Sittingbourne 2 - 1 Corinthian-Casuals
Alan Turvey Trophy Quarter Final
Tuesday 26th January 2015
Attendance: 70
Match report and pics: Stuart Tree

Corinthian-Casuals crashed out of the Alan Turvey Trophy for the second time this season as Sittingbourne progressed to the semi-final at the Amateur’s expense, in testing weather conditions.

Casuals, who had originally exited the competition in the last round after their 2-1 defeat at Tooting and Mitcham were given a late reprieve after the Terrors had fielded an ineligible player, thus eliminating them and re-instating James Bracken’s side.

It was Casuals' fifteenth Cup tie this season, in what is already a mammoth season in terms of games played. However, this one was a step too far.

Though boss Bracken could be confident in achieving a result over the Brickies following two league wins in the current campaign. However, the Casuals' manager had named a changed line-up to that which faced South Park at the weekend. On the bench were two debutants – Jack Strange and Reyon Dillon who had both played for Sutton United against Casuals in the recent Surrey Senior Cup tie.

Sittingbourne were also hampered with selection and a number of players were cup tied. Bourne had to name no less than 4 under 21’s themselves. Despite either side fielding a full strength side, the hardy 70 souls in attendance were just happy to have the game on, following two previous postponements. There was a possibility of a third with the rain lashing down in gale force winds and a technical hitch with one of the floodlights before the game. However, kickoff commenced and the tie was finally underway.

Casuals started the brighter, possibly as a result of having the wind behind their backs. Shaun Okojie tested Adam Molloy in goal with a shot on the turn which the keeper did well to get down to. Stef Joseph, who looked lively on a very tricky surface (described as a pitch for Shire Horses and not Ballerinas by one) had his well placed header equally matched by Molloy.

But on 33 minutes, ‘Smash’ broke the deadlock. Latching onto a through ball from Brandon Johnson, Joseph beat his marker and shot low under Molloy to give the visitors the lead. Retreating to the warmth of the changing rooms at half time, Casuals looked comfortable on their lead, though proved to be too precarious by not adding to the solitary strike.

Sittingbourne now had the howling gale in their favour and balls over the top caused the Corinth back line many problems. Casuals tried to eek out a second goal and perhaps Okojie should’ve done better when bearing down one-on-one with Molloy. The striker beat the keeper but pushed his through ball too far past and Bourne were able to recover.

On 66 minutes, the scores were level. A ball into the box was misjudged and flew out for a corner. From the resulting set piece, Dan Hughes had lost his marker and was able to smash home from ten yards, much to the delight of the home fans.

Stef Joseph almost expertly restored Corinth’s lead within a minute. Rising high above his marker, he was somehow able to muster some real power into his header which had Molloy beaten but narrowly passed the post. It was to prove costly…

On 77 minutes, a Casuals attack broke down and Sittingbourne pumped the ball long, which Danny Dudley misjudged in the air to let the Brickie’s attack through. Finding space out wide, and with Casuals scrambling back, Josh Wisson crossed into Hughes who had a free header six yards out to finish Casuals off.

Heads dropped and even though the introduction of Juevan Spencer, Josh Uzun and Reyon Dillon wasn’t enough to get a goal back and take it to penalties. Sittingbourne looked comfortable in playing the remainder of the game out and the 2-1 scoreline wasn’t added to. It was a real case of ‘a game of two halves’ and for Casuals, a shame that their ‘half’ wasn’t capitalised upon.

We wish Sittingbourne all the best for the rest of the competition and face Faversham Town in the semi-final.

Corinthian-Casuals line up: Bracken, Morgan, Defoe (Uzun), Dudley, Murray, Johnson, Mendy, Wright, Okojie, Joseph (Dillon), Serbony (Spencer). Subs not used: Cotton, Strange.

South Park 1 - 1 Corinthian-Casuals
Ryman League Division One South
Saturday 23rd January 2016
Attendance: 85
Match report and photos: Stuart Tree (full set of photos here)

Corinthian-Casuals and South Park not only shared the points but also four red cards with both sides feeling aggrieved at how the game played out.

The decisions made by referee Mr Damith Bandara left many at South Park’s King George’s Field wondering how so many bookings and dismissals had been dished out. Supporters of both sides jokingly questioned whether they themselves had found their way into the official’s book.

Kevant Serbony had given Casuals the lead in the eighth minute before Kieran Lavery equalised midway through the second half – his 150th goal in under 300 appearances for the club.

Casuals named a largely unchanged line up to that which had defeated Faversham. Only Dave Hodges was replaced by Ben King at left back. South Park, though behind Casuals in the table, had not lost in five outings, drawing the previous four.

