Corinthian-Casuals 0 - 0 Leatherhead
Pitching In Isthmian League Premier Division
Saturday 24th October 2020
Attendance: 600
Report and Photos: Stuart Tree (full set of photos here)

Corinthian-Casuals Manager James Bracken described the stalemate against Leatherhead as ‘the worst game of football he’s been involved in’ as neither side could break each other down in blustery conditions.
 
The Casuals supremo was not happy with just a point against a side who in recent times, had been on the wrong end of results at King George’s.
 
Leatherhead had started with a flurry of attacks with the wind behind their backs. Balls were pumped up to makeshift centre-forward Jerry Nnamani, usually found at centre-back in an unusual approach to the game.
 
Casuals game plan had to change early on too when Kevant Serbony took a hard tackle in the middle of the park and had to be stretchered off. Neither side created much and Casuals continued their first half goal drought this season. Youssef Bamba and Jerson Dos Santos were the two closest to ending that, but both only having half-chances to do anything with.
 
The second period livened up in places with both sides having mini-spells. Matt O’Donoghue found himself bearing down on goal and only Zaki Oualah’s legs prevented the full back from scoring. Likewise, at the other end, Danny Bracken was forced into a sharp save when a swirling shot from Joe Leslie had to be turned over. Oualah was forced into another good stop when Ben Cheklit almost reproduced his 20 yard curler against Dulwich. Coskun Ekim followed up with a sharp shot just wide of the mark.
 
But the game won’t live long in the memory and a real shame considering it was played in front of a sell-out 600 crowd. As James Bracken says “we’re in the entertainment business” and for large periods of this affair, it wasn’t entertaining.
 
“I’m more than angry,” said James Bracken after the final whistle. “I’m also disappointed for everyone who’s come along intending to watch a game of football. I like people to come along have a great day and watch a good match. We’re in the entertainment business especially in a world where there isn’t a lot to cheer about at the moment. For some, it the highlight of their week. They look forward to Saturdays down at Casuals where they can meet up with their pals, and it’s a great place to be.
 
“But today, between Leatherhead’s lack of ambition and our inability to follow the most basic of instructions led to one of the worst games of football I’ve been involved in. Had we even scored near the end, I wouldn’t have even celebrated, just because as a spectacle, it was terrible.
 
“It wasn’t all our own doing. I’m not openly criticising Leatherhead. They came here for a point and they got that, so good luck to them. It’s odd to show no ambition like that though. We didn’t get off the bottom of the league for months last season. But they’ve come here, celebrating a point against us. I don’t know if I take that as a compliment. Looking at recent results for us, maybe teams are giving us a bit of respect. Maybe that’s been earned over the last month or so.
 
“As a spectacle, the game lacked quality and nous. The most frustrating element was if they’d just done what I’d asked them to do, we’d have won the game. Usually, they follow my instructions to the letter, but today, they haven’t. And we’ve passed up an opportunity for three points.
 
“Don’t get me wrong. We’ve had a couple of great chances to win the game. Their keeper has made a couple of great saves. But there was not enough consistency from us. Not enough building pressure. Some of the decision making I couldn’t get my head around. For example, we’re playing short corners when we know they’ve let in two from corners and yet we’re not putting balls in. They’re not in our repertoire, they’re not what we’ve worked on. I don’t know what they’re playing at. We talked about stretching them wide but again, we’ve not done that either. We wonder why we can’t create more chances? That’s because individuals haven’t listened.
 
“For the last twenty minutes, I’m just f*****g watching a bunch of Roy of the Rovers who want to take five hundred touches and dribble until they get tackled. It’s not how we do things here.
 
“It’s not how we play. I don’t care for the individual, I care for the group. They need to realise sharpish that there’s one way you’ll go if you cannot understand that.
 
“So I’ve been in a bad mood since the loss on Tuesday. Worse than bad. I’m unhappy. I’m an unhappy person. I don’t want to be unhappy. That’s because we lost in a game where we shouldn’t have lost. I’ve turned up here, still angry and upset about Tuesday. I haven’t put it behind me. We have an opportunity today to put it right and we don’t. Now I’m going home angry again. The players need to be like that too. Because I guarantee if they were, we’d have won that game today.” 

