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Corringham Athletic Under 13s in Tesco Under 13s Cup (2/5/06) By Rob Craven Essex Cordell Under 13s Cup winners Corringham Athletic from the C.Y.F.L. were foiled in the cruellest way possible in the Southern Regional Final at the University of Surrey, losing a play-off on penalty kicks to miss out on a trip to Stoke City F.C. The Chelmsford Youth League side were one of fifteen sides attempting to qualify for the English Finals from the southern section, held in Surrey on Sunday. However, having netted just once from three spot-kicks in the shoot-out, Corringham were beaten 4-1 by Broomfield PL from the Amateur Football Alliance, and had to settle for being the fifth best side in the country. “I’m very disappointed because we have played some decent stuff today,” lamented Athletic boss Darren Anderson after the final whistle had blown on the clash against Broomfield, the club’s fifth contest of the day. “We didn’t play as well as we’re capable of, but in the last game, I thought that we were the better team. At the end of the day, that’s football.” The south Essex club had taken the lead in the play-off, Bradley Hooper collecting the ball on the right-hand side of the field before cutting inside and sending a searing left-footed shot high into the top left-hand corner of the net. However, Corringham were rocked by an equaliser against the run of play as goalkeeper Conor Harrold committed himself to a through-ball and failed to claim on the edge of his box, leaving a Broomfield player to tap into an unguarded net. The match drifted into extra time, and the closest either side came to netting arrived just two minutes in when Adetokumbo Oredein’s left-wing corner bounced along the top of the crossbar. Unfortunately, neither side could find the elusive goal that would see them join Hampshire’s Ice Sports at Stoke City’s Britannia Stadium, and although Jamie Mathews converted to the left of the ‘keeper as the match went to penalties, Hooper had his penalty saved and captain Lewis Williams hit a post to leave Corringham disheartened. Anderson refused to get too downbeat: “I think we’ve definitely done the county of Essex proud,” he declared. “I’d like to thank the Essex County FA for all that they’ve done in setting up this opportunity, and especially the Under-13s group representative Colin Moorcroft. It has been an excellent idea and Tesco have got the whole set-up planned brilliantly – the only thing that has let us down has been the weather!” Corringham looked favourites to qualify for Stoke automatically after they won their first three group matches. Both of the opening two encounters ended 1-0 to the Essex side, beating St. Josephs of Bedfordshire with a Oredein shot low into the bottom right-hand corner and then Priory Parkside Colts of Huntingdonshire thanks to Williams’ low penalty kick after Billy Anderson had been tugged back at a corner. The third fixture saw Athletic race into a 2-0 lead before the break, a Southdown Rovers (Sussex) defender nodding Conor Mead’s free-kick into his own goal on six minutes and Mathews converting Oredein’s pinpoint cross sixty seconds later. They could not add to that tally, and that left Corringham needing to win their final fixture by three goals to pip Ice Sports. Surrey-based opponents Worcester Park required a two-goal cushion to qualify for the play-offs themselves, and took the lead five minutes in when their rangy front runner burst between Ashley Halcron and Keiron Record to touch underneath Harrold. Corringham’s best chance to level arrived in stoppage time at the end of the first ten-minute half when Oredein latched onto Ryan Plom’s through-ball but flashed his shot over. Having just fended off Worcester Park’s challenge, all that remained between them and the Britannia Stadium were Broomfield PL, who had beaten Woodbridge Town of Suffolk 1-0 to qualify for the play-offs. Sadly, it was a step too far for Anderson’s tired side. “We have four League games remaining, so we have to pick ourselves up to go and win that, and we already have the League Knock-Out Cup so that would represent a treble,” he said. “It’s been a wonderful experience, and we have played the best teams in the south of England.” “We didn’t know any of the other boys, but the manager of the team that we beat first said that his team hadn’t lost a game in two-and-a-half years. It has been really good day, maybe the format didn’t suit us as we like to wear sides down over 35 minutes, and penalties are always a lottery, but it has been a great experience for everyone.” And with that, Anderson and his team returned to the Southend United Supporters Club Trust full-liveried coach that they had hired from SBC Leisure for the day. Corringham Athletic: Conor Harrold, Ashley Halcron, Conor Mead, Keiron Record, Lewis Williams, Ryan Plom, Jamie Mathews, Billy Anderson, Jake Pooley, Connor Smith, Adetokumbo Oredein, Bradley Hooper. |
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