Corby snatch late winner against luckless Rebels

Corby Town’s Wilson Carvalho struck an 83rd-minute winner to maintain his side’s pressure on Poole Town at the top of the table and condemn Slough, who finished the game with nine men, to defeat in a clash full of controversy at Holloways Park.

Slough started the better of the two sides, with Adam Martin heading wide from a long Guy Hollis throw, and Scott Harris went closer still, hooking a spectacular volley inches wide after Ed Smith had broken the offside trap and centred the ball.

But shortly after, Slough took an 11th minute lead with an even more spectacular effort from Smith. Another Hollis throw was headed on to the striker, who hit the ball sweetly on the volley – an unstoppable effort which flew past Paul Walker and into the corner.

Smith could have made it 2-0 when he seized upon a weak kick from Walker, only to send the ball dribbling back toward goal as he was unable to get any height on his attempt from 30 yards.

Slough were well on top at the point, and the visitors could only muster a series of corner kicks which were easily dealt with by the home side. Smith claimed he should have won a penalty for his side after what looked a clear handball offence by Stephan Morley, but the assistant referee was a matter of yards away and did not react.

Corby found a foothold in the game, and Luke Williams was required to produce a fine tip wide after Greg Mills unleashed a strike from distance which looked destined for the top corner.

Smith was again frustrated shortly after when a late offside flag denied him another goal, this time lofting a super finish over Walker from Harris’ flick, with the striker appearing to be well onside.

Corby were forced to replace forward Claudiu Hoban with substitute Shane Byrne, and this added a different dimension to their attack. Shortly after, Byrne was heavily involved as Slough managed to defend a goalmouth scramble, and then Byrne fired an attempt wide from 25 yards.

The visitors opened Slough up for the first time when Elliot Chamberlain beat the offside trap and played the ball wide to Mills. He drove into the box and went to ground far too easily, which resulted in a yellow card for simulation.

Williams showed great reactions to fist away a goal bound header as the first half wore on, and Byrne hit another shot well wide from outside the box. Meanwhile, Slough still looked a threat, looking to feed Chris Henry wherever possible, though Kalern Thomas did an impressive job at right-back for Corby in cutting out many of those attempted passes.

The first moment of real controversy arrived on the stroke of half time. The ball fell to Carvalho in the box, and after Sean Fraser attempted to tackle him, Carvalho went to ground looking to win a penalty, which referee Paul Forrester duly awarded. Carvalho had apparently expected to receive a yellow card himself when the referee blew, but instead Mills stepped up to take full advantage, sending Williams the wrong way from the spot to level the scores going into the interval.

Slough, clearly aggrieved, started the second half well and Harris will have felt he could have done better, first miskicking an attempted shot and then seeing the ball cleared before he could pounce on Smith’s deflected cross.

Corby’s Byrne was well off target under pressure from a defender after playing a neat one-two with Ben Milnes on the edge of the box, and shortly after, Williams again did well to touch away a downward header from Leicester City loanee Herve Pepe N’Goma. The Slough stopper also made a much more routine save from Mills after a Corby counter-attack.

Milnes slashed a shot well wide from distance, and Hollis was a touch fortunate to escape with only a yellow card after catching an opponent with a high boot.

With the pressure on the visitors to win, Corby player-manager Tommy Wright brought himself on to add to their fire power as they chased a winning goal. In response, Slough brought on striker Dan Read to replace Henry, who had drifted out of the game somewhat after a bright first half.
Despite heavy pressure, Corby struggled to create chances, with Wright heading down and wide at the back post. Slough fought back and had a good spell of pressure of their own, with Walker catching a Smith snap-shot from 30 yards and Martin seeing a shot deflected wide, albeit from an offside position.

The home side went closer still and will feel they should have led when Ben Edwards found himself charging forward and bearing down on goal, only to be tackled at the crucial moment, with Read unable to force the loose ball past Walker, who had come out to the edge of his box.

With seven minutes left, more controversy surrounded the winning goal for Corby. Ryan Parsons stayed down after suffering a heavy tackle from Carvalho on the edge of the box, but referee Forrester allowed play to continue, and Slough switched off, with Carvalho taking an excellent through pass from Morley in his stride and hitting a low, angled shot into the bottom corner of the net.

Slough’s frustrations boiled over to the extent that Jake Parsons, normally so mild-mannered with only six yellow cards to his name in his previous 98 Slough appearances, was shown a straight red card after taking his protests too far. His brother Ryan, meanwhile, could only point to the cut on his ankle caused by the challenge.

This killed the game as a contest, with Corby slowing the pace of the game down to good effect, but worse was to come for the Rebels. Harris jumped with Byrne to try and win a header, and was left aghast after Forrester brandished another red card, the referee adjudging him to have caught Byrne on the jaw with a flailing arm.

The nine men of Slough barely had enough time to muster another attack, with Corby ultimately showing character to grind out another three points which keeps them in contention to win the league title.