Holmesdale 0-5 Corinthian - Fingers crossed it might be third time lucky, says Matt Longhurst

Tuesday 05th February 2013

HOLMESDALE 0-5 CORINTHIAN
(Corinthian win 6-0 on aggregate)
Macron Kent League Cup Quarter-Final Second Leg
Tuesday 5^th February 2013
Stephen McCartney reports from Oakley Road

CORINTHIAN boss Matt Longhurst hopes it’s third time lucky and his club win the Macron Kent League Cup this season.

Corinthian eased their way into the semi-finals after storming to a comfortable 5-0 win at struggling Holmesdale, to go through 6-0 on aggregate.

They will join Deal Town, Erith & Belvedere, Lordswood/Tunbridge Wells in the semi-final draw.

Corinthian arrived at a wet and windy Oakley Road with a slender lead, courtesy of Alfie May’s 85^th minute penalty at Gay Dawn Farm on 8 January, but Holmesdale opted to sit back during the early stages of the first half, before Corinthian seized control.

Ben May headed home Corinthian’s first of the night following a corner halfway through the first half, before his younger brother Alfie steered home his 23^rd goal of the season.

Corinthian central midfielder Chris Kinnear, the son of the Dover Athletic manager, scored a majestic 40-yarder early in the second half before Lee Woodyard drilled in a fourth before substitute Nad Nwitua slotted home a late fifth on the counter attack.

”Pleased with the second half performance,” said victorious manager Longhurst.

”First half I thought we was a little bit lacklustre at times but in general, listen, away from home win a Cup Quarter-Final, you can’t ask for much more.”

Longhurst was Tony Sitford’s assistant manager when they were defeated by VCD Athletic in last year’s Kent League Cup Final.

Longhurst hopes it’s third time lucky for him in this Cup.

He said: “Since I’ve been here we’ve got to the semi-finals the first year I was here and lost to Herne Bay, who I think went on to win it and last year we lost to VCD in the final. We’ve still got a long way to go. We’ve got a load of games to play yet but fingers crossed it might be third time lucky this year, but we’ll see who we get in the semi’s.”

Holmesdale manager Paul Proctor defended his side’s tactics of playing out from the back instead of hitting long balls to strikers Jamie Baker and Mert Varli to press for an early goal to restore parity in the tie.

Proctor said: “We’re a young team. We have to go and do our best. We have a certain style of play and we won’t compromise that style. Some people don’t like it, some people do, but it’s the way I’ve always played and we’ll carry on playing. We’ll play up from the back and we’ll keep the ball and work the way we want to work.”

Reflecting on the defeat, Proctor added: “Disappointing result. I’m not sure the performance deserved the scoreline. We’ve got a very young team out there tonight. The average age was probably 18-19 and we learnt some very harsh lessons in senior football.”

Longhurst admitted he was expecting Holmedale to provide more of an attacking threat early on.

He said: “We was a little bit tentative as to what was going to happen in terms of the game because we was 1-0 up. We felt they might have gone at us a little bit more than they did. When they didn’t that’s when we pressed on and realised they weren’t going to change their game plan.

”We’ve watched them and we’ve played them two or three times already so we knew how they play. I thought they might change it tonight being it’s a Cup Final and they might have gone a bit more direct so we adjusted what we were doing and pressed on.”

The Bromley based hosts did venture forward and had a goal chalked off for offside when Jamie Williams stabbed home Baker’s low cross from the right.

Proctor said: “We had a goal disallowed for offside so we did get in their half. We created a decent chance in the first five minutes when we got in behind which could’ve made the difference.

”We were makeshift in midfield and they controlled the midfield and made it difficult for us.”

But Corinthian broke the stalemate with their first attempt on goal in the 22^nd minute.

Ben Wilson swung in a corner from the right towards the near post and Ben May’s downward header squeezed through a crowd of players inside the six-yard box to find the corner.

”The boys’ give Sam a bit of stick really because he doesn’t score enough goals,” revealed Longhurst.

”Obviously his younger brother Alfie is flying, scoring all the goals, but Sam plays an important part. We work on the set-pieces as well and we knew their frailties. We scored a couple of set-pieces in the League when we beat them 4-0.

”Once we got that goal and the one that came fairly quickly after with Alfie the tie was fairly over.

”That’s why at half-time we were keen to get them in and remind them that one goal could potentially change it. We didn’t’ give them a b******ing at half-time but we certainly made sure that they were made aware it was done properly.”

Proctor added: “Very disappointing because we talked about they were good at set-pieces. They’ve worked hard on their routines that we’ve worked hard on in training and we didn’t deal with it, which is disappointing.”

