Horsham 1 - 1 Corinthian-Casuals
Isthmian League Premier Division
Monday 3rd January 2022
Report: Stuart Tree. Images: Andy Nunn (full set here)
Corinthian-Casuals Manager James Bracken was left fuming after a straight red card for Peter Ojemen denied his side from claiming all three points in a 1-1 draw at Horsham.
Having pulled level with fifteen minutes remaining, momentum was strangled almost immediately after the defender saw red from a committed challenge.
The spoils were, on balance of play, rightly shared but with Casuals in the ascendancy in the second half, Corinth’s boss believed that all three points were there for the taking.
Casuals began the day without both Jacks – Strange and Tucker absent through injury and Covid respectively. In came Warren Morgan as well as a starting place for Mo Diallo and Emmanuel Mensah for fresh legs. Horsham had a number of changes following their 3-1 defeat just 48 hours before.
In front of nearly 900 fans, it was Horsham who looked to get the crowd going the most in the early exchanges. Danny Bracken had to be smart with two important saves to keep the scores level. Casuals grew into the game and the closest they came to breaking the deadlock was Kieron Cadogan’s 25 yard free kick which crashed off the upright. Olly Sitch and Ojemen also had good chances for the visitors.
But with the half time whistle within earshot, Horsham struck. A deep cross into Rodrigues saw the midfielder head the ball home to a delighted home crowd.
It was imperative that Casuals didn’t concede again but for a last ditch piece of defending, they almost did. O’Toole’s header had to be cleared off the line by Ojemen.
Cadogan almost levelled for Casuals once again from a free-kick. Similar to that in the first half, his top-corner bound effort had to be brilliantly tipped away by keeper Sam Howes.
But Casuals were level with quarter of an hour remaining. Cadogan’s cross found Ola Williams who’s header couldn’t be kept out.
But just two minutes later, all momentum was lost when the Referee showed Peter Ojemen a straight red card for a challenge on Rodrigues.
Both sides searched for a winner and Bracken had to be alert to prevent Horsham snatching a winner and upon the full time whistle blowing, most, if not all would accept that a draw was a fair result.
“I personally didn’t think it was a red card,” said Manager James Bracken after the match.
“It was a committed challenge in which he won the ball. I’m sure looking back on the video, in slow motion, it’ll look terrible but there were five or six tackles of that ilk today. Some of them warranted just a free kick and this one was deemed to be a red card. It was no worse than half a dozen other challenges that we saw. It wasn’t consistent. I didn’t think the referee was very good.
“I thought there were some obvious decisions for corners where he’s given goal kicks. There was inconsistency in time wasting. The overall decision making was rubbish.
“The red card stopped us from getting three points. We’d have won today. We’d have scored again in the last twenty minutes, of that I have no doubt.
“Unfortunately, the referee made it very hard for us today. I wasn’t happy at how easily conned he was.
“I thought we played well. Horsham had a couple of good spells. I don’t think we started particularly well. We were slow. That’s unlike us. But then, a lot of those lads played only 48 hours before, so you cut them that slack.
“Of course, we had to freshen up some of the positions. I’m very happy to be in a position where we could rest players. Look at Bobby, who did great on Saturday but we were able to bring in Mo who also done well today. He worked his socks off and he fits with what I want. He’s gone into a new shape and new position and I didn’t have to tell him too much. He got on with the job and has fitted in great.
“Going a goal down just before half time didn’t change the team talk as you might expect. Let’s get it right – that goal was against the run of play. For the last 25 minutes of the first half, I thought we were the better team. We looked threatening from set pieces. We hit the crossbar twice, other chances ricochet over the bar. On balance of play, I thought the problems we were causing them outweighed the problems they were causing us. They had their chances. I thought it was a fairly good game of football between two even matched sides on the day. But I do feel we were in the ascendancy when they scored. They’re the harder ones to take. We were disappointed that we played relatively well, got ourselves into the game and then conceded. I said to them, ‘take away that goal and I’d be saying to you… well done. We’ve played well’
“We then put an emphasis on the next ten to fifteen minutes, not to concede and to nick a goal to put us on the road to a victory.”
