Corinthian-Casuals 0-3 Merstham
Ryman League Division One South
Tuesday 13th April
Report by Darren Pasley

Casuals were blown away by a superb second half display as play-off certainties Merstham showed their class at King Georges Arena.

Jason Turley made a rare start for Casuals whilst George Peterkin replaced Jake Downs who was injured during the warm up to make his full debut.

On the hottest day of the year so far Taurean Roberts set about creating the game’s first chance weaving at the Casuals backline before dragging his left footed shot well wide of the target.

The home side were at ease popping the ball around on the pristine surface but it was the visitors who again threatened in the 8th minute when following a corner Dean Gunner’s shot was blocked by his own player with the ball heading towards Brackens goal.

Casuals first effort came in the 12th minute when Juevan Spencer won the ball off Gunner and after jinking to the edge of the box found Dave Hodges who shot straight at Brannon Daly.

Gunner was at the thick of the action having another shot which this found its way to Bracken before once again leaving his side in trouble when having lost the ball this time to Maz  Bettache, had to rely on Kalvin Morath-Gibbs to wipe out the young midfielder. He was subsequently booked for his troubles. From the resulting free kick Bettache saw his effort superbly tipped away by the flying Daly low down to his right.

Whilst the visitors looked more likely in the final third the home side themselves were on song with their passing and Bettache pivotal to some of the fine movement.

Half an hour in he showed great feet on the touchline to evade the attentions of two opponents before clipping over a lovely left footed pass which set Jamie Byatt in on goal. Charging towards the onrushing Daly, Byatt and covering defender Marc Okoye came together with the latter knocking the ball past his own keeper. However he managed to recover and hook the ball away just inches from the line.

With 5 minutes remaining of the half Merstham came close to scoring twice in as many minutes.

Firstly after receiving a threaded pass from Taurean Roberts, Tommy Hutchings smacked the base of the post with a first time left footed drive. Then from a corner Tutu Henriques had a header from inside the 6 yard box miraculously clung onto by Danny Bracken when it appeared the ball was behind him.

Juevan Spencer had one final chance as the half ended but from a long throw he volleyed well over after the ball fell invitingly.

Any thoughts that the home side had of keeping their opponents at bay during the next 45 minutes where quashed 40 seconds after the restart.

Roberts running free down the right and crossing for Tommy Hutchings to volley home from 8 yards.

The lead was doubled 5 minutes later when Aaron Rhule was allowed to work his way to the byline down the left and after Bracken cut out the cross the ball fell to Reece Hall who finished at the second time of asking.

The pressure from the visitors was relentless and the captain Fabio Saraiva was inches away with a free kick as his side looked to finish the contest.

Bettache had a free kick of his own once again kept out by Daly but it was one of only a few chances the home side created during the second half.

In the 68th minute the visitors hit the decisive third and after Saraiva and Okoye combined well Roberts was released down the middle and after checking inside fired past Bracken.

Juevan Spencer had Casuals best chance with 8 minutes remaining but he volleyed wide from inside the area despite being in plenty of space. At the other end Bracken was on hand to deny substitute Omar Folkes but Bracken was on hand to save with his feet.

The win strengthened Merstham’s position in 4th place which could prove vital once the playoff's get underway.

Whitstable Town 1-2 Corinthian-Casuals
Ryman League Division One South
Saturday 11th April
Report from Whitstable website


Whitstable Town went down 2-1 deservedly at home to Corinthian-Casuals on Saturday afternoon.

Town did create the early chances and Ian Pulman shot straight at Casuals keeper  Danny Bracken within the first minute and then a ball was fed through to Tom Loynes who spooned the ball over the bar. Within these early stages Pulman had another opportunity from a free kick but again his shot went straight into the arms of Bracken. Casuals always look dangerous on the break and it was Juevan Spencer who broke through one on one with Town keeper Luke Watkins who did really well to block the attempt.  Half way through the half a dipping shot from Town’s Scott Heard went just over the bar but another attack from the visitors broke the deadlock on 32 minutes when ball found its way to Carl Wilson-Denis who slotted the ball home past Watkins. Ten minutes before the interval Pulman had another  attempt that was easily collected by Bracken. Casuals nearly increased their lead a minute before the interval when Danny Dudley headed over from a corner.

