Corinthian-Casuals 3 - 0 Leatherhead
Emirates FA Cup 2nd Qualifying Round Replay
Tuesday 21st September 2021
Report: Stuart Tree. Photos: Andy Nunn (photos here)

Corinthian-Casuals cruised into the Third Qualifying Round of the Emirates FA Cup following a convincing 3-0 victory over Leatherhead on Tuesday night.

Goals from Kieron Cadogan, Elliott Bolton and Warren Mfula extended Casuals unbeaten run to six games and a steadfast defence claimed their fourth clean sheet on the bounce.

Following the 0-0 at Fetcham Grove on Saturday, both sides had to go at it again to decide who’d host Wingate and Finchley in the next round. Making just one change (Ricardo Thompson slotting into the midfield), the pace was noticeably quicker than seen at the weekend. There was intent from both sides to take the game to their opponents but it was Corinth who struck the first blow. Kieron Cadogan gave Manny Agboola little chance to stop his 25 yard effort and King George’s erupted.

Casuals remained on top for the majority of the half, and all that was missing was the second goal. Mfula and Bolton both went close. It got worse for Leatherhead when Agboola suffered an injury just before half time. Substitute keeper Jacob Bennett replaced the stricken stopper during the break.

Leatherhead were still in this contest and with a slender 1-0 lead, could just take one chance to level the scores. In a mad minute, it could’ve swung either way. Bolton intercepted a poor clearance from Bennett, firing off a decent attempt. Bennett saved only to parry it to Mfula – who somehow hit the post when all but a tap-in was required. Leatherhead broke and came close to scoring themselves bar a good save from Captain Danny Bracken.

The key moment saw Jack Tucker – excellent all evening clear one off the line from Leatherhead. Had that gone in, we’d have had a different game for sure. Fine margins. But Casuals effectively killed off the tie with just over ten minutes remaining when Bolton snatched his first goal for the club converting a cross with his downward header.

It was wrapped up on the stroke of ninety minutes when a fierce Cadogan shot was fumbled by Bennett, allowing Mfula to calmly round the keeper and make no mistake tapping into an empty net.

Casuals will now host Wingate and Finchley in the 3rd Qualifying Round on Saturday 2nd October.

“We’re doing a lot of things right,” said Manager James Bracken after the match. “We’re getting up to where we should be now. It’s great. There’s a collective spirit here too. We’ve had one lad come in to the side tonight after not playing for a few weeks and picks up a man-of-the-match award. It just shows the work that all of the lads are putting in, just to get into the side.

“Am I enjoying it? Yes! I enjoy winning football matches. It doesn’t matter to me if it’s the league, the FA Cup or the County Cups. I’m buzzing if I win any of them. I like winning. It’s a habit which I want to keep up because I don’t enjoy losing.

And thoughts turned to Wingate and Finchley in the next round. “If we play like we played against Wingate in the first half a few weeks ago, we’ll be confident of winning. We were 2-0 up at half time and missed a one-on-one to make it game over. Second half though, they changed it up and we never really got at them and ended in a 2-2 draw. But if we don’t make the errors that we did in that second half, we’ll be fine. The most pleasing aspect of the past few games is we’re learning the lessons of our mistakes. There are lessons in every game. We don’t brush the negatives under the carpet even if we win. The players aren’t making the same mistake twice. That’s all I can ask. Every time we’ve done something wrong, we’ve addressed it and we don’t seem to tread that same road.

“We’ve learnt from that Wingate game since. That was evident in tonight’s performance. We kept another clean sheet, we kept going until we got three. We probably should’ve got to three earlier with the chances that we had. But we didn’t stop! We had to ride them coming onto us in the second half but we dealt with that, got back on the front foot and won it from there.

“So of course we can beat Wingate come next week. But they’ll look at the second half back when we played them and think they can beat us. Which they can if we don’t do things right.” 

Leatherhead 0 - 0 Corinthian-Casuals
Emirates FA Cup 2nd Qualifying Round Replay
Saturday 18th September 2021
​Report and photo: Stuart Tree

When Corinthian-Casuals last played Leatherhead back in October 2020, it ended in a goalless stalemate which Manager James Bracken described as ‘one of the worst football matches he’d ever been involved with.’ Eleven months later and lightning struck twice in a tepid affair which never got going.
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Therefore, the two sides must do it again on Tuesday evening, as per with the Worthing tie in the previous round. Casuals will be confident in finishing the job off but truth told, this was the type of performance that would’ve seen us dumped out of the Cup in previous years.

