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Stalemate Extends Unbeaten Run to Five

29/11/2021

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Corinthian-Casuals 0 - 0 Brightlingsea Regent
Isthmian League Premier Division
Saturday 27th November 2021
Report and Pics: Stuart Tree (set of photos here)
Additional photos: Andy Nunn (set of photos here)

Two hundred and two hardy souls braved Storm Arwen at the United Business Group Stadium who sadly, were not rewarded with a classic as Corinthian-Casuals and Brightlingsea Regent played out a stalemate.


Wintry conditions pounding in from the North led to any semblance of football being nullified as a scrappy bout quickly replaced what was a wonderful game at Lewes on Tuesday night.

Casuals remained unchanged from the win at the Dripping Pan and came into this game on a high, having not been defeated in four whilst Regent were looking for their first point since the 25th September, albeit with a new, determined Manager now at the helm.

Any ideas that this would be a straight-forward three points for the home side were quickly dismissed as Regent threatened twice in the opening minutes. First with a counter-attack resulting in only the woodwork keeping them out followed up by Danny Bracken saving with Jack Strange mopping up the leftovers.

But it was Casuals who were the dominant side, playing with the wind at their backs. Elliott Bolton’s fierce 20 yard drive smashed the bottom of the post before Ola Williams tucked away the follow-up… only for the Assistant Referee to brandish it offside.

It became 2-1 to Casuals in the struck upright stakes when Warren Mfula was played into a dangerous position via a one-two but again thwarted by the post.

The second half saw Corinth continue to search for a winner but Regent’s defence held firm – Captain Chris Ribchester lapping up everything thrown his way. Two more chances fell to Mfula who was unable to convert, both going agonizingly wide.

And so that’s how it ended. Despite their best efforts, the windy conditions coupled with the slippery surface condemned this match to the archives without troubling the scorers. Despite Regent’s lowly league position, it never felt like two points dropped and the visitors look like they’ll pick up a fair few points on this showing.

"The conditions were a leveller and made the game difficult for both teams,” said James Bracken after the match. “They came here to get a point and with the conditions as they are, it’s always going to benefit that team. I don’t think it was in our favour at all.

"When the weather is bad, it can be horrible here. I’d love to have an enclosed stadium where we can keep the elements out, but we have a wind tunnel and a pitch that you can hardly stand up on so it didn’t bode well for a good game of football, and it wasn’t. But what you ask for in these games is not to make mistakes that cost us goals. We made sure we didn’t do that. We kept a clean sheet and created enough chances to win. We hit the post twice and had the ball in the net once. Second half, three one-on-ones – we did enough to get three points. The chances weren’t easy – But we didn’t score and if you don’t do that, you don’t get those points. We just need to be a little more clinical.

"It's a point on another day, it could swing on a poor decision or a slip-up or bad pass because it’s boggy and you end up losing. It’s not what a purist would want to see. It’s not why we give up our time – I wouldn’t want to watch that every week. If it was, I wouldn’t touch football. I’d put my time into something else. It wasn’t particularly enjoyable.

"We carved out four or five good chances but we’ve not taken them and that’s what it boils down to. There’s no deep thoughts needed about why we haven’t won. Take the positives… kept a clean sheet. Didn’t cost ourselves the match with any errors, defended relatively well and played a better second half.

"I wouldn’t say we were good but conditions made it hard. Especially in the way we want to play. If we had a big, horrible ugly geezer up front who we sent balls up to, he’d be causing havoc on days like these. But we don’t play that way.

We’ll have had two training sessions this week but I’d much rather have two games a week and one session. But for the boys, it is hard to keep turning in ninety minutes, especially as the pitches are getting heavy now. Two days recovery coupled with going to work on Monday and Tuesday before getting out there on the pitch and being at 100% physically is unrealistic. So the training sessions will allow us to come into the next game nice and fresh, playing some decent attacking football looking for those three points."
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Game of Two Halves

24/11/2021

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Lewes 1 - 2 Corinthian-Casuals
Isthmian League Premier Division
Tuesday 23rd November 2021
Report: Stuart Tree. Image: Andy Nunn.

Casuals midfielder Ricardo Thompson summed up the game in one tweet following the match. He simply wrote “Big win last night, football really is a game of 2 halves.”

 
And that really was the case. Manager James Bracken was full of praise for the way Lewes started, describing them as the best side he’d seen all season, amongst other plaudits for Tony Russell’s Rooks.
 