Wingate & Finchley 4 - 1 Corinthian-Casuals
Isthmian League Premier Division
Tuesday 20th October 2020
Report and Photo: Stuart Tree
​Photos from Andy Nunn can be seen here.

Corinthian-Casuals continued their points drought at Wingate & Finchley in the Pitching In Isthmian League Premier Division, succumbing to a 4-1 defeat.
 
The Maurice Rebak Stadium has been a fruitless place to pick up points for the Casuals and a second-half capitulation ensured that run continued.
 
It bucked the trend for James Bracken’s side who’d performed so excellently in their last four matches. Worrying was the lack of fight in the second half where usually, Corinth excel – even more so this season as every single one of their thirteen goals scored have been after half time.
 
It wasn’t always that way. Casting memories back to the beginning of the match and it could’ve been so different. If it hadn’t have been for stand-in Wingate keeper Dante Baptiste, Casuals would’ve certainly taken the lead. Best of the lot was a vital touch to steer Jerson Dos Santos’ close range effort off the post. Baptiste, praised by the Wingate Twitter feed was certainly the busier of the keepers, not to say that Wingate didn’t threaten themselves.
 
Corinth fell behind in the 39th minute courtesy of a penalty when a handball was adjudged to have occurred in the box. Ahmet Rifat coolly placed his spot-kick into the left corner and the home side took the lead into the second half.
 
They should’ve made it two when a defensive lapse allowed Ofori-Acheampong through on goal but inexplicably lofted the ball too high and over the bar when it looked easier to score. It was a vital let-off. Minutes later, Jack Strange powered home a header for the Casuals from a corner and Bracken’s side were well in the contest.
 
But the play broke down, the game became fragmented and the momentum was lost. Wingate began to probe again and the second goal became inevitable. A lack of closing down forwards led to Wingate taking the lead as Rifat grabbed his second.
 
A third was added by Rifat, almost direct from a corner and that was the game effectively sealed. Ofori-Acheampong added a late fourth to pile on the misery and ensure that Wingate moved above Casuals on goal difference in the league table. It was certainly an evening to forget.

Corinthian-Casuals 2 - 0 Enfield Town
Pitching In Isthmian League Premier Division
Saturday 17th October 2020
​Report and Pics: Stuart Tree (full set here)

Last season, it took Corinthian-Casuals five months to pick up their third win in the league. Just six games into this campaign, they’d already matched that with a deserved 2-0 win over Enfield Town.
 
A second half brace from Jerson Dos Santos ensured Casuals their second win in succession at home, in front of a pulsating bumper crowd, pushing them to 12th position in the league.
 
Resplendent in their new strip, Casuals took to the field with gusto and had the better of the early exchanges. Mark Jamison had the pick of the chances when he headed over from a corner. Enfield grew into the game and had good spells of possession yet rarely troubled Danny Bracken in goal.
 
The second period saw Corinth push on and it was no surprise when they took the lead; Dos Santos finishing coolly across Enfield’s keeper to bag his first goal on his return to King George’s. Keiron Cadogan should’ve made it two, when one-on-one but ended up swivelling and hitting the bar in the resultant shot.
 
But it was left to Dos Santos to wrap up proceedings in the 77th minute, exposing Enfield’s flagging back line and superbly finishing round an oncoming Nathan McDonald from 20 yards.
 
Enfield finished with ten men when Marc Weatherstone was shown a straight red card for a stamp on Matthew O’Donoghue.
 
Casuals were good value for their win and there were man of the match performances across the field. They’d successfully kept a strong Enfield side quiet all afternoon which fully warranted their three points.

After the match, Manager James Bracken had these words.

“We played some lovely stuff today, as we have in the last few games. There’s some lovely football there. We’re not panicking. We’re not hitting areas which some sides still do at this level. We’re putting some really nice pieces together.
 
“Everyone looks relaxed out on the pitch. They’re all willing to have the ball, passing it around and it’s showing. It’s not over-complicated – just confidence in play. At the minute, the boys are doing great. They’re out there putting in performances that are winning games and it makes my job easy.  
 
“Last year, we lost so many games by one goal. We probably lacked one or two quality players that could tip a tightly-edged game. Hindsight is a beautiful thing though.
 