The second half started as the first as Town tried to find a way round the resolute Casuals defence. Pulman had an attempt on 49 minutes which was saved well by Bracken and then a cross from Heard found Loynes who headed wide. However Casuals also had their share of the chances and it was David Hodges who looped the ball over Watkins but just over the bar as well. On 63 minutes Pulman had another chance from the edge of the area but pulled the ball wide.  Two minutes later Jamie Byatt weaved his way through the Town defence into the penalty area and fired home to increase Casuals lead.  Town started to press and were given a penalty that some may consider harsh when Joe Kane was brought down by Joe Hicks in the penalty area. Up stepped Ian Pulman to slot the ball home.  Town nearly got an equaliser on the stroke of full time when a Pulman ball in found Kane Rowland but the Town striker could not quite turn enough to get his shot in and the ball was scrambled away.

Matt Howard spoke after the match 
"Breaking the points record is a wonderful thing to do. It's a great achievement for myself, Luke Garrard, Wayne Finnie & Joe Davies. It's a nice feeling to be going down in the club's history books, firstly as the team that went to Brazil and took on the two-time FIFA World Champions and now to set the club record for points in the league."


"It's been a great first full season for me in charge. This club is definitely going places. There's a great growing support gathering behind the goals each week. I believe we're up in numbers attendance-wise and we're making huge strides in other parts of the club. Corinthian-Casuals is a great place to be at the moment."

Horsham 2-1 Corinthian-Casuals
Ryman League Division One South
Monday 6th April 
Report by Darren Pasley
Pics: Stuart Tree 
Att: 208
Pics can be viewed here

Casuals compounded a miserable Easter period  as they went down 2-1 to bottom placed Horsham at Gorings Mead on Bank Holiday Monday.

After the 2-1 reversal at home to East Grinstead 48 hours earlier Carl Wilson-Denis returned to the attacked whilst captain Joe Hicks returned after his two-game suspension.

The home started brightly on what appeared to be a firm but bouncy surface with a lot of extra touches needed to bring the ball under control.

The first real threat on goal came in the 10th minute when Gregg Betty latched onto a good cross-field pass by Richie Welch but despite getting inside Jake Gill the returning skipper Hicks was on hand  to intercept the danger.

Casuals first effort arrived from the boot of Lee Hall in the 25th minute as a corner fell invitingly his way but  his fierce effort was just over the bar.

Despite their good start the home side never threatened to test Danny Bracken in the Casuals goal and it was soon the visitors who took a foot hold of the game.

In the 37th minute the best chance of the half so far arrived when Dave Hodges latching onto Bettache’s pass side-footed over with just keeper Gareth Williams to beat following a flowing move.

Casuals were now pouring forward as they sensed the vulnerability of the home backline but despite seeing plenty of the ball in wide areas far often too not the crosses lacked the quality required.

In a similar position to his effort earlier in the half Lee Hall was inches away with his angled drive and Andy Mills went close with a  volley as the visitors firmly applied the pressure. Williams in the home goal had to be alert to tip over a Bettache free-kick that seemed intended for a cross.

The final action of the half saw Dave Hodges find Wilson-Denis but his shot was charged down by Tom Gilbert as the Hornets clung onto level terms going into the break.

Casuals looked to continue on top during the second period but 9 minutes after the break the home side were awarded a penalty. Tony Nwachukwu doing brilliantly down the wing from George Bramford’s pass and after turning Gill his low cross inside the area was met by the hand of the sliding Andy Mills. Nwachukwu stepped up himself to smash the kick off the underside of the bar to open the scoring.

Mason Welch-Turner was next to foray into the box on the hour after Byatt seized on a loose ball but off-balance his effort failed to trouble Gareth Williams.

The goal boosted the confidence of the home side who were now seemingly more eager to get on the ball, in turn this left more gaps however for the visitors to try and find a way back into the match.  Following a Juevan Spencer cross Byatt flashed a shot just wide from the edge of the box. 

In the 78th minute following Brackens quick release Hodges and Byatt combined to tee up sub Max Austin in the area but his left footed shot was wide despite being well positioned. Within moments an incident occurred with two players attempting to retrieve the same ball.Jamie Byatt and Anthony Story clashed which saw the player manager staggering away clutching his face.Acting on the advice of his assistant Mr Pike dismissed Byatt who seemed bewildered with the decision.

With 6 minutes remaining McCreadie should have sealed the points when somehow he failed to connect with Ehis Izokun’s cross when inside the 6 yard box.It mattered little however as within 60 seconds he had shrugged Joe Hicks off the ball before driving into the box and slotting over Bracken to seal the points for the strugglers.

Into injury time and 7 minutes were announced. Dave Hodges was inches away from reducing arrears with a lob that dropped just the wrong side of the post. Shortly afterwards however Casuals were given a slim route back into the match when Carl Wilson-Denis finished at the far post following Lee Hall’s pass.

Following a poor Hicks clearance, McCreadie attempted a Charlie Adam esq shot from the halfway line but his effort rebounded off the crossbar and into the path of a grateful Danny Bracken.

