Ashford United 0 - 1 Corinthian-Casuals
Saturday 3rd February 2018
Bostik League South
​Match report: Cameron Smith. Photos: Stuart Tree (full set here).

Corinthian-Casuals’ trip to Ashford United resulted in a 1-0 victory as a compelling performance and super sub Max Oldham’s slick finish in the first-half gave the visitors a satisfying three points at the rainy Kingsnorth Stadium in Kent.

Since last week’s late drama versus Faversham Town that saw super Jordan Clarke dispatch a brilliant last minute penalty, Casuals have made advancements with Kingstonian FC over a possible ground sharing deal at King George’s, drawn a Velocity Trophy semi-final tie at non-league giants Billericay Town and prepared for an away fixture versus Ashford United. Kingstonian and Billericay would have to wait as Casuals travelled to home of the Nuts & Bolts, who sit in 21st in the Bostik South table. On this particular afternoon at the artificial pitch of Kingsnorth, the rain seemed to bucket down in periodic showers but a much bigger and much more powerful storm was awaiting the quiet town of Ashford- James Bracken’s Pink & Brown army.

Only one change was made from the 1-0 Faversham win as Warren Morgan was replaced by Coskun Ekim at full-back. Referee Jamie Wells kicked the game off with a blow of the whistle; the chocolate and pink of Casuals clashed with the yellow and green of Ashford. Terrific support from Corinth early on and throughout the match certainly boosted the Tolworth side’s eleven as Gabriel Odunaike’s flashing tap-in flew past keeper George Kamurasi and fired off the post agonisingly. Like the Faversham game, Casuals seemed to dominate from the start with a wayward Frazer Walker shot the highlight. In the 23rd minute, Reyon Dillon sustained a nasty injury and wasn’t able to continue. Applauded by the Casuals contingent, Dillon left the pitch in pain and irritation whilst a new signing made his debut for the Casuals… the rapper Slim Shady! No, it wasn’t the real Slim Shady, it was actually Max Oldham, who had dyed his hair blonde and was greeted onto the pitch by chants from the Casuals fans likening his new look to the American rap artist.

Sixteen minutes after the unfortunate early substitution, Oldham was pacing down the wing after being fed a great pass and the no.12 hit a superb low shot that edged past the Ashford no.1 and ended up in the bottom left corner. Nestling into the back of the net, the Casuals supporters surged towards the celebrating away team and sang Shady’s… I mean Oldham’s… name again and again. It was 1-0 Casuals thirty-nine minutes in, and deservedly so.

Switching sides after the break, the two teams seemed to start the second-half the way they started the first- Ashford on the back-foot and Casuals on the front-foot. Oldham nearly managed to grab his second goal of the game when he tried to sneak the ball past the committed keeper but his shot was saved. At the other end, Danny Bracken pulled off an inspirational save from a free header in the box. There was only 20 minutes left when the hosts eased into control of possession and opportunities. Shomari Barnwell was inches away from an equaliser late on in the match, but his shot plummeted just past the post and into the stands.

A delayed yet dashing response from Ashford did not phase the mighty Corinthian-Casuals in the end as Oldham’s strike was enough for James Bracken’s side to steal three points and make their position in 6th comfortable. Whilst the top two teams drew, all the sides in the play-off spots won as Casuals rejected the idea of dropping points and slipping behind. The Billericay trophy fixture was anticipated, but would have to wait as a home match versus Horsham was next.

​"Pleased with the win," said Bracken after the match. "We had two hit the post and on another day, that’s three-nil and we’re comfortable. I haven’t relaxed for one minute throughout the game being held to just one-nil. On another day, we take those chances and we see the game out more comfortably.
 
"It’s given us a chance to show some resilience which other sides against us haven’t been able to show in the dying minutes of the game. So there’s positives to take, even from the negatives.
 
"We’re not happy to just settle for the playoffs. Let’s not even go there. We’re looking at Cray’s and Lewes’ results. We’ve pegged back another two points on them both.
 
"They’re one defeat away from being overtaken by us when we play them both.
 
"I don’t want to be in the playoffs. If it happens, then so be it. But I don’t want that. I want automatic promotion. I want to relax at the end of the season, put my feet up, even with a few games to spare, enjoy it and revel in it.
 