“This season, we’re simply better. We also have a different mindset. In the first year that we were promoted, we were flying. We were a point outside of the playoffs in January. In our first year up, that’s unbelievable. We ended the season on a slump and started the next campaign with a hangover from that. We couldn’t shake that off. In that situation, I struggled to bring in quality players because of the circumstances.
 
“But we were always competitive and we were doing well by the end of the season. We built on that over the summer, we have a lot more belief about us. I can feel it within the group. If you don’t get the results you want, it has an effect on confidence, mindset and motivation.
 
“This year, we’ve already put in great performances against Dulwich Hamlet, Carshalton and Enfield Town. We’ve beaten Potters Bar Town away, who have picked up some decent results themselves. We’re confident.
 
“We’ve shown again today that we’re more than a match for anyone and we can beat these teams. I said at half time that we’d had a good half but we have to push for ninety minutes and ensure a 2-0 win. We’ve done that.
 
“It needs to go from ‘we’ve had a big result against Enfield’ who are a decent side with some big name players, to it being the norm. We won’t say that it’ll be a big win… it’ll just be a win. Let’s make that the mindset." 

Carshalton Athletic 1 - 0 Corinthian-Casuals
Pitching In Isthmian League Premier Division
Saturday 10th October 2020
Colston Avenue. Att: 600
Report and Pics: Stuart Tree (full set here)

Carshalton Athletic defender Paris Hamilton-Downes’ 83rd minute super-strike was the only thing to separate his side and visitors Corinthian-Casuals at Colston Avenue yesterday.
 
Hamilton-Downes couldn’t have struck his pearler any better when Casuals failed to clear the ball and invitingly fell to the defender 25 yards out.
 
The first half passed without incident, as Corinth decided to sit back and soak up the inevitable pressure of the home side in front of a sell-out 600 crowd. Casuals came close when Ben Cheklit found himself with space in the area but blazed his shot over. Kelvin Manuel nearly scored for the Robins but saw his effort smack the outside of the post and to safety.
 
The second half belonged to the visitors as they pressed their hosts on a continual basis. Corinth even looked as though they had scored from an Ekim free-kick but a foul was called by referee Shelby Elson in the build-up.
 
Looking increasingly like a stalemate, it came to Hamilton-Downes to separate the two sides with just seven minutes remaining. A flurry of corners and attacks from Casuals didn’t bear any fruit and Manager James Bracken left Colston Avenue disappointed not to have taken any points from the match in what was otherwise a keenly contested affair between two even sides.
 
Manager James Bracken spoke after the loss.
 
“In the second half, there was only one team that was going to win the game and that was us. First half, we sat perhaps a little too deep and we gave them a reminder at half time to go and be a threat ourselves. We showed that. We had the ball in the net which I couldn’t see a lot wrong with that. I thought the goalie dropped it and we’ve stuck it in. That’s probably a 1-0 win to us had that been allowed.
 
“No excuses though; a great goal won the game for them. We had two opportunities to clear it from there and the ball ended up at his feet. Had we cleared one of those properly, the chance never would’ve appeared. That’s disappointing.
 
“Carshalton were right up the top last year and they’ve not created a great amount of chances against us. We carried threat of our own and another day, the result is very different.
 
“We’ve got a decent team here. Some of the football we played was a joy to watch. One passage of play had a backheel, nutmeg and knocking the ball one touch for a dozen passes and I’m salivating, thinking this is proper football. We’re in a decent place. We lost one-nil – it happens and we dust down and go again.
 
“We had a couple missing – big players for us. Everyone’s a big player for me. If I pick you, I believe you’re a big player. They’ve delivered a decent enough performance against Carshalton. We’ve got a week now and two training sessions but there’s not much to change in honesty.
 
“We’re solid, we’ve got good players. I’ve got no problems with the squad. We’ll have a good week’s training with a smile on our faces. Then we’ll fire ourselves up for three points at home against Enfield.” 

Corinthian-Casuals 2 – 0 Brightlingsea Regent
Pitching In Isthmian League Premier Division
Tuesday 6th October 2020
Report: Stuart Tree. Photos: Andy Nunn (full set here)

‘We believe in hard work and ourselves’, the quote states for all to see in the home changing room. For over 70 minutes, Corinthian-Casuals had to trust that ethos before it finally paid off in a gritty, unpolished performance against Brightlingsea Regent.  