It’s not all doom and gloom though. Casuals fans had been treated to some wonderful football in recent matches, not least in the 4-0 win over Cray Wanderers in the week. Conversely, Leatherhead were losing 4-0 to Worthing on the same evening, with the score kept down thanks to newly acquired stopper Manny Agboola – who we know very well, from his time here.

As so often happens, Leatherhead tightened their defence up and Casuals were probably a little too… err, Casual. Never getting out of first gear, Corinth laboured for large parts of the game, yet never really looked threatened themselves. Ben Cheklit fired one over the bar and Keiron Cadogan saw his shot blocked at one end, whilst Leatherhead’s Jack Skinner forced a fine save from Danny Bracken.

Would the second half provide a spark that was most needed? Not really. Again, the sides toiled away in the heat. If this game was to be decided, it’d likely be by a solitary goal. The Tanners went close from a corner, hitting the post and at the other end, Bobby Mills forced a very fine stop from Agboola on a chance worthy of winning a match.

Casuals grew into the last fifteen minutes looking for a winner and wide play looked to be the route to take but as the clock ticked down, it was ever more clear we were destined for a replay (and a disgruntled programme editor to thrash out a last minute edition).

The two sides will meet again at the United Business Group Stadium at Tolworth on Tuesday evening to decide who progresses in this most famous competition.

"It wasn’t a classic today," said James Bracken after the match. "The game lacked quality from both teams. We failed to reach the levels that we’ve achieved recently. But we’re not going to go out and blitz teams every week. Sometimes, you’re away in the FA Cup to a side at the same level, get a 0-0 draw and bring them back to ours on a Tuesday night and beat them in a replay. That’s now our goal.

"We defended well. We didn’t give them too much and I don’t remember any sustained spells of pressure. We kept giving away sloppy free kicks which was another little learning curve for some of the young boys we have. But in open play, you couldn’t see where they were going to get a goal from.

"We started really well and perhaps it’s that age old human reaction. We’ve started off too well and the boys think that this’ll be an easy win. That creeps in and the levels of pace and intensity drop. We lacked a final ball ourselves – except for that one great save. Against another keeper on another day, that’s your winning goal. It wasn’t to be, but we’re in the hat for the next round.

"We have to be careful though. This was a game we could’ve slipped in and lost and it’s a game that we could lose on Tuesday. We could win 5-0 too – it’s football. Anything can happen. But with the players that we have, we’ll be ready to do far better than we have today. We’ll ensure we create far more chances and if we take those, I fully expect us to progress in the competition.

"That’s taking nothing away from Leatherhead. They’ll be thinking the same. They’ll think ‘we could’ve nicked a goal today and they’ll be thinking they can nick this tie on Tuesday. So we need to make sure we more than match them and put pressure on for sustained periods. That’s something we lacked. If we get that, then the win will hopefully come."

Corinthian-Casuals 4 - 0 Cray Wanderers
Pitching In Isthmian League Premier Division
Tuesday 14th September 2021
Match report: Stuart Tree. Photos: Andy Nunn

Corinthian-Casuals notched up their third win in seven days with a resounding 4-0 victory over Cray Wanderers in the Isthimian League Premier Division on Tuesday night.

A hat-trick from striker Warren Mfula and a first goal for Emmanuel Mensah ensured Casuals first ever victory over Cray at King George’s Arena.

Coming off the back of two fine wins, 3-1 at home to Worthing and a 1-0 away day victory at Haringey Borough, James Bracken’s side looked to make the perfect week. Conversely, Wanderers were coming off the back of four straight defeats with the most recent just 48 hours before at the hands of Potters Bar Town.

It took 38 minutes of prodding and probing before any kind of deadlock was broken. Mfula pounced on a chance inside the box and made no mistake on capitalizing on the opportunity. It was almost 2-0 a minute later but the striker was flagged for offside, despite the neat finish.