Lewes were everything you’d want your side to be, or everything you’d fear to play against on a Tuesday night in their own den in front of over 500 fans. Organised, decisive, quick… pick as many superlatives as you want.
 
It only took eight minutes for Casuals fans alike to feel that they could be in for a long and fruitless night. Top scorer Joe Taylor added a fourteenth goal to his season tally, turning one in from close range to leave Danny Bracken no chance.
 
If Lewes had added a second, the result could’ve looked very different. But Lewes failed to capitalise on a first half dominance with Taylor fluffing his lines front and centre which, with any serious contact with the ball would’ve likely doubled the lead.
 
James Bracken was quick to address the imbalance and switched a couple of players to stem the tide. It worked. Casuals grew into the half and could’ve equalised when Ben Cheklit’s volley was expertly kept out by Lewis Carey. Kieron Cadogan also had a decent chance to reduce the arrears but blazed over. Casuals were fortunate to be going in at half-time just one goal down when Taylor’s effort was somehow dragged wide when once again, looked like he should score.
 
Bracken’s half time team talk certainly changed Casuals approach. The Manager admitted afterwards that he told his players to ‘play without fear’. It worked. Their game management improved immensely and now it was the visitors in the ascendency. It took just three minutes to watch Cadogan use those magical feet of his to shift the ball and shoot, leaving Carey no chance.
 
The equaliser spurred Casuals on and with Lewes’ Taylor being substituted, their threat diminished even more. Corinth took the lead with a wonderful free flowing move from one end to the other being completed via the left foot of Warren Mfula.
 
Casuals had to resolutely hold on for the last twenty minutes with a real flurry of action in their own box coming into stoppage time. Bracken had to be on his best guard, making a couple of vital saves as well as an excellent performance from the back four.
 
It's a win that propels Casuals into the top ten for the first time this season and had you left at half time, you’d never understand how Lewes conspired to lose this match, or how Casuals showed such determination to win.
 
“We were fearless in the second half,” said Manager James Bracken following the win. “We didn’t go out there with fear but Lewes were fantastic in that first fifteen minutes. The best team we’ve played by a mile. They were the first side that we’ve played where we had to change our shape, just because I felt it was only going one way. We were one-nil down and it wasn’t looking good for us.
 
“But we made the change, moving one player into a different position and it stemmed the flow. It levelled off a bit and we had a couple of chances ourselves. It gave us enough at half time to get our tails up and remind ourselves that we’re a good team and that we have good players who can go and play without fear.
 
“I said it’s not life or death. It’s a game of football and we’ve got nothing to lose from here. If we lost, I’ll take it on the chin – I pick the team and I set the tactics. So I told them to get on the front foot and go and be aggressive. Try and win a game of football. If we don’t, we’ll bounce back Saturday. We just tried to take all the pressure off and reminding them that we are a good side.
 
“I’ve set from the get-go that we can make the playoffs. You don’t play without ambition. You don’t come and give all of this time, effort and commitment to finish 10th or 15th or second from bottom. We do this because we want to achieve something. If you’re playing without ambition, then what are you playing for? Playoffs will always be our aim and until it becomes mathematically impossible to do that, then that’ll be our target.
 
“Brighlingsea Regent on Saturday and I’m targeting three points. We’ll give them respect – in fact we’ll make sure we give them more than enough respect because we don’t want to fall short on games where you feel like you are the favourites. We try to win every game of course. We came here tonight with an aim to win and not a lot of people would’ve given us the chance to do so, but we have.” 
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Casuals Pile on Leatherhead's Woes

14/11/2021

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Leatherhead 0 - 2 Corinthian-Casuals
Isthmian League Premier Division
Saturday 13th November 2021
Report and photos: Stuart Tree (images from the match can be seen here)

Corinthian-Casuals moved up to 13th in the Isthmian League Premier Division table with a comfortable 2-0 win at lowly Leatherhead.


A first half goal from 16-year old Alfie Bendle was added to from the penalty spot by Kieron Cadogan in the second half. Though the truth is, the score could’ve been worse for Leatherhead if it wasn’t for goalkeeper Myles Bowman pulling off a string of saves.

The result was the final straw for joint Manager Adam Simpson who resigned on Saturday evening, ending his month long reign early.

Leatherhead have had a rocky season to date with former Manager Nicky Bull coming and going before finally being replaced permanently. Most of their established players have also moved on and a raft of new faces have appeared in recent weeks. Credit to them, they took the game to Casuals in the early stages. Casuals captain Danny Bracken was the busiest he’d be in the first ten minutes as the home side had plenty of gusto about them.