The football wasn’t of the same vintage as Dulwich Hamlet on Saturday. Far from it. But Casuals finally clicked enough to comfortably win through both dogged determination and a moment of brilliance.

James Bracken’s Casuals came into the match-up with just one point from twelve in previous Regent encounters. But this was a new season and new confidence; they’d already laid waste to another hoodoo with the 2-1 win at an increasingly improving Potters Bar Town. This night would present another opportunity to rectify past mistakes.

In came Jerson Dos Santos – his third spell at the club and linking up once again with his old Sutton mentor. It looked an attacking line-up worthy of a few goals, but the reality was, for the bulk of the game, a goal looked increasingly unlikely.

It started well; Regent’s Morisi Gelashvili bundled one off the line early doors and Mark Jamison’s header probably should’ve found the target. Regent had set up to defend but they came closest to scoring when Jerry Kamanzi struck the outside of the post from 20 yards. It took Bracken to warn his players at half time that they were a mere four inches from being behind in this match.

It bucked up their game and the second half had much more gusto about it. Youssef Bamba should’ve scored when he rounded the keeper but dallied too long allowing a defender to clear the lines.

Bracken’s reaction was to add more firepower. Stating he couldn’t bear to watch a 0-0, he threw on Nat Pinney – and he duly repaid his gaffer with the opening goal. It was somewhat fortuitous when keeper Laurence Whymark spilled a relatively comfortable cross and Pinney was on hand to bundle the ball into the net from five yards.

The game was sealed with four minutes remaining in a moment of pure delight. Receiving a throw in, Keiron Cadogan had spotted Whymark off his line and volleyed from no less than 40 yards, leaving the stopper scrambling and ultimately red-faced.

The win leaves Casuals in firm mid-table territory and just one defeat in the last five matches (if bookies don’t count penalties, then neither do we). It’s also two bogey-teams firmly put to bed.

Manager James Bracken spoke after the match.

“We started off well and just dropped off with us still at 0-0. It’s dangerous when you do that. Luckily, we found a couple of bits of quality in the second half. We’ve won the points and that’s the most important thing. We need to carry on picking up wins.

“We deserved to win, but there are times when you do that whilst not playing particularly well. We were far from our best.

“Had we done what we needed to do last week at Merstham, we’d have nine points now which would see us pushing for the top places in the league. But we should be happy with six points from the first four games considering how long it took us to get off the mark last season.

“Carshalton on Saturday is our next target and we need to deliver there.” 

Corinthian-Casuals 2 - 2 Dulwich Hamlet 
(Dulwich win 3-1 on penalties)
Emirates FA Cup 2nd Round Qualifying
Saturday 3rd October 2020
King George's Arena
Report and Pics: Stuart Tree (Full set here)
More photos from Andy Nunn here

Dulwich Hamlet made it through to the Third Round Qualifying of the FA Cup by the thinnest of margins via a penalty shoot-out after equalising in the 88th minute.

James Pardington was the hero of the shootout saving twice after Deon Moore’s late header had put Hamlet back in the tie.
 
In a surreal atmosphere, where away supporters were unable to attend thanks to rulings in the week from the DCMS and the FA, the partisan Casuals crowd were fully behind the hosts without anything coming the other way.
 
The best chance for the National League South visitors came from Lewis White, who’s turn and shot was expertly turned around the post by Casuals captain Danny Bracken.
 
But it was Corinth that was to take the lead. Substitute and debutant Youssef Bamba played a delicious pass to Keiron Cadogan who lashed home from 15 yards. 
 
Following a spell of Dulwich possession, Corey Henry bagged the equaliser with just twenty minutes to go. It looked to be going to penalties, though Corinth’s Mark Jamison flashed a free header over the bar and Dulwich’s Danny Mills also smashed the post in return.
 
Then on 84 minutes, a sublime goal from Ben Cheklit looked to have sealed the win, curling a beautiful effort into the top right corner. But with two minutes left on the clock, Moore’s inch perfect header found the top corner and the tie was down to being decided from the penalty spot.
 
Bracken saved Dulwich’s first but Casuals also had their two first efforts saved. A blast against the bar from Hamlet put the sides back on level terms but Bamba’s miss over the bar allowed Dulwich the chance to book their place in the next round, which was duly taken.