Alfie May then cut in from the left before hitting a speculative right-footed angled drive over from 25-yards, before he latched onto a fine diagonal low pass from Kinnear and cut inside right-back Daniel Stewart, before striking a right-footed drive, which sailed over the bar and towards the adjacent cricket club.

Holmesdale almost gifted Corinthian a goal out of nothing when Kinnear charged down a clearance from keeper Colin Barnes, who was relieved when the ricochet flew narrowly over.

Corinthian raced into a deserved 2-0 lead in the 31^st minute, thanks to the prolific Alfie May.

Woodyard sprinted down the right wing before whipping in a low cross towards the near post and Sam May’s shot was blocked by Barnes and the ball ran loose to his younger brother, who steered home a right-footed shot.

The Holmesdale manager said: “Again, second ball fell to him, which happens when you’re down near the bottom. He’s a good player and he took it well.”

But Longhurst admitted the striker will not be at the club next season.

”Great finish. Listen, the kid’s got a great attitude. He’s got a little bit of swagger on the pitch but in terms of his attitude, if I asked him to come in for training five nights a week, he’d come in and he will definitely, definitely play at a higher level without a doubt, but he’s just got to keep doing what he’s doing.

”We’ve had a few seven-day notices from other Kent League clubs but that’s not what he needs to do at the moment. It just proves what I’ve been saying for about two years’ now. These kids just need to keep playing football and if they play they’ll improve and they’ll move on. Hopefully he’ll get the right move at the end of the season.

”He’s training with a couple of clubs in a higher league. He’s had a couple of League club’s starting to sniff around him as well but to be honest he’s a level headed lad. He works with his cousin Jay May, who’s at Billericay. His other cousin Ben May is at Dover so he’s got good people around him who are advising him and they’re advising him the same as me to just keep playing and hopefully he can finish the season as the top scorer and then he’ll get the right club at the end of the season.”

Barnes then swiftly got down low to his left to turn Alfie May’s drilled right-footed shot from a tight angle around the post in the last action of the first half.

Both managers were asked what they said to their players during the interval.

Proctor said: “Basically we had to improve our passing and our energy levels. We had to try and take the game to them, which I think we did.

”We had an excellent chance to get back into the game, which went just past the post and again another harsh lesson, the ball goes down the other end and the guy (Kinnear) hits a good shot, a good goal.”

Longhurst added: “Listen, we’ve had six or seven opportunities to shoot and we haven’t shot. Get our shots off, difficult conditions, the keeper is not the biggest so when we get around the box let’s hit the target.

Proctor, who was managing one of Bromley’s youth team’s last season, made a substitution at the interval and brought on Larne Amtrill for midfielder Steven Hollis and this almost paid dividends.

A sweeping move involving Baker and Nathan Walters saw the ball played inside to Varli, who squandered an excellent chance to bring Holmesdale back into the game when he steered his left-footed shot agonsingly wide of the foot of the near post after 42 seconds.

But Corinthian killed the game off as early as the 50^th minute with arguably the best goal of the season.

Josh James played the ball inside to Kinnear, who looked up, saw keeper Barnes was off his line, before sweeping a right-footed shot from 40-yards, which looped over the keeper’s head and dipped in underneath the crossbar.

”We won’t hear the end of that for a while, I would imagine,” said Longhurst.

”I think he meant it because we spoke to them at half-time about shooting and to be fair he’s looked up. I think the keeper’s got caught in a bad position but he’s definitely meant to hit the target.”

Corinthian continued to turn the screw and Alfie May was denied by Barnes, who saved low at his near post after the prolific striker cut inside.

Corinthian scored their fourth goal, however, in the 54^th minute.

Alfie May picked the ball up on the edge of the penalty area and laid the ball across to the unmarked Woodyard, who drilled his right-footed shot past Barnes to find the corner.

Longhurst said: ”Good finish. He’s another player who we probably demand a little bit more from in terms of goals. I think he’s created one and he’s scored a great finish and he played well.”

With the game now buried in the sand, Proctor was looking how his players were reacting to their beating.

He said: “We were pressing forward. We were trying to get something on the scoresheet really. Good sides take advantage.

“In Cup games you have to press forward and throw caution to the wind and good sides open you up when chances come their way.

”The boys’ showed a bit of heart and they kept going. They kept pressing forward. You find out what your players are made off. You find out who can give you a bit, who digs in, who throws the towel in.

”We’re a very young side. We only came in after Christmas. We’ve won one in 12 or something. I think we’ve won three out of ten since. We’ve drawn a couple, we’ve won a couple of Cup games.

”I had five players’ missing tonight so it was always going to be an uphill task really.

”It was nice to see that some of the youngsters that have come out off under 18’s football last year have had a good experience regardless of winning or losing.”

The busy Barnes was soon to be called into action when he blocked Woodyard’s angled drive and James blasted the rebound wide from 25-yards.

