Rugby Town 1–2 Corby Town
The Steelmen of Corby edged out a feisty affair, but Rugby showed promise as their patchy start to the season continued
For the first time this season, football took place under the floodlights of Butlin Road. Rugby Town had lost two and won one in all competitions heading into this one, the three points coming in a 2–0 win at Wellingborough.
Corby had two wins from two, and three points in Warwickshire moved the visitors up to second place. Always a well-supported team, the last time I saw Corby, they came to Rugby and put six past The Valley. This would end up being much closer, but the early signs weren't the best for the hosts.
Tyrone Lewthwaite caused problems all evening for the Rugby backline, putting his pace and power to good use. After controlling proceedings early on, the visitors took the lead when Lewthwaite tucked the ball home from the penalty spot after a foul that the ref didn’t need long to think about.
The rest of the half saw Rugby battle back into the game, but the visitors continued to look faster and stronger. Lewthwaite hit the post towards the end of the half, and despite the Corby possession, the game was evenly poised.
It was a six-minute period at the start of the second half that made sure Corby left with all three points. On the 48th minute, Josh Thomas was given his marching orders for a late challenge on Aaron Nuttall, a yellow wouldn’t have been out of the question, but the red card was out of the refs pocket very quickly.
Olly West was booked for protesting this, and just five minutes later his challenge was brought back and a second yellow card was handed out. In the middle of these dismissals, Corby doubled their lead with a brilliant header from Rory McAuley.
2–0 and two men down against a side who look set for a great season, the Rugby floodgates could have opened up. But in fairness to the hosts, they dug deep and made sure Corby wouldn’t add to their two goals through the evening.
Rugby battled through and were able to get their foot on the ball more during the closing stages of the game. In a typically strange turn of events, Rugby found the back of the net whilst down to nine men. Caine Elliott floated in a free kick, and Rivel Mardenborough took his time and tucked the ball home. There were over 20 minutes left on the clock, and this goal was enough to at least send some jitters around the Corby team.
However, this would be the end of the scoring in this one as Corby made sure they maintained their 100% record. The red card made a third appearance from the referee’s pocket in injury time when Hugh Jones of Corby was given his marching orders, but the minutes ran out for Rugby.
My first of what will hopefully be several visits to Butlin Road this year was as enjoyable as always. There are some good games again this campaign, with the two derbies against Rugby Borough being the standouts. Football has returned to this Warwickshire town, and the rollercoaster is just beginning for 2025–26.