But once Casuals settled into their own rhythm, there was only likely to be one winner this autumn afternoon. However, it did take until the 41st minute before carving out the first real chance of which young Bendle – ‘Corinthian’s DeBruyne’ beat Bowman to the ball on the six yard line to prod home and send beer flying.

In recent games, James Bracken’s side have caused the damage before the break before settling down and easing up. Not on this occasion; The second half was all one-way traffic. Bowman played his part in keeping the score down, earning him the sponsor’s man of the match bubbly afterwards. Multiple saves from Warren Mfula, Ben Cheklit and an exceptional late spot from an Elliott Bolton drive frustrated the visitors.

The game was put to bed in the 72nd minute when a surging Ben Cheklit was clipped in the box. Ever reliable Kieron Cadogan once again stepped up to bag his fourth of the season.

Casuals never looked under any threat apart from the odd free kick or corner being lofted into the box. But Casuals, to a man, looked in control and nothing was going to stop them from claiming a clean sheet on this afternoon.

It’s Corinth’s third win in four, and twelve points from the last six league matches. Carry on that form and Bracken’s side will undoubtedly keep climbing.

“Take nothing away from Leatherhead today, they’ve come and had a go at the beginning. But we were very good,” said Manager James Bracken after the match.

“We’ve pressed them for the whole ninety minutes. We had bundles of energy.

 “Leatherhead started well. They come out of the blocks quickly, were frantic and up for it. But that subsided after about six minutes. That’s come from us doing the right things.

“When teams come at you like that, you have to stamp on it early and put a level of control into the game. We did that. We did it really well and after that, it’s been one way traffic if we’re being honest.

“First half, we didn’t create the clear-cut chances that I’d have liked. We forced the final ball too much. As a consequence, the attacks have broken down in areas where they shouldn’t. We addressed that at half time and in the second half, you saw the results of it. That’s probably the most shots at goal we’ve had in any half all season. The only criticism can be is that we’ve not scored more.

“When we play the better sides, we’re not going to get that many chances, so we need to be more clinical. But it’s a job done.

“Take nothing away from the boy’s performance today. They were brilliant to a man. From the back going forward, we were great. There’s nothing big nor clever about it. Just honest boys applying themselves in the right way doing the things we’ve asked them to do.

“Three wins in the last four and that loss changed upon the referee’s decision. I’m not changing my tune. I said from the start of the season that we’re decent. We’ve got good lads. We’ve worked hard on our shape. We’ve worked hard on the understanding of what everyone’s roles are in this side. It’s reaping rewards now.”
​

Casuals travel to East Thurrock United on Saturday.
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Tuesday Night Titans

10/11/2021

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Bowers and Pitsea 1 - 2 Corinthian-Casuals
Isthmian League Premier Division
Tuesday 9th November 2021
Report and Photos: Stuart Tree (set of pics here)


Corinthian-Casuals continued their fine midweek form with a gritty 2-1 win at Bowers and Pitsea in the Isthmian League Premier Division.


In eight midweek outings, Casuals have lost just once. The victory at the Len Salmon stadium puts their win tally on Tuesdays up to six in all competitions. Chocolate and Pink under lights appears to be a winning combination.

On this evening in Essex, there would be one major absentee – Manager James Bracken was unable to travel due to illness… the first match the boss has missed in fifteen years. Assistant Manager Dan Pringle stepped up for this occasion.

There was a belief that Bowers might suffer an FA Cup hangover after their magnificent run to the First Round was finally ended in a narrow 1-0 loss to Lincoln City just three days before. Casuals looked to capitalise early and it paid off after just 13 minutes. Elliott Bolton’s shot was aided with a slice of luck as a deflection saw the ball balloon up and over Mitchel Beeney in the Bowers goal.

Casuals pressed hard and the second never seemed far away. Bobby Mills’ was unfortunate not to see his low cross turned in from six yards by Kieron Cadogan. Bolton was unfortunate not to see his floated free kick not headed goalbound by Warren Mfula at the back post. But just after the half hour mark, it came good when Bolton found a splitting pass to Mills who made no mistake hammering his strike past Beeney to double the scoreline.

Much like Margate last Tuesday, Corinth seeked a third before half time. Cadogan’s tight angled rasper would’ve been the icing on the cake.