Cray supremo Danny Kedwell introduced himself to the game at half time in a bid to turn his side’s fortunes but if anything, it was Casuals who dominated the second period. Ben Cheklit’s brilliant cross found Emmanuel Mensah at the far post who delighted himself, team-mates and the supporters by claiming his first for Corinth.

It was all Casuals from here. Just after the hour mark, the game was put to bed when Mfula grabbed his second of the night, slotting under Jack Turner for 3-0. And when the striker was felled in the box ten minutes later, no one was going to deny him the chance to claim the hat-trick.

All season, Casuals have been playing to these standards but hadn’t capitalised on chances as well as perhaps they should. There were no issues in that department on this night and Bracken can be delighted with how his side had put Cray Wanderers to the sword.
 
“For a 4-0 win in this division, it can only be a great night for us,” said Manager James Bracken following the result. “It’s two clean sheets on the spin, three wins in the space of a week against teams that are perceived to be top half sides, pushing for playoffs.

But to us, it’s just another game of football. We just look to get out there on the pitch, take our chances and bring intensity that other sides will struggle to cope with. We’ve done exactly what we’ve set out to accomplish.

“I’m enjoying the football at the moment. It’s entertaining. If you’re a Casuals fan and you’re coming down here, you surely must be enjoying it. If you aren’t, there’s clearly something wrong with you. It’s brilliant that everyone’s been jumping on board for the ride with us. Once again I thought the noise was great – it was a top atmosphere. It keeps us going. There’s no reason why that won’t be the same again come Saturday. We’re capable of putting a performance in once again like that, not just against Leatherhead in the Cup but every single week.

“The boys that are starting are playing so well and we have a strong bench, so I’ve not even had to mention that we’ve got seven players missing! If we’d been losing, you’d probably hear me saying we’d need them back. But the boys who have the shirts at the moment are doing so well, we’re not particularly missing them. There’s not too many sides in this division who could have seven players out and still do what we’re doing. We’re doing a lot that’s right at the minute and we need to carry that on.

“Come Saturday, the Leatherhead cup game is winnable. We can beat anyone in this league. We’ve beaten Worthing, we’ve beaten Haringey. We’ve beaten Cray. We should’ve beaten Kingstonian; if we’d taken half our chances, we’d have won that game.

“Five and a half of the last six league games, we’ve been far better than the opposition. We need to carry that on.

“We’ve put a lot of work in pre-season to get this side to where they’re at. We have them settled into a way of playing that is effective. The boys we have are fantastic. They have discipline, they have all the work ethic you could ever ask of them. We have quality, we have guts, we have determination. I’m looking at them and I cant see what we lack. If we were playing against us, I can’t see how we’re going to score a goal. It’s a problem for the opposition. How are they going to stop us?

“Hopefully we’ll start to get a little respect now. I’ve spoken a lot about this over the last few weeks. Too many just say ‘they were poor tonight’ rather than giving us credit. We’ve beaten Worthing and we’ve beaten Haringey and we’ve beaten Cray and now if we go and beat you, perhaps it’s time they gave us credit and say ‘Corinthian-Casuals are a decent side’, rather than ‘oh, they must catch everyone on their off-day’.

“We’re hungry for the next game. We have points to prove. We’re back at it now. We want to achieve something. I’m into my seventh year here. I don’t want another season of scratching around mid-table or the bottom of the table, losing by one goal each game.

“Every year, I rebuild a team here. Of course, I have a core of players who are very loyal to me and are great lads. But ultimately, each season is a rebuild. This isn’t a side that’s developed into a Step Three team over the last three years and now starting to blossom. This is a team that I’ve built in the space of around twelve weeks. We’ve shaped a brand new squad in that time. Obviously, we had players returning but we also have a lot of new faces. Some people don’t understand this. With the nature of this club, I typically have to rebuild every year… and that’s not easy.

“I can’t bemoan any of that though. We’re in a good place though. We need to be relentless in continuing this form. I’m fully aware that we’re punching above our weight. No one thinks we should be here on our resources. In the past, I’ve given the players too much leeway based upon those circumstances. I’ve been reluctant to batter the boys if we’ve come away with a narrow loss, been so close to winning or missed a few vital chances.

“Now, the mentality is ‘so close isn’t good enough’. I don’t want to be the also-rans or the nearly men. I want to win. And if we don’t win, then I won’t be brushing it under the carpet. I want us to understand; What was the goal we conceded?’ Why did we concede it? Let’s not concede that goal again. What chances did we create? How do we create more? Do we need to work on our finishing?