Corinth started brightly and took charge after just eight minutes; A Josh Uzun free kick lofted into the penalty box failed to be cleared and the ball fell invitingly to Kevant Serbony who smashed home from ten yards.
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Shouts for a penalty a few minutes later were turned away after Shaun Okojie looked to have been felled by James Wastell in the South Park goal. However, the striker had started from an offside position and was thus penalised for the infringement.

As the half progressed, the home side grew into the game pushing Casuals onto the back foot. James Bracken made a fine save low to his left from Dan Moody’s shot.  Ben King fizzed a shot past Wastell’s right post but aside from that, there was little else of note attacking-wise for both sides.

The second half initially started the way the first had ended but Casuals pushed on seeking to find that all-important second goal. Joe Hicks, once again looking strong in the middle of the park laid off a decent incisive ball to Juevan Spencer but the winger could only blast at Wastell.

The breakthough almost came in the 65th minute. A goalmouth scramble in the South Park area saw the ball dangerously close to crossing the line. In the resulting melee, Wastell was wounded with a severe gash to the face which saw the keeper leave the field of play and attend hospital. He would later need 26 stitches to close the wound.

With no substitute goalkeeper, outfield player Dan Moody donned the keeper’s shirt and gloves. Sensing a real chance for victory, Casuals imposed themselves more. Terry Murray’s hooked shot from yards out somehow evaded the goal, much to the disbelief of the supporters behind the goal.

The task was made even harder for South Park after Alex Penfold was the first to be dismissed for a foul on Spencer.

Despite the setbacks, on 70 minutes, the scores were level. From a whipped in corner, Kieran Lavery  perfectly met the ball at the near post, steering it past Bracken for an unlikely equaliser. Since they had gone down to ten men, Park looked the more dangerous. Tactical changes from Manager James Bracken changed the impetus with forwards Stef Joseph and Emmanuel Akokhia entering the fray.

Making the extra man tell, Okojie broke down the left and facing Moody one-on-one in goal, the striker dithered before crossing to Joseph who smashed his effort over the bar. Minutes later, Okojie missed a free header from yards out, flying just inches over the bar.

In what had been a competitive game which had also seen Casuals Assistant Manager Dan Pringle sent to the stands, things descended into a farce. The referee failed to control what seemed to be a minor fracas on the floor.

When it was all sorted out, Bandara had no hesitation in brandishing red cards to seemingly whoever was in his vicinity. South Park were down to nine men and Casuals’ Brandon Johnson was also dismissed. It was an unsavoury end to what had ultimately been an entertaining encounter.

From all at Corinthian-Casuals, we wish James Wastell all the best and hope he makes a full recovery from his nasty injury.

The draw leaves Casuals in eleventh place, five points off the playoff places but with games in hand.

After the match, James Bracken spoke to Stuart Tree.

“We’re disappointed as we were one-nil up. Okay – first half we’ve not played particularly well although we’ve scored. Second half, we’ve got back on the front foot, playing relatively well but didn’t kill the game off.

“They went down to ten men, lost their goalkeeper and at that point, it becomes a game that we have to win. And yet we haven’t so we’re bitterly disappointed with not getting the points.

“It’s another game unbeaten and we’re not in bad form but we just need to score a few more goals. We’ve created chances today. If we’re not creating chances, you really have to look at things, but we are and we have to learn how to kill a game off.

“Two free headers inside the six yard box and we’ve missed the target with both. South Park then get a set piece goal, which to be fair is a fantastic header. Both of our chances were much easier than that but not scored.

“We blazed a couple of shots over and we’ve made poor decisions in the final third where the ball played hasn’t been good enough.

“They’re the fine margins where we’ve got to tighten up and just make sure we get these opportunities to score the extra goals, just like we did against Faversham. There, we had three chances in the first half, scoring two goals. We then added another early in the second half and it was job done. It should’ve been the same today.

“But it’s that old cliché where one goal is never enough. Against ten men, when they get set pieces, they know it’s an opportunity to nick one. They wanted it a little bit more and the lad has put together a good header.

“Four red cards in a game where it was competitive? I’m no referee but I’m pretty sure I could’ve managed that game better. Maybe I would’ve given one red card out of those… but four!?

“There’s a problem with referees at this level . There’s just no common sense. They’re influenced by shouts and calls. They just don’t seem to manage the game the way I feel they should. They’re very rarely in control.

“The referee’s influenced the game all the way through and there were just a lot of wrong decisions.

“When referees start changing their mind, you set yourself up for a bad game. They should be in control. They have to stick with what they see and that’s all I’ll ever ask of any of them. Just give what you see… don’t give what you hear, what you think you see or what you’re told has happened.

“If you get it wrong, then okay… fair enough. But when they change their minds and give decisions that I don’t believe they see but end up throwing red cards about, then that’s poor.

“Every one of our upcoming games is massive. The only plus point from today is we’ve stopped South Park getting a few points, which is going to be the case in every game now.