Corinthian goalkeeper Richard Stroud – a spectator during the entire game – was finally called into action to make a comfortable collection from Mitch Hyland’s weak right-footed shot towards goal.

To their credit woeful Holmesdale kept plugging away but lacked any quality on the pitch to trouble the visiting goalkeeper.

Longhurst was full of praise for his two central defenders, skipper Ryan Johnson and Dagenham & Redbridge bound Dan Bent, 17.

”Dan Bent is going to sign for Dagenham at the end of the season. He’s going to go there on a two-year scholarship with a years’ pro at the end of it,” revealed Longhurst, who loses the player on a free transfer because Corinthian do not pay their players.

”His attitude is absolutely brilliant. Dagenham commented on it. He comes in and shakes hands, he shakes your hand when he finishes and he goes, which is brilliant.

”He’s playing alongside Ryan Johnson, who is probably one off the best players in the Kent League and you couldn’t ask for anyone better to play alongside to learn from.

”Dan’s brilliant. He’s a great talent and he’ll go on and earn some money in the game. Hopefully I just hope he remembers just where he started.”

Varli’s left-footed drive brought a comfortable save from the visiting keeper in the final fifteen minutes, before right-back Stewart ventured into Corinthian’s final third and played the ball inside to Walters who left-footed shot bounced off the foot of the post.

Proctor said: “Positive football. Some good movement and a good effort. On another day it goes in.”

But Corinthian punished a poor short corner routine from the home side to score their fifth goal in the final four minutes.

Left-back Wilson picked up a over hit pass before sweeping a precise ball over the top to release substitute striker Nwitua through the middle to clinically slot his right-footed shot past the exposed Barnes to make it a night to forget for third-from-bottom Holmesdale.

Proctor said: “That’s something that we need to look at because that was our own corner. We took a short corner, which we’ve not worked on before. It was not part of our routine and he (Wilson) played it behind our centre half for them to break and that was the disappointing end. We should’ve kept the ball better or got a better delivery.”

Longhurst said: “Nad’s waited for his chance a little bit over the last month or so. He’s come on Saturday and done well. He’s another good player. He’s only nineteen, he’s come out off Dartford’s Academy. We pinched him from Erith Town because he wasn’t getting first team football there. It was a great ball from Ben Wilson and a good finish to match.”

Corinthian slipped down to seventh-place in the Kent Hurlimann Football League table after Tunbridge Wells’ comfortable 2-0 win at struggling Fisher last night.

Longhurst said: ”Alfie will hopefully get a decent move. If we can finish with the top goalscorer, finish in the top five and get to the Cup final, again that would be an unbelievable achievement for the club."

Proctor said he took positives out of the game.

”I take lots of positives. The right-back Daniel Stewart has come in and played only his second first team game. I’ve taken him out of youth football. He looked very comfortable and very composed decent player.

“We didn’t play well in midfield and we have to look to rectify that. The boys up front didn’t get the service.

”I thought Jamie Baker worked extremely hard. I had him down on the bench. I was going to play Andrew Mensah up front today and we found in the rules that we couldn’t play him so that disrupted us a little bit and upsets the dressing room because we’ve done a lot of work in training.”

Holmesdale welcome basement side Sevenoaks Town to Oakley Road on Saturday - Simon Jones’ side will leapfrog over their neighbours if they come away with a win.

”We’ll pick ourselves up and turn up for training, put tonight behind us and look forward, look forward to it,” said Proctor.

But with twelve Kent League games left to play, Proctor added: “I think we’re looking forward to next season already. There’s no relegation this year so we haven’t got that pressure. I’m looking to see whose got the potential to play at this level, who I think we need next year.”

Holmesdale: Colin Barnes, Daniel Stewart, Steven O’Rourke, Steven Hollis (Larne Amtrill 46), Marc Cumberbatch, Lyndsey Prescott-Kerr, Jamie Williams (Ramario Hart 62), Mitch Hyland, Jamie Baker, Mert Varli, Nathan Walters.
Sub: Sam Wheeler

Corinthian: Richard Stroud, Jaie Nuttall, Ben Wilson, Josh James (Matt Holder 62), Dan Bent, Ryan Johnson, Jamie Taylor, Chris Kinnear (Jack Howlett 68), Alfie May (Nad Nwitua 76), Sam May, Lee Woodyard.
Subs: Denzyl Gayle, Jamie Blunden

Goals: Sam May 22, Alfie May 31, Chris Kinnear 50, Lee Woodyard 54, Nad Nwitua 86

Booked: Sam May 85

Attendance: 32
Referee: Mr Gerry Heron (Beckenham)
Assistants: Mr Conteh Nixon (Beckenham) & Mr Oliver Fyfe (Sidcup)