“I have cut boys some slack in the past because when you’re not winning games and had some tough spells, you don’t want to ride them too hard, because they feel it as much as you do. You need to be human and pick them up. But now, I’ve been a human and now I want to win. And what better way to enjoy your football than to win?

“We always enjoy our football here. You won’t find a footballer that’s played here in the last seven years that hasn’t enjoyed playing football with me, Prings (Dan Pringle) and this club. Everyone’s enjoying it. But as I say to them, ‘what’s more fun than winning?’ You can’t show me anything that’s more fun than winning. If you show up to football and you don’t win, I’m telling you now, I haven’t had fun. No fun!

“If you come to watch, have a catch up with pals, have a few beers and a good laugh behind the goal, you’ve probably had a good night even if the boys lost. That’s okay. But that’s not for me. If I lose, and Prings loses, and the players lose, it’s sh*t! You want the ground to swallow you up. You’re waiting for the next win. We want to win. We’re not just going out there and saying we’re going to win. We’re asking HOW are we going to win? We’ve coached them to win. Now it’s about maintaining those levels of desire to win matches.

“I said to them before the game, I want a good performance with the ball, as I didn’t think we were particularly good with the ball on Saturday. I wanted a perfect defensive display. I love defending. I was a defender at heart really. I love defending. Give me a team from two levels above and battle out a nil-nil draw, f**king fighting for our lives, getting behind the ball and making it hard for teams. I get a buzz off that. I know that sounds wrong. Too many coaches these days are clipboard, positional play and possession. Well, you need to be hard to beat first. I think we’re getting that right. That side of the game is just hard work, desire, commitment and bravery. Nothing can affect that apart from the individual. If the player goes out there with the right attitude, that he wants to work hard, be brave and keep his discipline, then he’ll be hard to beat. And we’re doing just that at the moment.

“Long may it continue.”

Corinthian-Casuals 3 - 1 Worthing
Emirates FA Cup 1st Qualifying Round Replay
Tuesday 7th September 2021
Report and Photos: Stuart Tree (images here)

Corinthian-Casuals booked their place in the Emirates FA Cup Second Qualifying Round with an emphatic win over Isthmian League title contenders Worthing on Tuesday night.

An opening goal from Warren Mfula was complimented with a second half Bobby Mills brace as Casuals bested their Sussex opponents 3-1 following the stalemate between the two sides at the weekend.
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A replay at The United Business Group Stadium was required to decide who would face Leatherhead in the next round at Fetcham Grove. As with Saturday’s match, first blood was struck by Casuals, when sixteen year old Alfie Bendle put Mfula through who calmy ‘megged’ Harrison Male in the Worthing goal.

A blow was dealt to Casuals on the half hour mark as Mfula was taken off with a tight calf strain. It was down to Nat Pinney to lead the line of three forwards who caused Worthing’s back line problems all evening. Supporting them were the two livewires of AFC Wimbledon loanees of Bendle and Elliott Bolton, the latter of which unlucky to see his header go narrowly over.

The second half started perfectly for James Bracken’s side when the ever-impressive Kieron Cadogan started feeding pinpoint passes to the front three. Nat Pinney’s shot ricocheted off the inside of the post only to find Mills who made no mistake on the rebound.

Casuals looked to kill the game and were only thwarted by some excellent reflex saves from Male kept the Mackerelmen in the tie.

Thoughts of another ‘Wingate’ occurred when failing to put the game to bed, Aarran Racine’s excellent header just snuck past a despairing Danny Bracken to give Worthing hope. They rocked Casuals for a few moments, with the key chance falling to Reece Myles-Meekums who somehow blazed his excellent chance over the bar when it looked easier to score.

Turning points indeed as Casuals searched for some breathing room and found it with just two minutes remaining. Again, Bobby Mills on hand to finish the tie off to a rapturous contingent behind the goal.

There was one more heart-in-mouth moment when Jack Tucker’s pass back eluded Bracken only to come back off the post and into the Captain’s hands, but even with the two goal lead, it wouldn’t have been enough to save Worthing.

