Debutants have a great start.

The opening games of the season are difficult to plan for as the only information that Forest Glade had about their opposition today was that they had won their opening fixture convincingly. The preparations were further confused when Lewis White who had been picked to start arrived at the game feeling under the weather. This led to a little reorganisation of the team and the set pieces.

After the poor performance last week, the boys started the game with a lot more energy and composure. Two debutants started the game, Stuart Thorn at left back and Jack Eldridge at centre forward, and they both slotted well into the style of play.

Forest had the wind behind them in the first half and this meant that Corringham found it very difficult to clear the ball from their own half. Forest dominated both the possession and the territory and the opening minutes saw Jack Eldridge in particular go close. The only threat to the Forest goal was self inflicted. Alex Chapman played a sloppy back pass to Greg Fedden which was intercepted by the Corringham striker. As he advanced on the goal however, Greg stepped forward and made a great tackle to clear the danger.

With a strong squad to choose from any player not playing at his best can be replaced from the bench and Alex and Grant Cumming were substituted by Tom Pearson and Andrey Kotov. Andrey's introduction had an immediate affect on the game. Jack Eldridge now dropped a bit deeper between the midfield and the centre forward and was able to create some better quality ball for the midfield. With Andrey's pace the ball was now played over the top of the Corringham defence. The strong wind too many times took the ball through to the keeper and when Andrey did collect the ball, the wind still affected his first touch which was often too heavy. In the next 15 minutes Forest's midfield dominance managed to create 5 one-on-one chances for Andrey against the Corringham keeper. Each time Andrey failed to hit the target and it looked like Forest's dominance just wasn't going to get its reward with a goal. With the end of the half approaching Matt Huckle was introduced replacing Chris Baker, Grant Cumming came back on to give Jack Eldridge a breather and the other debutant Stuart Thorn was also rested with Alex Chapman returning to the game.

Forest continued to probe for a breakthrough. With a few minutes to go before the end of the half, Grant Cumming tried to slip a pass through the centre of the Corringham defence. The Corringham defender stuck a leg out to intercept the pass and deflected the ball past the stranded Corringham keeper for an own goal. Perhaps this was the bit of luck that Forest had needed. For all their domination though Forest hadn’t killed the contest and Corringham must have felt they were in with a chance with the wind behind them in the second half.

That belief of Corringham was evident immediately the second half kicked off. The Forest kick-off was poor and David Keen was immediately challenged for the ball losing out to the Corringham. The player attacked the Forest defence and after beating Jack Hawthorn managed to release a powerful shot at goal that went just wide. The Forest players didn’t heed the warning and let Corringham have more possession. The Forest midfield went missing and were being outplayed by Corringham. This was putting pressure on the defence who were also slow to react to the new challenge they were facing. Because of the large space now between the Forest defence and the midfield, Forest were finding it difficult to clear the ball. With the wind against them Elliott Thwaites’ goal kicks were just not getting the distance. Elliott was releasing the ball to the full backs but there was a lack of support for them.

Corringham therefore managed to create a few chances but never hit the target. Gradually Forest began to improve their play and win the ball in midfield. After a short break David Keen re-entered the fray and with Jack Eldridge were now beginning to win the battle in the centre of midfield. They were also offering an easier pass outlet for the defenders and the ball was now beginning to be played back in the Corringham half.

The wind was also now starting to work in Forest’s favour as the passes over the top for Andrey were now holding in the wind and not running away from Andrey. The Corringham goalkeeper pulled off a couple of great saves to stop Andrey but after 55 minutes Jack Eldridge played the ball forward for Andrey. As he bore down on goal everyone could see that Andrey had a lot more composure this time and from 15 yards out hit a right footed shot that left the keeper no chance.

The Corringham heads went down and Forest began to boss the game more and more. Tom Pearson was having a good second half playing in front of Stuart Thorn, on the left. He was making himself available for the ball and supplying Andre with some great service.

In the 70^th minute Forest finally killed the game off. This time Andrey was played in down the right. A Corringham defender tracked Andrey back and made it difficult for him to get his shot away. Andrey held off the defender before unleashing his shot. The goalkeeper made a great save but parried the ball into the centre of the goal area, Jack Eldridge had made up the ground and slotted the ball home from six yards out.

Forest continued to pass the ball around and in injury time Chris Eggleton collected the ball, from a great pass, near the Corringham right corner flag. He put in a superb cross which was just missed by the Forest attackers. However the ball having travelled right through the Corringham goal area, was collected by Jack Eldridge. He passed the ball to David Keen on the edge of the area who calmly chipped into the top right of the Corringham goal for the fourth.

This was a better performance than last week but the intensity and concentration varied through the game. This is the third game of the season where the game should have been killed off in the opening half and if the team is going to challenge for honours this year the chances need to be taken.