CORBY TOWN 1-1 COALVILLE TOWN: ABANDONED AFTER 35 MINUTES... 'FULL' MATCH REPORT...

Weather Wins, As Ravens Peg Back Steelmen

Corby Town 1-1 Coalville Town

(Abandoned on 35 minutes, due to thunder, lightning, torrential rain & surface water…)

This spectacle was memorable for some rather loud thunder crashes, some powerful lightning flashes and a threatening air of grim, ghostly light. Maybe the abandonment, when the deluge became too heavy, after the surface had become mottled by puddled areas and the danger to players from lightning was getting ever more dangerous, was a punishment by the elements for the rather extreme admission price of £12 for adults and £8 for concessions. Even the match programme was priced at £2.50… Ah, the gods move in such mysterious ways and I was wearing an amulet of Thor round my neck, which shook with anger as I handed over my cash at the turnstile. Thor would take his rowdy revenge on the venue in due course… That said, the players did really well to carry on for so long when really, for their safety, the referee should perhaps have withdrawn them earlier.

I WASN'T JOKING...

With Alex Troke recovering from a spectacular aerial clash with the Skelmersdale goalkeeper the other night, which would have impressed the Floor Work Gymnastics judges at Rio, Coalville were also missing central defender Dean Freeman through injury and the recovering, if unwilling Jamie McAteer was forced to take a place on the bench, leaving the Ravens’ rearguard looking a little lacking in height but in truth, the visitors began the game more dominantly, without really threatening. Indeed, following a skied and wasteful attempt by Corby’s Kurtis Revan, the hosts, on the quarter-hour, took a shock lead, from their first corner. The ball was swung across from the right, skipper Callum Ball moved cleverly away from the goal-line, like a cutpurse in Victorian London, slipping unnoticed from the aptly named Ravens’ Josh Raven, before swinging a hopeful right boot at the falling ball, 8 yards out, a shot which he rammed into the ground. His effort bounced upwards and evaded visiting goalie and skipper Sean Bowles but as right-back Will Dennis attempted to head the ball away from under his crossbar, he succeeded only in nodding it into the roof of the net. 

GET THE BALL DOWN...

BALL'S UP NOW...
1-0 TO THE STEELMEN...

The goal had disrupted the Ravens’ pattern and an immediate long shot by Corby forward Ben Milnes soon flew well off target. A quick Coalville free-kick led to a Nathan Watson shot being blocked, as the ‘keeper leapt low but then, as lightning registered its annoyance at the Steelmen’s strike, bringing an “Ooooohhhh…” from the Ultras, whose drumming wasn’t necessary with Thor’s greater thunderous bass booming overhead, Bowles held onto a low Michael Ogilvie centre from the right. The recovering Ravens began to reassert themselves however and Steve Towers’ low shot was collected by home goalie Aiden Grant, before the Corby defence somehow headed a right-side corner to safety. 

RARE ACTION AT THE ULTRA END...

SEVERAL PLAYERS ATTEMPT TO CLIMB BENEATH A SPECTATOR'S UMBRELLA...

THE MASSIAH DOES SOME WATER DIVINING: HOW GOOD WAS HE?

The rain began to lash down, the officials carried on manfully, a Coalville corner saw Liam Walshe’s header nodded over the crossbar from close range by Massiah McDonald (not The MEssiah, because He would have becalmed the weather) and then Karl Demidh netted his first official Coalville goal, except that it will never be included in the records, due to the abandonment. At least I caught it on video and Karl thus owes me a coffee… 

A left-side throw by Corby ended up with Steve Towers’ header inside finding Demidh, who took possession, knocked Reece Webb over in the centre of the field, before lifting, possibly with the slight aid of a Steelman’s boot, a 22 yard left-footer over the stunned Grant and into the top right corner of the net. 

DANNY JENNO LOOKS, ER, DELIGHTED?
1-1...

DEMIDH HAS SCORED...

...& FALLS INTO THE ARMS OF THE MASSIAH...

McDonald was actually unpleasantly involved in harassment with Corby’s Webb, following a foul by the latter, for which both received warnings and yellow cards, an incident which took a while to sort out, as puddles formed around them, lightning lit up the sky, thunder beat out its doom and rain fell in torrents. McDonald was then thwarted by the base of a Corby stanchion, resulting in the ball flying behind the goal-frame, as Grant slithered across his goalmouth. It remained only for Demidh to be fouled 20 yards out and for his free-kick to strike a defensive wall and finally, finally, the referee belatedly called a halt to the proceedings, after consulting with Ball and Bowles. Ball and Bowles? This certainly wasn’t cricket…

TROUBLE IN STEEL TOWN...

...AND STILL THE RAIN FALLS...

We waited awhile, but it was clear that the match was done. Danny Jenno ran and slid several metres on his belly as he left the field and I wished that I hadn’t left my body-board on top of the wardrobe… Music played, but not Lou Christie’s ‘Lightnin’ Strikes’, or even Five Star’s ‘Strong As Steel’, which precluded the obvious announcement about the inevitable abandonment, although the Coalville kit-man had whispered the news to Steve from the Ravens’ Supporters’ Club moments before. It’s what he does…

THE REF CALLS FOR BALL & BOWLES...

NOT A LOT TO DISCUSS, REALLY...

We collected vouchers on the way out for when the match is replayed and I drove home to Solihull via the A14, M6 and M42 through two more horrid storms… I wondered whether the programme for the replayed game would cost another £2.50, or whether Corby would re-sell the original… Hmm, we’ll see. 

What a miserable day… I wasn’t even able to include the brilliantly named Brad-Lee Gascoigne, O’Neil Odolfin, or Sekou Kromah into my match report…

TEAMS:

CORBY TOWN:

AIDEN GRANT, LUKE ARIDEGBE, LIAM MARSHALL, BRAD-LEE GASCOIGNE, O’NEIL ODOLFIN, DANNY DRAPER, KURTIS REVAN, REECE WEBB, CALLUM BALL (CAPT), BEN MILNES, MICHAEL OGILVIE.

SUBS:

JAMIE ANTON, MONTY PARKES (GK), SEKOU KROMAH, JORDAN CRAWFORD, ANDRE JOHNSON.

COALVILLE TOWN:

SEAN BOWLES (CAPT), WILL DENNIS, LEE TORR, DANNY JENNO, JOSH RAVEN, LIAM WALSHE, BRAD MUNN, STEVEN TOWERS, MASSIAH McDONALD, NATHAN WATSON.

SUBS:

CALLUM WOODWARD, LIAM HURST, ALEX DEAN, JAMIE McATEER, MATT COTON (GK).