We can't feel sorry for ourselves - It’s going to be a very tough game against Lordswood on Tuesday night but we’ll have to apply ourselves because the aim is to win the league this year, says Corinthian boss Michael Golding

CORINTHIAN manager Michael Golding says he has to pick up his troops following their heartbreaking FA Vase exit on Saturday.

 

The Hoops held favourites Hebburn Town to a 2-2 draw after extra-time – three of the goals coming from the penalty spot - in a winner-takes-all one-legged Semi-Final in front of 300 fans at Gay Dawn Farm.

Sadly, Jack Bath and Louie Clarke missed from the penalty spot as Kevin Bolam’s side held their nerve by winning 4-3 after nine more penalties in the shoot-out.

Hebburn Town will now meet their Northern League rivals Consett in the Wembley Final on Non-League Day on Sunday 27 September, leaving Golding and his players’ heartbroken.

However, they do not have too much time to reflect as they kick-off their Southern Counties East Football League Premier Division campaign on Tuesday night when Lordswood visit the Farm.

Neil Hunter suffered a disastrous first game in charge of Lordswood after being thrashed 5-0 at home to Tunbridge Wells on the opening day of the season.

The Wells are at the summit after one game as Richard Styles came back to his old club to inflict a heavy defeat on them.

When asked whether it’s good or bad to play on Tuesday night to get their FA Vase disappointment out of their system immediately, Golding replied: “I can tell you that at ten o’clock on Tuesday night!

“I think it’s going to take a little bit of reflection and a little bit of a debrief from us all - but we’ve got no choice but to bounce back.

“We can’t go and feel sorry for ourselves now. Would we rather have a week off and train and get the boys together? Yes, absolutely!  We would rather have a Tuesday and Thursday training week but we haven’t got that.

“We’ve got Lordswood on Tuesday. The prep for that started on Sunday and we’ll give that a good shot and it’s the start of our league campaign and we know what we want to achieve this year and we have to get a result on Tuesday.”

Corinthian were in second-place at the time of the coronavirus health pandemic struck this country in March and were one of six clubs involved in an exciting title race.

However, all league results were controversially declared null and void by The Football Association leaving all clubs pushing for promotion frustrated.

The season should have been completed in August and September and start the 2020-21 campaign in October.

Golding said: “It’s going to be a very tough game against Lordswood on Tuesday night but we’ll have to apply ourselves because the aim is to win the league this year.  We would’ve won it last year but it got declared null and void  and we’ll have to bounce back from that.”

Reflecting on missing out on a trip to Wembley Stadium, Golding added: “We’ve broken all of the records along the way. It’s the furthest the club has ever got. I’m gutted for the people behind the scenes that we couldn’t quite get over the line because the players’ are the ones who would’ve walked out at Wembley.

“I think when the dust settles you can look back and reflect on it. I’m sure it takes a bit of time before we start thinking about that.

“It all starts in earnest on Tuesday night and we’ll have to get around the boys and we’ll have a chat with them and we’ve got to start on Tuesday night.”

Corinthian  v  Lordswood
Southern Counties East Football League Premier Division
Tuesday 8 September 2020
Kick Off 7:45pm
at Gay Dawn Farm, Valley Road, Longfield, Kent DA3 8LY