Bizzarely, despite no stoppages or substitutions, Referee Michael Robertson-Tant added on four minutes of time. In the fourth minute, Bowers forced a corner from which Callum Leahy pulled one back. Unsurprisingly, the Official then blew up for half time as soon as the damage was done.

Step-in Manager Dan Pringle admitted it had changed his half-time team talk and undoubtedly had given Bowers impetus to seek an equaliser early. It was no surprise that Casuals’ penalty area came under significant bombardment. The game became increasingly difficult to watch, not just from a Corinth perspective but as it descended into ‘proper non-league’. Casuals fans were twitchy every time Bowers bombed one in the box. Danny Bracken made one smart save low to his right to prevent the hosts equalising.

At the other end, the outlets of Mfula and Mills still posed a threat on the counter-attack but it was the other Mills – Andy, who went closest. Brought on from the bench to combat the arial threat, he became his own when his header was brilliantly tipped over by Beeney to keep Bowers in it.

And as the game entered the final minutes – however long that might have been with the Official – Casuals looked more and more comfortable in countering the threat from a then unsurprisingly leggy Bowers.

Another Tuesday and another win. This time on a cold evening in deepest Essex in front of 170 onlookers. It might not have been pretty. It might not have been a glamourous fixture but those three points are as important as any other gained in the season.

“We started really bright,” said Pringle after the match. “We got on the front foot early and pressed them nice and high. So it was pleasing to go two goals up. We had a few chances after that and perhaps should’ve come in at half-time like we did against Margate, three or four up.

“I’d written that the only way they were going to score was from a set piece. I couldn’t see them breaking us down on the floor. Wherever they won a free kick, no matter where, they attempted to stick it in our box. Fair play to them, if that’s how they want to score.

“Just before half time, I jotted down not to give away cheap free kicks. We conceded one, which was never a free kick incidentally, and it’s gone for a corner from where they’ve scored. It altered the team talk slightly but I just had to re-iterate to the boys to lift their heads.

“Bowers were a threat from set-pieces. We defended resolutely. We probably had less possession in the second half but we possibly created more chances than we had in the first.

“It didn’t feel too different from a personal perspective running the side today. James and I speak to each other most hours of the day anyway. It was odd to not have those conversations that we do have throughout a game, but Jon and Ryan stepped up and were brilliant.

“James is quite superstitious so do we break a winning run with me in charge now? To be fair, James is still the best Manager in the league. He’s unbelievable in what he does. I feel we make a really good team. As his Assistant, it’s my job to challenge him and ask questions and play devil’s advocate at times. I think the last six or seven years has proven that.”
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Enfield Town: Manager's Reaction

8/11/2021

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Following the 2-1 defeat on Saturday against Enfield Town, Manager James Bracken had these words to say.

“The boys should hold their heads up despite the result. They played a good side. Enfield turned over East Thurrock 8-0 last week. They’ll know that they’ve got away with one against us. The referee’s decisions have swung the game. He was poor all afternoon. I feel sorry for the boys, I feel sorry for everyone that’s come to watch and sorry for football. You’ve got good honest boys on both sides giving their best, trying to win a game of football in the right way – and then you get someone in the middle that’s incompetent. His decisions, game management… everything.

“We done a lot right today. Enfield started really well and looked bright. But that was five minutes out of the 45. Other than those five minutes, it was pretty much us penning them in. With the wind, you like to try and get a goal or two and take advantage of the conditions. We haven’t done that, but we’ve taken the lead in the second half with a very good goal.

“The first goal for them is never a foul for the free kick they put into the box. In the second phase it’s a clear and obvious foul on our centre-half – the player has played the player, restricting him from kicking it and the referee plays on. I cannot fathom that.

“It was a terrible goal to concede though. My brother should save it. I spoke to him about it in the changing room after. He might be my brother but he’s not exempt from criticism. He’s not exempt from competing for his place. I’m always aware of everyone’s qualities. I’m aware there’s been plenty of games in the past where he’s pulled out numerous saves to keep us in games. So you do try to balance things out. But at the same time, I’ve had enough of the soft goals. I won’t bury my head in the sand. We’ll address it. But the way they’ve got to the goal and the build-up play is the moment it swung the momentum of the game.

“We were defending into the wind, 1-0 up and absolutely comfortable. I can’t remember them having a shot up until that point. Nothing clear cut. But those decisions from the referee changes the game. It pivoted on that point. Enfield are a good side and if you give a good side momentum, it’s going to be very hard to see a game out. The second goal has seen us go a little crazy. Instead of being calm and collected, we rushed a clearance, it falls to their feet and they score.

