Match Report

Corringham Cosmos United 6 - 2 Dunton Dynamos

League Cup (2nd Round) - 16th November 2008; Conditions: Cold and very wet!

Games against Corringham Cosmos have always been excellent spectacles, and this one proved to be no different! Following our excellent 7-6 win over Beech United a few weeks ago, we found ourself matched against the runaway leaders of the division above us in this second-round encounter. We therefore knew this was likely to be a difficult game.

The conditions during the game were absolutely aweful. It was fine immediately prior to the game. But just as we kicked off, the heavens opened making the top surface very slippery.

Calum was once again unavailable for this match as he was still recovering from a viral infection. Other than that, we had a full squad to pick from. We therefore started with Liam in goal (and captain once again), Ben and Billy in the centre-back positions and Jack at right-back and Chaz at left-back. In midfield we had Joseph on the right wing, Ceiran on the left-wing and James M and George in the middle. Up-front, we had Jordan and Harry who have both been impressing with their finishing prowess in training recently. Substitutes today were Sonny, Cameron, Luke and James G giving us plenty of options as players tired.

The game kicked off and it's fair to say the Dynamos probably paid too much respect to out opponents in the early stages. We were slow to get the tackles in and lacked a cutting edge in midfield. Corringham soon took control of the game and scored three quick goals in the first ten minutes. Their passing and movement was very good and our defence were struggling with the pace of their forward players. Indeed, our offside trap was being frequently being compromised by one or other of the back four failing to push up quickly enough to catch the opposition offside. We got better as the half went on but couldn't stop Corringham scoring two more goals before the half-time interval.

At half-time, two of the back four announced they weren't feeling well and therefore needed to be substituted. James therefore replaced Billy in the centre with Chaz swapping to replace Jack at right-back and Jordan dropping into the left back role. Cameron came on to replace James M (who still had very bruised kness following an injury in training last week) and Sonny remained up-front having replaced Jordan towards the end of the first-half. Luke came on to replace Joseph on the right-wing.

The Dunton side came out for the second-half looking to salvage something from the game. They started to dominate the play and their passing and movement was making Corringham look very ordinary in phases. Our back-four also began working better together and dealt capably with almost all the attacks Corringham launched. The offside trap was once again working to perfection and Corringham were clearly getting frustrated by this. Somewhat against the run of play however, Corringham scored a sixth goal. It followed a rare lapse in consentration by the back-four where one of them who shall remain nameless (because I wouldn't want to embarrass James G) dropped back at the wrong time to enable Corringham to remain onside to close in on our goal. Despite some excellent efforts by James, Chaz and keeper Liam to recover the situation, the Corringham striker slotted home.

Dynamos quickly regained their composure and raced up the other end to score a fine goal. A superb through ball from Jordan found George who layed it through for Sonny to bang in from the edge of the box. A thoroughly well-deserved goal.

Moments later, we had a second - another great ball from Jordan found Cameron in space. he turned and ran at goal, jinking past one of the centre-backs before laying the ball off for Sonny to chip the keeper with another superb effort. We continued to press but were unable to make any further significant impact. The referee ended the game with the scores at 6-2, which seemed fair on the balance of play.

Our thanks go to the Corringham side who deserved the victory on their first-half performance alone. The Dunton side should not be disgraced by this result, they all played their part in making this a thoroughly absorbing game to watch, despite the attrocious conditions. Our best wishes go to the Corringham Cosmos club for the remainder of the season. We hope they continue to prosper in their Cup and League campaigns as they're a great bunch of lads. Our thanks also go to the referee who did very well in difficult conditions. He allowed the game to flow wherever possible and was clear in his communication when he needed to make a decision.

Our exit from the Cup therefore leaves us free to concentrate on out League results. Let's hope we continue to play as well as we did in this game. Our "nerver say die" attitude was great to see and can only mean this team will continue to go from strength to strength.