Corsham Town 4 Wantage Town 1
Top of the table Corsham started the game firm favourite for the three points but a young bottom of the table Wantage team made Corsham work hard for the victory.
It all started well for the Quarrymen, when Neikell Plumber was brought down in the box after 5 minutes, picking himself up to covert the spot kick and give them the perfect start.
The referee looked to be in trouble when he got a blow to the head from a stray ball but thankfully, he recovered quickly. Sadly, this wasn’t the case for Bradon Munday who tweaked his hamstring and had to be substituted after only 9 minutes, Jasper Jones replaced him in midfield.
Corsham piled on the pressure but Wantage defended well and were unlucky not to equalise on the break but for a fine save for debutant keeper Alfie Hamblin, stepping in for the suspended Alfie Kesley.
With the game really opening up, Dan Demkiv was looking good and created a fine chance for Plumber but he blazed his shot over the bar. The half was not quite going to script with Wantage defending well and looking dangerous when they got the chance.
As halftime approached there was a mix-up at the back for Corsham as a pass back was miskicked by Hamblin and intercepted by a Wantage player who had the simple task of putting the ball in an empty net. This left Corsham with work to do in the second half.
The hairdryer must have been used at the break as Corsham started the second half with a lot more quality and resolve and on 53 minutes an Ethan Hill corner found the head on Dan Price for his seventh goal of the season, all from his head!
More pressure from Corsham Town followed, Demkiv bent a shot wide from the left and Price went close again for two more corners. His first effort blocked on the line and the second went inches wide.
Captain Mark Cooper was getting in on the act and his fierce shot was blocked well by a Wantage defender. Dan Price thought he’d scored his second of the game but it was disallowed by the referee who must have still been suffering from the blow to his head in the first half as no one else saw anything wrong with it.
Corsham were now firing on all cylinders, what looked like a clear penalty was not given and Dan Demkiv created another chance for himself but fired straight into the keeper’s hands.
Finally, on 84 minutes, some great work by Shaq Smith down the right-hand wing and his subsequent cross was tapped home by Plumber to put the game to bed.
Ryan Bath was introduced to the game and within seconds his fierce shot was crashing into the Wantage bar. But this was quickly followed by the fourth with a stunning shot from distance by Jasper Jones, the ball looping over the keeper to find the net.
Hamblin had one more piece of work to do and saved well from a Wantage freekick to deny them another consolation goal.
It was a classic game of two halves that needed an impressive second-half performance from the Quarrymen. Credit to Wantage who continued to battle to the end but lacked any real quality in front of goal.
A superb performance from Corshams inform winger Dan Demkiv earned him the Supporters Man of The Match. Dan’s performance was one to be admired for his honest, hardworking effort and electric pace behind the Wantage back line.
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