Players were absolutely fantastic, says Corby caretaker Kinniburgh

Two goals from Paul Malone, an own-goal and second-half strikes from Jordon Crawford and Jordan O’Brien gave the Steelmen a 5-0 success over Belper Town at Steel Park.

The victory moved Corby back up to fifth place in the league table as their fine form since Kinniburgh was appointed caretaker-manager continued.

The Steelmen had suffered their first loss under him when they were beaten 3-2 by St Neots Town in the FA Trophy last weekend.

But Kinniburgh was delighted to see them bounce back in devastating fashion.

“That was definitely the best performance since I took the job on,” Kinniburgh said.

“We have been building up to what we want to do and, with the midweek matches stopping, we have been able to get out on the training ground and really work on what we want to do.

“We could have had a couple of goals before we scored our first one and, in the end, we have scored five but it really could have been seven or eight.

“It was pleasing to hit back after last weekend. We got beaten in a cup competition but, after watching it again, we were on top against a team from a higher level.

“I was important to take all the positives from that game and that’s what we did. We took it all into last Thursday’s training session and to go and produce a performance like that shows there is character as well as ability in the squad.

“The league is the bread and butter and we still have a lot of work to do to get ourselves right in the mix at the top of the table.

“But to produce a performance like that and win 5-0 was tremendous. To a man, the players were absolutely fantastic.”

Kinniburgh, meanwhile, insists the recruitment process will continue as he bids to strengthen his squad.

The caretaker-boss was forced to name himself on the bench for the game with Connor Kennedy suspended while Ben Diamond left Corby to join AFC Rushden & Diamonds ahead of the weekend.

But Kinniburgh insists he won’t be making any “rash decisions”.

He added: “The squad might have looked a bit thin but we have Connor Kennedy to come back from suspension and Dean McBride was away playing for the County FA.

“But yes, recruitment is definitely on the to do list.

“I have spoken to a few players but, to be honest, I haven’t found anyone who is the right fit for our group yet.

“We are a club that is building an ethos and we have to make sure that any players coming in have to be right for the group.

“I don’t want to go out and make rash decisions. I want those who come in to be of high quality.

“We will keep looking around but we will only bring players in when we know they can come in and hit the ground running.”