"There’s a twelve point gap from the playoff spots to seventh place which is a decent cushion to have but we wont rest on our laurels. We’re still fighting for automatic promotion.
 
"It’s cliché but we just need to win one game at a time, three points each week and make it all about us. I want every other team looking at results on a Saturday and seeing that we’ve won again and again.
 
"At the minute, we’re sixth. There’s that big gap to seventh so we’ll concentrate instead on picking our way through the teams above us. They’ll undoubtedly win in most weeks so we have to ensure we win more. With thirteen games to go, if we win ten of those including the Cray and Lewes games, we will not be far away in achieving our goal."

Corinthian-Casuals 3 - 0 Ashford United
Bostik League South
Saturday 18th November 2017
Match report and photos: Stuart Tree (full set here)

Corinthian-Casuals hit the summit of the Bostik League South with a routine 3-0 win over lowly but spirited Ashford United.

Two goals from Reyon Dillon sandwiched Max Oldham’s strike to propel Casuals two points clear of second place Lewes, who have a game in hand.

Matches like this have often been a thorn in the side of James Bracken’s ambitions with potential ‘banana skin’ slip-ups against those struggling at the foot of the table.

Despite a resounding 6-1 win at South Park on Tuesday night, Bracken made five changes to the starting XI and admitted afterwards that he had ten players unavailable through either suspension or injury. What has been evident this campaign is the strength in depth.

Ashford have struggled in their first season back at Step Four but on this afternoon, they showed that they’re a better side than perhaps league position suggests. Though Fraser Walker gifting the ball to Reyon Dillon in the eighth minute didn’t help their cause. The defender misjudged a pass which let the imposing striker freely shoot from 20 yards into the bottom corner to give Casuals the early lead.

Was this to be another straightforward victory? Not immediately. Though retaining the bulk of the possession and territory, Casuals didn’t quite click, especially where it mattered. Delivery from wide areas were nowhere near as clinical as at South Park. That’s not to say chances didn’t go begging. Dillon’s slip in the six yard box at the crucial moment prevented him from bagging a first-half brace. By the end of the 45 minutes, Ashford had grown into the game and put late pressure on the Casuals defence.

The second half saw more frustration as Corinth looked to put the game to bed. Dillon’s bundled effort was adjudged to have been offside and the score remained at a precarious 1-0. Josh Uzun’s whipped free kick was safely held by Aaron Lee-Wharton in goal. Max Oldham’s improvised scissor kick, parried from a Lee-Wharton save was aimed just wide. Frustrating, especially as Casuals’ promotion-chasing rivals were all losing.

Thankfully, with 20 minutes remaining, Oldham put the game out of Ashford’s sight. Man of the Match Mu Maan played a perfect pass to the zippy American who had no hesitation in placing the ball between Lee-Wharton’s legs to make it 2-0.

Dillon wrapped up the proceedings in the 82nd minute converting a Gabriel Odunaike cross and celebrating with his now trademark knee slide. Job done. Casuals made hard work of it at times and Ashford have some real quality which they’ll look to build upon in the coming weeks.
 
"We made hard work of it," said Manager James Bracken after the match. "We had some good chances in the first half and had some fantastic balls flash across the face of their goal. But we didn’t punish them as we should’ve done. In no way, shape or form was that our most fluid performance but with the rain and the pitch becoming more greasy, it’s not easy."

"The squad was fully used again. Not out of choice but necessity. The boys who came in have done well though. I actually thought it’d be a 1-0 game. I said on Tuesday that you get some games where we’ll score six from six chances and others that you scrape a 1-0."

"Fair play to the lads for getting another couple of goals on top though. That’s tipped our goal difference to being the best in the league which helps."

"My approach won’t change being at the top. We have to remember that Lewes have a game in hand and if they win it, we’re second. We’ll approach it that way."

"Results going our way was nice. Greenwich losing to Horsham, Lewes scraping a draw with a last-minute equaliser at home to Thamesmead and Sittingbourne comfortably beaten by South Park. These things happen and we have to use their misfortune as a wakeup call that next time, it could be us. We need to make sure that doesn’t happen.

"Let’s remember, it’s November. We’re top now. In another week’s time, we might be back down to second or third. We’ll do our best to stay ahead though. It is out of our hands with Lewes’ game in hand, but we’re going well and we must keep it up."