Rawreth to Stambridge who have not had a very good season, although their last run out at the weekend saw them pick up their first point of the campaign in a 1-1 draw at Harold Wood Athletic Reserves, and the other three games they had played since the resumption two of them were by just one goal so they had been competing at least.

However despite this you still expected the hosts to prevail in this one and they knew if they could pick up the three points they would climb into second and level on points with leaders Leigh Town, the leaders goal difference was seven better than Corinthians although a healthy win against AS Rawreth could help their chances of closing that particular gap too.

And when the visitors started the game with only nine players due to the fact not all the squad had managed to turn up for the kick-off time, you felt this might be a long night for the bottom side, but after ten minutes they were up to a full side and frustrated their opponents in the opening half hour and probably had the best chance as well.

However, with 33 minutes on the clock all their hard work was undone in a moment, as Clarke sent an effort at goal which should have been a routine save for AS Rawreth keeper Harry Hickman, but he let the ball slip through his fingers and then through his legs for good measure and see the ball end up in the net behind him, and Corinthians relief was evident.

The hosts though had some scary moments at the back though and saw the visitors go close again, they were not here to make up the numbers and were attacking whenever they could, but in first half stoppage time the hosts did manage to find a second goal when  Lang got on the end of a cross which the defence allowed to find it’s way through, and the attacker finished past the keeper from close range and you felt that it would be a more comfortable second half for the hosts now.

This was not to be the case though and two minutes after the break AS Rawreth were right back in the contest when Billy Brown’s perseverance saw him work some space to get a shot away and into the hosts net, and suddenly the visitor’s tails were up.

The hosts though could have added to their tally and made it a bit comfier, but they saw visiting keeper Hickman pull off some wonderful saves, the best of them tipping a curling effort onto the post, it was a brilliant stop, and apart from that error for the opening goal he had a marvellous game between the sticks.

The visitors though were certainly putting up a fight though and were making this a very nervy contest for the home side, much more competitive than most thought as well, so fair play to them, but with nine minutes remaining Corinthians finally sealed the points when the brilliant Hodder ran at the box, went past a defender, and then sent a wonderful, lofted finish into the far corner a cap a wonderful display from the hosts attacker.

The hosts would have been relieved to have finally seen off a very stubborn and competitive AS Rawreth who to their credit stuck to their task throughout, they certainly made the hosts work for this one, but it was three points to the home side and second place in the table to boot with promotion still very much on.

Full time Corinthians 3 AS Rawreth 1

 

Let’s see what that does to the table…

As mentioned above Corinthians go into second spot and are now only behind leaders Leigh Town on goal difference, with only four points separating the leaders and sixth placed Wakering Sports, and there are some crunch games at the weekend with Beacon Hill Rovers hosting Leigh Town whilst Corinthians welcome Wakering Sports to their Stambridge Memorial Ground, with the results of those games all important in the promotion shake up no doubt.

As for AS Rawreth they remain bottom with just one point from eleven games although they showed enough tonight here to suggest they will not be easy to beat, despite their lowly position in the table, so underestimate them at your peril.  Their next game sees them back in the area as they take on Rochford Town at The Rec.