“If you don’t win the game, then at least you stop the opposition getting three points away from you.

“There’s thirteen teams still in it. We have to be wary now because there’s little gaps starting to open up in the table. The top three look like they’re breaking clear, so it looks as though we’re playing for fourth and fifth and we just need to make sure we stay in the hunt for that.”

Corinthian-Casuals line up: Bracken, Morgan, King (Baker), Dudley, Murray (Joseph), Johnson, Hicks, Serbony (Akokhia), Okojie, Uzun, Spencer. Subs not used: Wright, Mendy.

Corinthian-Casuals 3 - 1 Faversham Town
Ryman League Division One South
Saturday 16th January 2016
Attendance: 144
Match report: Stuart Tree (full set of photos here)

Corinthian-Casuals downed playoff hopefuls, Faversham Town by three goals to one at King George’s Arena in the Ryman League Division One South and kept them on track for a top five finish.

A penalty from Josh Uzun was followed up by goals from Shaun Okojie and Warren Morgan before Faversham grabbed a late consolation.

Although recent losses to Dulwich Hamlet and Sutton United were still fresh in the mind, both ply their trade in higher divisions. In terms of league form, Corinth have only lost once in the last seven games and that narrow loss to Molesey was courtesy of an injury time winner when down to ten men.

However, goals had been hard to come by of late and Manager James Bracken gave Shaun Okojie his first start of the season, pairing him up with the versatile Josh Uzun and the returning Cherno Mendy.

Fresh from his return in midweek (which saw him score), Joe Hicks moved to a midfield role along with Brandon Johnson.

The visitors had the best of the opening exchanges; George Monger forced a good low save from Danny Bracken in goal, who got enough of the ball to steer the shot wide. Shortly after, a long ball played down field from the Faversham keeper and Liam King got in behind the defence and should’ve scored. However, he poked his effort inches wide, much to the disbelief of those in attendance.

On 15 minutes, the game had its first turning point; A perhaps harsh penalty was awarded against Faversham after Mobolaji Dawodu had been adjudged to have fouled Josh Uzun. The striker dusted himself down and stepped up to slot home his 14th goal of the season.

The home side began to press for a second and Joe Hicks came closest from a corner, forcing a smart save from William Godman in goal. Hicks looked dominant in his new centre midfield position and played in Cherno Mendy who could only fire over from an acute angle.

Uzun turned provider for the next goal after his corner was swung into the middle of the goal. With the imposing Shaun Okojie on hand to meet it, the striker put the ball over the line before being hacked away. There was some confusion as to whether a goal had been given and was confirmed by the assistant referee that it had indeed counted. Chants of ‘the Lino is a Russian’ rang around the ground shortly afterwards.

Casuals could’ve had the game out of sight before half time as Warren Morgan, Dave Hodges and Josh Uzun all linked up in some free flowing football. Corinth had an intensity about them which had been lacking for a few games.

As is often said, at two-nil, the next goal is crucial. And it fell to the home side just after the break. Breaking down the right, Morgan cut inside his marker and fired past Godmon before desperate defender Ashley Brown confirmed the goal by smashing it into his own net. Three nil and the contest was over.

However, with a few changes made for both sides, Faversham grew into the game and Bracken had to be on form to deny the visitors their chances. Things got a little nervy with 20 minutes to go as Renford Tenyue finally found a way past the visibly disappointed Bracken.

Casuals rode out the game without too much concern and condemned Faversham to only their 2nd defeat in 12 matches .The win leaves Casuals 10th in the league but with games in hand on the majority of their playoff rivals.
Corinth Manager James Bracken could take nothing but positives from the outcome.

“It was a welcome return to winning ways. We’ve had a few tough games of late and playing cup games against teams from a higher league isn’t easy. However, I always maintained I want to get back to the league and get a run of games against opposition that I feel we can beat.

“The wins will start to come again. Faversham are a very good team who are in good form, but we were better than them today and hence we picked up the three points.

“We’re fair in our selection and if the boys perform, they keep their shirts. We’ve had some defeats where players have under-performed and we haven’t scored as many goals as we should have, so others have come in for their opportunity.

“We stuck Shaun Okojie up front today; he’s scored a couple of times coming off the bench so deserved to start. Today, he’s led the line for 90 minutes, scored a goal and done everything I’ve asked of him. For those reasons, I’m delighted with Shaun.

“Joe Hicks coming back in is a massive boost for us. He leads by example. Joe will push the other boys around him and drive them on.

“They’re big plusses having those two in the side and playing so well.

“We’re going to have to beat teams in and around us. Right down to thirteenth place, everyone’s fighting to get in the top five and the playoff places. Pretty much every game is a six pointer. It’s not only winning the three points, it stops them getting the points.