With a minute remaining Joe Hicks from a corner smashed a volley just wide of the right hand post and despite a final flurry of corners ex-Casuals keeper Williams who was superb throughout and faultless with his handling came to his sides rescue and Horsham had their first home win since January.

After the match Manager Matt Howard was quick to defend his 26-goal striker.

“I’m not going to have a go at Jamie (Byatt) for getting sent off. I think it was just frustration that he wanted to get the game going and get the ball back. The referee wasn’t doing his job, so Jamie tried to do it for him.

“He shouldn’t have tried to grab the ball but he certainly didn’t throw a punch or anything.

“Don’t get me wrong, if we were in Horsham’s shoes, we would probably try to slow the game down and kill the game off, but the referee has let them get away with time-wasting.

“In terms of the season, Luke (Garrard - assistant manager) and I were speaking before the match. We started with the thought that we’ve underachieved. But actually, if we sit back and take stock of the whole season, we’ve massively overachieved.

“We’re a club that doesn’t pay any of its players, usually fighting off relegation from the league and have even had reprieves to save us. So for us to be safe with nine games to play, we’ve definitely overachieved.  

“Why do I look at this season as a success? For a start, we don’t pay money. Anyone that finishes below Corinthian-Casuals that has a playing budget should ask themselves “hold on a minute… what are we doing here?” You do have to ask the question of how is that possible?

“We’re also a small squad. When you’re at a club that doesn’t pay its players like us, you can’t carry a big squad because they can easily go elsewhere and sit on the bench but be paid. For that reason, it’s hard to keep players here.

“The goal for the remainder of the season now is to make sure we get another three points from our last four games to break the club record.”

 Corinthian-Casuals 1-2 East Grinstead Town
Ryman League Division One South
Saturday 4th April 
Report by Darren Pasley
Pics: Stuart Tree
Att: 147

“They’ve got to take a long hard look at themselves. A pat on the back isn’t far away from a kick up the backside… and that’s what they needed today” was Matt Howards stern assessment as Casuals went down to a late Ricky Freeman winner for relegation threatened East Grinstead Town.

It completed the double for the Wasps over Casuals and gave them a much needed 3 points with other clubs around them picking up points over the weekend.

Casuals without the usual Central defence pairing of skipper Joe Hicks and Danny Dudley moved fullback Danny Green alongside Andy Mills. There were also returns for Jake Gill and Mason Welch-Turner following the midweek defeat at Three Bridges.

Jamie Byatt had the games first effort with a glancing header after getting across his marker and the same player hit the bar in the 12th minute following Juevan Spencer’s right wing cross.

Baff Addae East Grinstead's match winner in the midweek win over South Park had his side’s first effort after a quarter of an hour but volleyed harmlessly over from fully 30 yards.

Almost immediately Casuals nearly took the lead with the bar again to the rescue of the visitors.
After Welch-Turner showed a brilliant touch and vision down the left to free Hodges the resulting cross was expertly hooked goalwards by Byatt with the ball cannoning back off the bar. The rebound was blocked on the line before the ball was scrambled clear for a corner.

Addae continued to present the only threat to the home makeshift defence but on several occasions to the frustrations of his teammates he elected to shoot with others better placed.

The first half was a poor spectacle with most opportunities arriving from mistakes rather than any craft or guile. Marc Cumberbatch coming closest with a volley that was deflected just wide.

 In the 36th minute Addae was denied by the strong outstretched arm of Danny Bracken after cutting inside and firing off an effort.

The second period saw Byatt once again thwarted early on as this time, keeper Seb Bos managed to divert the striker’s effort wide after a neat turn and shot.

In the 53rd minute East Grinstead took the lead with Casuals once again causing their own problems.
The danger seemed to be averted after Tom Carlse elected to cross instead of shoot but Mills inadvertently knocked the ball back into the path of Richmond Kissi who curled the ball round Bracken for the games opener.

Casuals response was instant and within 90 seconds had level with a contender for goal of the season.
Maz Bettache broke through the middle and feed Dave Hodges down the left. Despite being 20 yards out at an angle the winger looked up and delivered a perfect chip over Bos to bring the scores level, It was a brilliant bit of skill and brought a rare moment of quality to an otherwise dour game.

As in the first half neither side failed to take hold of the game and only half chances were served at either end.
Perhaps the best fell with 15 minutes remaining when Spencer knocked the ball back into the danger area where substitute Aaron Smith-Joseph hit a weak effort wide despite being in plenty of space inside the box.

Spencer himself came close to getting on the scoresheet when following a goalmouth scramble his effort squirmed under Bos but was cleared off the line by John Sinclair as the visitors dug in looking for a vital point.

