Kinniburgh: Steelmen have given themselves something to play for

Steve Kinniburgh is pleased Corby Town have something to play for in their last 12 games of the season

The Steelmen made a welcome return to winning ways with a 2-0 success over Loughborough Dynamo at Steel Park last weekend as they ended a six-match losing streak.

Corby are now gearing up for a busy week ahead as they travel to Stocksbridge Park Steels tomorrow (Saturday) before heading to Carlton Town for a re-arranged match next Wednesday night.

The Steelmen remain seven points behind Chasetown who currently hold the final play-off place.

But caretaker-manager Kinniburgh believes his team can mount a late charge for a top-six finish.

The clash at Stocksbridge is the first of a number Corby will play against teams above them in the remainder of the season.

And Kinniburgh said: “We have got 12 games left and there are a lot of big ones in amongst them.

“When I first took over, the conversations we were having were questioning whether it would be a relegation battle, a mid-table finish or whether we would be able to put a run together to get us a bit higher up the table.

“But we are here now with 12 games to go and we still have a chance to get into the play-offs.

“It shows we have turned it around and we are heading into the business end of the season having given ourselves something to play for.

“We have Stocksbridge tomorrow and we still have to play Cleethorpes, Leek, Stamford and Chasetown so those are games that could really throw us into the mix if we pick up positive results.”

As far as last weekend’s win was concerned, the caretaker-boss was delighted with the way some of his players “stood up” in the second half.

Kinniburgh was disappointed with a poor first-half display but Corby responded after the break and secured the win thanks to goals from Phil Trainer and half-time substitute Jordon Crawford.

“It was long overdue, we had been nearly there in a few games before when we got beaten by the odd goal and not only did we score a couple of goals, we managed to keep a clean sheet which was really pleasing,” Kinniburgh added.

“It was poor stuff in the first half but a few of the boys really stood up after half-time and managed to get us over the line.

“There’s no doubt that second-half performance will give the players a lot of confidence.

“We have a busy schedule coming up with a couple of midweek matches and it’s great that we head into that on the back of a much-needed win.”