Steelmen show their mettle

Kempston Rovers battled hard, but eventually succumbed to a Corby Town side who showed their ruthless streak to prevail in this encounter.

The first half was slow to get going, the first real goal mouth action came on the quarter hour mark, as a left flank cross was played into the Kempston area to the feet of Elliot Sandy, who could only put the ball back across goal. Tom Wyant, seemingly stranded, produced a magnificent recovery scramble to block at the feet of Bradshaw to maintain the deadlock. Shortly after the half hour, Crawford was played in on goal, but he hesitated a split second, allowing Daniel Akubuine to recover and make the challenge. Wyant produced another spectacular save to deny Bradshaw again, stretching low to his left to tip the forward’s effort for a corner. Ten minutes from the break, the hosts deservedly hit the front. A long ball from the back was nodded across goal when captain Gary Mulligan didn’t need a second chance to tap home from the goal line. Ben Acquaye had Kempston’s best chance of the half, striking a powerful shot from the edge of the box, which required Dan George to dive and tip the ball onto the post.

After the break, Corby continued to turn the screw. However, just before the hour, Kempston found an equaliser against the run of play. Nathan Tshikuna outmuscled two opponents before placing the ball into the corner from twenty yards to stun the large home crowd into silence. Parity lasted for barely three minutes, Connor Kennedy getting on the end of a corner to restore the Steelmen’s lead. Kempston’s frustrations threatened to boil over with twenty minutes to go, Acquaye making a challenge that saw a Corby player crash into the advertising boards around the pitch saw a mass confrontation of players, seeing three booked and Acquaye hastily subbed. Rovers were managing to hold Corby at arms length and look for an unlikely point on the break. But the hard defensive work was undone with three goals in the last seven minutes of the game. Sam Grouse got on the end of a Crawford cross with his first touch to nod in for three one. Then two goals from Elliot Sandy in stoppage time added gloss to the scoreline. First turning home on the line from a corner that looked to be heading straight in with more than a little help from the wind, before putting tapping home a loose ball after Bradshaw closed down a Wyant clearance.

The defeat drops Rovers to eighteenth, just above the drop zone. Next up for Kempston is another tough test against another side flying high in the league table, Bromsgrove Sporting.