Indeed the final stages of match saw the side who are battling for the lives at their debut step 4 season look to take all 3 and substitute Ricky Freeman saw a curled effort brilliantly held  by Bracken with 4 minutes remaining.

Freeman on his debut was not to be denied however and with 3 minutes remaining he tapped home the winner after Emiliano Hysi had done brilliantly to get to the byline and cut back the ball.

Casuals only response was another Hodges effort deep into stoppage time but on this occasion Seb Bos gratefully clutched onto the ball.

Post match Matt Howard commented

“Defensively, I didn’t think we were in any trouble today. Attacking wise, Jamie Byatt’s hit the bar twice. If they go in, we’re 2-0 up at half time and it’s a different game. But if you don’t take your chances when you’re on top, then you run the risk of losing.

“After going 1-0 down, we got the goal back straight away and I thought ‘okay – worst case scenario is we’ll get a point’.

“But there were errors all over the pitch and I’m really disappointed. That’s three points dropped.

“We’re in a funny situation at this club where we were safe with nine games to go. That’s been a while since that’s happened. I hope the players haven’t switched off because of that.  

“I’m really disappointed but on the flipside, we’ve had a great season. As a group of players, we’ve been looking up the table rather than looking over our shoulder for pretty much most of the season.

“At the end of the season, with 46 games played, the league table doesn’t lie. If we finish 12th or 13th, that’s where we deserve to be”.

“We have players with aspirations of playing at a higher level, yet they’re only performing as a mid-table side. If you don’t pull up trees at this level, you’re not stepping up to the next.

 Stuart Trees pictures can be viewed here .

Three Bridges 2-1 Corinthian-Casuals
Ryman League Division One South
Tuesday 31st March 2015
Report by Darren Pasley

Casuals hope of a top 10 finish suffered a setback as they went down 2-1 at cold and windy Three Bridges on Tuesday evening.

Andy Mills returned in defence for the suspended Joe Hicks whilst Jake Downs switched over to left back as Casuals looked to make it back to back wins on the road following Saturdays commanding   2-0 victory at Chipstead.

Their hosts are on course to cement their best ever finish at Step 4 and came into the game knowing a win could yet propel them even further up the table.

The early exchanges saw both sides struggle to keep the ball down on a bobbly pitch but in the 7th minute following a neat passage of passing saw the ball slipped through the middle and Sam MacVicar ran through and slotted past Bracken with the visiting defenders appealing for offside.

It was a rare bit of quality in what in truth was a dour half of football. The swirling wind not helping matters.

Following the goal Casuals nearly produced an immediate response but Dave Hodges could only volley at keeper Keiron Thorp.

In the 24th minute the lively Tony Garrod was inches away from doubling his sides lead when after working his way well into the box, his low left footed effort skimmed the base of Danny Brackens far post.

Casuals moments during the first half were few and far between with only a half chance to Jamie Byatt of note. However after the ball was nodded into his path by Carl Wilson-Denis the hitman couldn’t bring the ball under control and a rare opportunity was lost.

With seconds remaining of the half the home side added to their lead. Full back John Lansdale clipping the ball into Garrod on the edge of the box and despite the attentions of both Danny Dudley and Mills the striker manager to turn in-between his markers and finish well past Bracken.

It was a superb finish but the visitors would have been very disappointed with the defending for the goal.

As predicted a different Casuals emerged for the second half and with the wind in their favour took the game to their opponents in an effort to get back into the match

Andy Mills went close 5 minutes into the half but he couldn’t direct his header from Byatt’s corner goalwards.

The flanks it seemed were the more promising outlet for a route to goal and Juevan Spencer crossed for his opposite flanker Hodges to head wide as the early pressure continued.

Casuals did reduce the arrears in the 56th minute. Down the left this time Hodges was allowed two opportunity’s to cross and substitute Max Austin found enough space to bring the ball under control and fire home from 10 yards.

Moments later Bracken had to be alert to keep out Nathan Crabb’s effort with his legs after Garrod had worked himself space down the byline.

Spencer continued to be a menace down the right and after twisting Matt Daniel inside out his cross found Austin whose blocked effort fell to Maz Bettache but the young midfielders effort was blasted well over.

After weathering the visitors storm the home side looked to make the game safe and only the fingertips of Bracken denied Garrod a second goal. MacVicar taping home but given offside from the rebound.

The final minutes saw Casuals throw Mills up front but the Three Bridges defence stood firm and looked more likely to add to their lead on the counter.

Deep into stoppage time Lee Hall picked up a second yellow card after hauling down Garrod and the Sussex side had another victory in what is becoming a fine end to the season.