Kinniburgh: That could be a massive three points

Half-time substitute Visan-Vasile Cretu grabbed the only goal of the game just past the hour as the Steelmen edged past the league’s bottom club.

The win - the 10th Corby have claimed from 13 league matches since Kinniburgh took caretaker-charge - moved them up to third and level on points with second-placed Alvechurch, albeit from five games more.

And while the performance may not have been one to remember, Kinniburgh was delighted with the final outcome.

“It was one of those games where we are just happy to be coming away with the three points,” the Corby caretaker-manager said.

“When you go away to the team at the bottom of the league, the main aim is to try not to get pulled into their game and for parts of the game, we did.

“There were some niggly fouls in there and it all broke the game up and we never really got things going on the 3G pitch.

“It was a scrappy affair but we got that one chance and we took it.

“I am absolutely delighted with the result but maybe not the performance.

“But these are the games that you will look back on at the end of the season.

“When it’s all done, we will look at the middle of December on a day when a lot of games were called off and we went to Romulus and won 1-0.

“That could be a massive three points and all we can do is keep putting the pressure on the teams around us by winning matches.”

Kinniburgh was also pleased to see Cretu and fellow substitute Phil Trainer make a difference from the bench in the second half.

“Dino (Tuksar) came back into the side but suffered another ankle injury after a bad tackle,” he added.

“It meant Visan came on at half-time and he has really been growing into the squad over the past two or three weeks.

“He has popped up at the back post to score a really important goal for us, so that’s good to see.

“He and Phil Trainer came off the bench to make a difference and when you have players who can do that, it just goes to show the strength of the squad at the moment. And, as the manager, that’s a good thing for me to see.”

The Steelmen play their final game before Christmas next Saturday when they entertain Spalding United at Steel Park.