Isthmian League Premier Division
Monday 3rd January 2022
Report: Stuart Tree. Images: Andy Nunn (full set here)
Corinthian-Casuals Manager James Bracken was left fuming after a straight red card for Peter Ojemen denied his side from claiming all three points in a 1-1 draw at Horsham.
Having pulled level with fifteen minutes remaining, momentum was strangled almost immediately after the defender saw red from a committed challenge.
The spoils were, on balance of play, rightly shared but with Casuals in the ascendancy in the second half, Corinth’s boss believed that all three points were there for the taking.
Casuals began the day without both Jacks – Strange and Tucker absent through injury and Covid respectively. In came Warren Morgan as well as a starting place for Mo Diallo and Emmanuel Mensah for fresh legs. Horsham had a number of changes following their 3-1 defeat just 48 hours before.
In front of nearly 900 fans, it was Horsham who looked to get the crowd going the most in the early exchanges. Danny Bracken had to be smart with two important saves to keep the scores level. Casuals grew into the game and the closest they came to breaking the deadlock was Kieron Cadogan’s 25 yard free kick which crashed off the upright. Olly Sitch and Ojemen also had good chances for the visitors.
But with the half time whistle within earshot, Horsham struck. A deep cross into Rodrigues saw the midfielder head the ball home to a delighted home crowd.
It was imperative that Casuals didn’t concede again but for a last ditch piece of defending, they almost did. O’Toole’s header had to be cleared off the line by Ojemen.
Cadogan almost levelled for Casuals once again from a free-kick. Similar to that in the first half, his top-corner bound effort had to be brilliantly tipped away by keeper Sam Howes.
But Casuals were level with quarter of an hour remaining. Cadogan’s cross found Ola Williams who’s header couldn’t be kept out.
But just two minutes later, all momentum was lost when the Referee showed Peter Ojemen a straight red card for a challenge on Rodrigues.
Both sides searched for a winner and Bracken had to be alert to prevent Horsham snatching a winner and upon the full time whistle blowing, most, if not all would accept that a draw was a fair result.
“I personally didn’t think it was a red card,” said Manager James Bracken after the match.
“It was a committed challenge in which he won the ball. I’m sure looking back on the video, in slow motion, it’ll look terrible but there were five or six tackles of that ilk today. Some of them warranted just a free kick and this one was deemed to be a red card. It was no worse than half a dozen other challenges that we saw. It wasn’t consistent. I didn’t think the referee was very good.
“I thought there were some obvious decisions for corners where he’s given goal kicks. There was inconsistency in time wasting. The overall decision making was rubbish.
“The red card stopped us from getting three points. We’d have won today. We’d have scored again in the last twenty minutes, of that I have no doubt.
“Unfortunately, the referee made it very hard for us today. I wasn’t happy at how easily conned he was.
“I thought we played well. Horsham had a couple of good spells. I don’t think we started particularly well. We were slow. That’s unlike us. But then, a lot of those lads played only 48 hours before, so you cut them that slack.
“Of course, we had to freshen up some of the positions. I’m very happy to be in a position where we could rest players. Look at Bobby, who did great on Saturday but we were able to bring in Mo who also done well today. He worked his socks off and he fits with what I want. He’s gone into a new shape and new position and I didn’t have to tell him too much. He got on with the job and has fitted in great.
“Going a goal down just before half time didn’t change the team talk as you might expect. Let’s get it right – that goal was against the run of play. For the last 25 minutes of the first half, I thought we were the better team. We looked threatening from set pieces. We hit the crossbar twice, other chances ricochet over the bar. On balance of play, I thought the problems we were causing them outweighed the problems they were causing us. They had their chances. I thought it was a fairly good game of football between two even matched sides on the day. But I do feel we were in the ascendancy when they scored. They’re the harder ones to take. We were disappointed that we played relatively well, got ourselves into the game and then conceded. I said to them, ‘take away that goal and I’d be saying to you… well done. We’ve played well’
“We then put an emphasis on the next ten to fifteen minutes, not to concede and to nick a goal to put us on the road to a victory.”
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