ROD Brown blasted his defenders after Rovers shipped four sloppy goals.
Kick-off was delayed by 25 minutes as the Greens didn't arrive in Northamptonshire for last Wednesday's clash until 7.50pm because of an accident on the M42.
But Brown refused to blame his side's less than ideal preparation for the game.
He said: "I saw defending like I have never seen before from players I don't expect," he said.
"They played too deep - I told them to play higher up the park and they didn't.
"They encouraged a team who play three up front to get a ball around our box.
Gary Hay gave Rovers a dream start, tapping home Dave Bridgwater's cross from a move which was started by Sam Alsop deep in the Greens' half.
In a breathless opening 10 minutes, however, Corby's Steve Diggin struck a double blow, taking advantage of space in front of the Rovers back four to rifle home an equaliser from 18 yards, before leaving Guy Sanders trailing and lobbing Karl Lewis for the second.
Former Rover Richard Scott made it 3-1 on 37 minutes, smashing a free kick past the wall into the bottom left hand corner after John Snape had fouled Darren Lynch 25 yards from goal.
An own goal just before the break gave the Greens some impetus to get back in the game.
Matt Birley was impeded on the right hand side of the box.
He cut his free kick back to Kevin Banner who fired low across the area, and Corby captain Wayne Diuk turned into the roof of his own net.
But more sloppy defending in the second half put the game beyond Rovers' reach.
A corner to the far post was poorly cleared and Justin Jackson pounced to bundle over the line.
Brown was left to bemoan his side's fourth straight defeat, and the Rovers boss was highly critical of his players' work ethic.
"I think they had three attempts and scored three goals," he said.
"But we weren't at the races.
"I've got a lot of lovely football players, but if they don't give me the work ethic then we won't win games."
CORBY: Ryan, Nicell, Wykes, Scott, Bonner, Daly, Diuk, Jackson (Patterson, 70 mins), Lynch, Diggin (Difante, 83 mins), Gould. Subs: Jones, Hallows, Lambley.
ROVERS: Lewis 6, Cotterill 5, Petty 5, Snape 4 (Clarke, 67 mins), Sanders 4, Alsop 6, Birley 6, BRIDGWATER 7 (Lloyd 5, 70 mins), Hay 6, Rickards 5, Banner 6. Subs: Clarke, Mole, Spittle, McHale.
Referee: Mr Stuart Burt (Northampton). Attendance: 146. |