“The next four or five league games are massive. If we can pick up three or four wins from them, we’ll put ourselves in a very strong position and hopefully we can attack the last ten games with confidence and end up there or thereabouts.

Speaking about targets and if they’ll break the club record for points in the league, set just last season, Bracken said,
“I’d have to have a serious look at myself if we don’t break last season’s points record for the league. But we will. We need 10 points to do it and we will. The highest position we’ve finished in the Ryman South is 13th but we’ll top that this year.

“They’re little targets but our goal is the playoffs. Points totals are great, we made history in the FA Trophy which is great but we want to get touching promotion. We want to actually achieve something.

Bracken thanked fellow Ryman South Manager Mark Hams – boss of Walton and Hersham, after he praised the Casuals’ Manager this past week.

“I’m a human being like anyone else and if people give you praise, then of course that’s nice. It gives me a little bit of confidence in what we’re doing. But it’s a team effort; Joe Davies, Dan Pringle, Jon Williams, Alan Winnett, Carly Doyle… we support our players totally and they’re doing the job on the pitch.

“Mark’s comments in the week were nice and we’ve had it from Neil Cugley, the Folkestone Manager who said earlier in the season that this was the best Casuals side he’d ever seen. Those comments go a long way and it’s great that people can talk well of you. But we have to focus on ourselves and it’s about producing the results each week.”

Casuals travel to Sittingbourne in the Alan Turvey Trophy Quarter Final on Tuesday and South Park in the league on Saturday.

Casuals: Bracken, Morgan, Hodges, Dudley, Murray, Johnson, Hicks (King), Serbony, Okojie (Akokhia), Uzun (Wright). Subs not used: Spencer, Defoe.

Carshalton Athletic 1 - 1 Corinthian-Casuals
Ryman League Division One South
Saturday 2nd January 2016
Att: 387
Match report and photos: Stuart Tree (photos here)
Video Highlights courtesy of Fox in the Box (click here)

Corinthian-Casuals came away from Colston Avenue with an unlikely point after substitute Shaun Okojie struck in the 83rd minute to share the spoils with Carshalton Athletic.

In a game bereft of chances for the visitors, a mixture of superb goalkeeping and the home side’s wasteful chances enabled James Bracken’s side to get back into the contest and grab a vital point.

Bracken reshuffled his defence, which included an appearance for Rhys Coleman – his first since the opening day of the season. Cherno Mendy was unavailable and so Matt Reece was given a central striker’s role with Emmanuel Akokhia and Juevan Spencer providing the width. Ex-Corinth management duo, Matt Howard and Luke Garrard’s Carshalton side included familiar face, Lee Hall.

On an artificial surface which Carshalton have come accustomed to, the Robins started the livelier and perhaps should have taken the lead after Moses Ashikodi headed over from a well-judged cross.

The continuing rain helped to create a slick surface but one that Casuals just couldn’t find their feet on. As the half continued, it looked to be a subdued performance from the Amateurs. Akokhia had rare glimpses of the ball and could only muster half chances from his wide positions.

Carshalton’s Bobby Price came closest to opening the scoring after a wicked cross wasn’t dealt with in the most comfortable manner. Danny Bracken in goal had to be alert from shots via Tommy Bradford and Adam Thompson. Ashikodi also saw his close range volley sail over the crossbar, when perhaps he should’ve scored.

In what would’ve been a harsh twist, Juevan Spencer was inches from meeting an Akokhia cross at the far post, where surely any touch would’ve resulted in a goal. However, it wouldn’t be far from the truth that Casuals went into half time lucky that they weren’t out of the game.

After the break, Tommy Bradford nearly broke the deadlock, firing viciously towards the top corner, however, Bracken at absolute full stretch, spectacularly palmed away the effort.

Despite being in fine form, there was nothing the keeper could do about Carshalton’s opener; with the defence going missing, Tommy Bradford was put through on goal and slotted past Bracken’s left side to give the home side the lead.

Far from allowing the game to be decided by what had gone before, James Bracken made attacking changes, bringing on Steph Joseph and Shaun Okojie. Buoyed on by the non-stop chanting from the Casuals’ faithful behind the goal, Corinth finally grew into the game and started to impose themselves a little more.

On 83 minutes, in what could be described as the first real attempt on goal in the half, Okojie levelled the scores. From a free kick delivered from wide, Okojie met the cross at the far post and guided it past Colquhoun in goal.

It was now Corinth who looked the more dangerous, with Kevant Serbony making imposing runs from the midfield. However, progress was a little stifled after Joseph was dismissed for a second yellow card following a two-footed challenge.

Thus, the scores remained level and the home side could feel aggrieved that they didn’t get more out of the game. James Bracken will surely take positives once again in the fact that his side doesn’t know when to quit and showed resolve which has earned them a fair few points in this league campaign.