“Both goals are bitterly disappointing. But we have to remember we’ve faced a very good team. I said to the boys, there’s nothing between the two sides. There’s nothing to separate Enfield Town, who’ve been turning over sides 8-0 and are second in the league and little old Corinthian-Casuals.

“We played Margate who were in the playoff places on Tuesday and we were far better than them. We played St Albans twice and they couldn’t beat us. We’ve played Worthing three times and could only beat us once, and that was to a last minute penalty. Kingstonian only beat us with a penalty. Look at the games that we’ve won. We know where we’re at. We’re positive.

“You have to remember some of the resources these other sides have. Look at the front-line of Enfield Town. They’ve got four players who’d compete in any side. Not on today’s performance though. I see one of their boys throwing a wobbly because he’d been subbed after 75 minutes. He’s played the majority of the game in Manni Mensah’s pocket and ends up whinging. I don’t like that. Give me my boys every day of the week.

“Will I batter them after this result? No. They absolutely don’t deserve any criticism. They’ve done everything they could have done. They worked their socks off. We’ve had a bad rub of the green and a bad ref. Ultimately, that’s cost us.

“Bowers and Pitsea on Tuesday and it’ll be interesting to see how they react after their FA Cup run. Sometimes, there’s a little bit of a hangover after a cup run and we need to capitalise on that if it does happen.

“Our focus is on the league now. Sure, we’ve got the Surrey Senior Cup, the London Senior Cup and the Velocity Trophy, but I don’t intend to play my first team in those games. I’ve no interest in those competitions. We want league points. This league is wide open. We’ve played all of the better teams now and picked up some good results. We should have a lot more. We’ve lost three or four games to penalties. If we don’t score goals, then you’ll never hear me say we deserved to win. But we have been scoring on a regular basis. We have been defensively solid. We’ve got a lot of good things going about us. We just need to find the right intensity on a consistent basis.

“We’ll bounce back this week with another decent performance. We’ve produced a couple of decent showings this past week against two top sides and come away with three points. We’ve got boys that can go again and again. We’ve got good eggs with good mentalities. If we do maintain good levels, we can win two out of every three. And if you do that, you’ll be pushing playoffs. There’ll be tight games in those but we need to ensure we tip those in our favour. We’re a far better side than we’ve been in the last few seasons and long may that continue.”
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Less Libertines, More Babyshambles

4/11/2021

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Corinthian-Casuals 3 - 1 Margate
Isthmian League Premier Division
Tuesday 2nd November 2021
Report: Stuart Tree. Pics: Andy Nunn (pics here)

Corinthian-Casuals kicked off November with a bang as they put in an impressive display to defeat Margate on Tuesday night.


A storming first half saw Casuals race into a three-nil lead before Margate pegged one back in the second period.

It was the first win over the Kent seasiders for James Bracken’s Casuals in five attempts, and arguably one of their best performances of the season to date.

There were a number of changes from the 1-0 defeat to Cheshunt at the weekend both in personnel and shape. Intensity was stepped up and a good press maintained throughout the ninety minutes.

It didn’t take long for Casuals to take the lead. Just twelve minutes were on the clock when Bobby Mills took down an exacting pass ‘Bergkamp-esque’ as one supporter described, before calmly slotting into the opposite bottom corner.

Casuals continued to apply pressure and Kieron Cadogan came closest to adding another when his shot from an acute angle was turned off the line. Margate weren’t so lucky the second time as Emmanuel Mensah did the same on the opposite side. His cross on the byline was hit hard and low and Margate’s Lewis Knight had no time to react, bouncing off the defender into the net.

Bracken’s side sniffed blood and went for the kill; Warren Mfula looked to add his name to the scoresheet with a stinger of a shot that was well saved by Pat Ohman. He was also close to scoring from an outrageous scissor kick effort before eventually getting in on the act by rounding an oncoming Ohman and running the ball into an empty net.

If the game hadn’t already been put to bed, perhaps it should’ve been in the second half. Casuals looked for a fourth and the closest chance fell to Mfula who struck the base of the post with one effort.

The game wasn’t quite done when Ben Greenhalgh put in a cross-come-shot that looped over Danny Bracken into the far corner to give the visitors hope. But they had been second best to a lively Casuals all night and rarely threatened for the rest of the match. It was down to Casuals to see out a fine performance and a victory well worthy of the three points.