Overall, Casuals deserved this Tuesday evening victory with fine performances across the pitch. A fabulous evening’s entertainment once again lit up Tolworth in what was a thrilling ‘magic of the cup’ contest.

“We could’ve scored a lot more tonight,” said James Bracken after the match. “Their keeper’s made a couple of great saves just like my brother did on Saturday. We played well and we’re proving that we are a good side.

“Was this performance any better than the one against Kingstonian? Goals… that’s the only difference. We’ve created chances in every game. Even Saturday, we’ve missed two absolute sitters where we put them away and we win 3-1… same result as we got tonight.
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“We limited Worthing to few chances. We were far better at shutting them out.
 
“I’ll keep saying it; we’ve got a very good team here. We just have to keep these performances up. We’ve had great results in the past, where people don’t think we’re going to get them – and we deserve them. But we need to make it a regular occurrence. We need to ensure the levels of performance remain high. The desire, quality and chance creation stay where they are. If we take even half our chances, then other teams will need to score three or four to get anything against us.

“We’re playing some good stuff. We’re hard to break down. We’re not far off from having what I want.”

Casuals will travel to Leatherhead in the next round of the FA Cup to be played Saturday 18th September.  

Worthing 1 - 1 Corinthian-Casuals
Emirates FA Cup 1st Qualifying Round
Saturday 4th September 2021
Report and Photos: Stuart Tree (full set of pics here)

Corinthian-Casuals and Worthing will do it all over again this week after the sides couldn’t be separated in the Emirates FA Cup First Qualifying Round.

Two early goals cancelled each other out at the Crucial Environmental Stadium on the Sussex coast which takes the tie to a replay at Tolworth.

Ben Cheklit struck for the visitors first, when Alfie Bendle’s ball found Warren Mfula who laid it off for Cheklit to squirm a shot under the body of young keeper Harrison Male. Just three minutes had passed and Corinth were off to the best possible start.

It didn’t last long though. Just eleven minutes later, a cross to Mo Diallo saw the striker rise above Jack Strange to equalise for the home side. It felt like it could be an afternoon filled with goals but alas, didn’t transpire that way.

Casuals custodian Danny Bracken was sharp on this afternoon making a number of top class saves and even when he was beaten, the post came to the rescue. At the other end, Casuals looked to use the counter-attack with the best of the half chances falling to Bobby Mills.

The second half saw play break down more as both sides tired in the rare summer sight of the sunshine. James Bracken’s side defended resolutely but created chances of their own. Manny Mensah probably should’ve scored when Jack Tucker’s ball into the six-yard box was fluffed by Mensah who couldn’t untangle his feet quick enough.

But the two chances that Casuals will rue missing came from substitutes Kieron Cadogan and Nat Pinney. The former Crystal Palace strike force had a couple of gilt-edged opportunities to win it at the death. The first where Cadogan was just pipped to a through ball by the very alert Male. The second, deep into time added on saw Pinney’s ball to Cadogan juggled in the area with several chances to get the shot off, only to eventually be snuffed by the Worthing stopper. It was heart-in-mouth moments.
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Overall, Worthing bossed the majority of possession but it will be Casuals who feel unlucky not to be leaving with the win.

​"I was pleased with our performance," said Manager James Bracken after the match. "The way we set up, the way we defended well. I watched the Worthing game against Bognor last week and if they’d have scored ten goals against them, you’d have said they deserved all ten. And that’s against another team who’ll likely be pushing for playoffs.

"The early goal from us stunned them. Even when they drew level, there was an expectation that they’d go on and take the lead. Worthing will always create chances against anyone at this level and against us, they could’ve won it, maybe should’ve won it, if they’re honest, with the chances we had at the end, they were bloody lucky to come away with a replay.

"If apply ourselves in the same way again in the replay, with a bit more rub of the green, then we can look forward to a place in the next round. I relish these games. We have another opportunity to face up to a very good side. They’re the favourites for the league and rightly so. But if we can get a draw at theirs and knock them out this week, we’ll take huge amounts of confidence from that.

"Hopefully we can get a good crowd in for the replay. Your support means everything to us... but get behind the boys right from the first whistle. The atmosphere in the second half of games has been better than in the first. Maybe get on the beers earlier! Do what you got to do! Whatever it takes, get behind the boys on the pitch because we want to make the place rock."