“It was a good performance,” said James Bracken after the match. “We got out of the blocks quicker than we had in the las couple of games. We all expected a little hangover from the Cup run and finally bowing out of that on penalties. However, we got a good result against Hornchurch immediately after which was great. But realistically, in the games before Margate, we got a few things wrong and it told.

“But we showed a new impetus against Margate. We changed things around. I’d actually had a couple of days off work and allowed me time to really look at the stats – the combinations that work between the boys and when we’ve done things right. I’d also watched the last three games back in their entirety, so we were able to better prepare us.

“For me, it was one of the better performances of the season. We were three-nil up at half time and created more chances in the second half than we had in the first. We didn’t panic even when they’ve scored nor have we had to soak up any sustained periods of pressure.  

"Tuesday was back to a good atmosphere. How it should be. It helps when the team are playing as well as they are. The boys on the pitch have to take credit for that. But there’ll be games where we need those in the stands to lift the boys. It works both ways. We done our bit on Tuesday but I’m sure there’ll be instances over the coming weeks where we’re going to need them to be at their very best vocal support. Because that might just be enough for us to drag out a result on the pitch."
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Zac Attack Knocks Casuals Out

4/11/2021

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Corinthian-Casuals 0 - 1 Cheshunt
FA Trophy 3rd Qualifying Round
Saturday 30th October 2021
Report and Photos: Stuart Tree (Photos here)​

Corinthian-Casuals were knocked out of the FA Trophy at the first stage in an uninspiring 1-0 loss to a gritty Cheshunt side.


The visitors progress courtesy of a 47th minute solitary strike by Zac Newton to put the Ambers in the hat for the First Round Proper.

James Bracken was forced to make a number of changes, which included the resting of Centre-Back Jack Strange and the absence of leading scorer Warren Mfula. Kieron Cadogan was also rested via the bench as Nat Pinney made his first start this season.

On a pitch that had taken a battering from the morning’s relentless rain, pure football was going to be a tough ask. Cheshunt asked questions first, forcing a fine tip over from Danny Bracken after the Ambers hit one from range.

It took until the second half for something to happen in the match; whilst many were still attending to their half-time beers, Cheshunt snuck a goal – a neat swivel and shot by Newton to beat Bracken and give the lead to a very quiet response. In fact, many hadn’t even realized that Cheshunt had scored!

Casuals bounced back and should’ve had an equaliser moments later. A neat interaction between Pinney, Bolton and finally Manni Mensah saw the latter beautifully curl his shot into the top corner. A goal worthy of taking the game to penalties – except the linesman’s flag was raised for offside. It was hard to work out when the infringement occurred but thus, the goal was struck off.

Corinth probed a resilient Cheshunt defence for much of the second period but the breakthrough never came and the visitors eeked out a tight win to progress in the Trophy.

"Our application and energy levels towards the game today wasn’t a problem", said James Bracken after the match.

"We performed better than we did on Tuesday against Stortford in terms of ensuring we were in the game.

"The second half, we got off to the worst possible start. It’s a poor goal from our point of view. We gave the ball away, no one does enough to react and thus, they score. It’s such a soft goal and I felt someone in that passage of play could’ve done more to prevent it.

"I thought we had an equaliser too. We can talk about officials all day. They’ve missed a lot in my opinion. Cheshunt had around 15-16 fouls in the first half alone but only one booking. It’s a shame because you could see it was going to be one of those afternoons which detracts from what you’re trying to achieve on the pitch.

"These games get no easier. We’ve got Margate and then Enfield Town on Saturday. All we can do is put ourselves in the game. We’ll pick what we believe is the right side with the right tactics. We’ll make ourselves be hard to break down yet still carrying our own threat.

"We need to start doing better from set-pieces. We had two or three clear headers again that went over the bar. We have to take those chances. Especially at this time of the year, because of the pitches, it’s harder to create clear-cut chances. The speed of play up to this point has to be put to one side and you have to find other ways to win games. So we need to up the percentage of goals from set-pieces. We’ll certainly be looking at that. The lads that get into the box for free-kicks and corners need to start chipping in. If they don’t, we’ll see more games go against us 1-0.

​"We were missing a few today as well. We were a little light. We had everyone here who was available to play and could only muster four subs, which is unusual for us. When you miss two or three big players, it does make a difference. Hopefully, they’ll be back in fresh and drive the intensity up from the very start."
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