Enfield Town 3 - 1 Corinthian-Casuals
Isthmian League Premier Division
Saturday 14th September 2019
Report: Cameron Smith. Photos: Stuart Tree (pics here)

An eventful first-half that included Shaun Okojie’s first goal since his return and a Danny Bracken penalty save was not enough for Corinthian-Casuals, who were defeated 3-1 by the efficient Enfield Town.
 
The FA Cup First Qualifying Round brought smiles back onto the faces of all at Corinthians last week; a 4-0 demolition of Sevenoaks Town was the first competitive win of the season. Perhaps the momentum from the brilliant victory would be brought to North London on a warm Saturday afternoon as Casuals were visitors to Enfield Town in the seventh match-day of the BetVictor Isthmian Premier season. Despite being drawn against National League South side Chelmsford City in the next round of the cup, James Bracken’s head would be firmly focused on the task in hand.
 
The white and blue of Enfield were searching for their fourth win so far, whilst Casuals wanted their first. Fond memories from last season’s dramatic 2-0 victory at the Queen Elizabeth Stadium were remembered by the Casuals contingent as the pink and brown army walked out onto the pitch.
 
The opening twenty minutes’ main opportunities were distributed between the two sides, mostly dominated by the pink and brown however. Bakare, Okojie, Pinney and Serbony as an attacking force threatened the white shirts early on and emulated the attacking football from the previous week with half-chances and good passing. But as the Bracken Brothers know, football is cruel. Particularly when Billy Bricknell hit a twenty yard effort in the centre of the goal, but managed to evade the palms of Danny Bracken, who either saw it too late or was thrown off by a deflection. Enfield celebrated as they went 1-0 up, even if they did not completely deserve it.
 
Unable to break the defence proved costly when Muhammadu Faal netted the second after Blackman’s long ball in a baffling moment for the Casuals back four. But, Okojie was on hand to start a potential comeback as the no.9 scored to make it 2-1 after thirty-two minutes. Bakare’s pace and intelligence to burst onto the fearful Enfield through the middle was vital for Okojie to smartly peel away from a defender and offer himself up on the left hand side. The counter attack was great to watch as the striker took a single touch before simply slotting the ball into the bottom corner, which finally gave Casuals fans behind the goal something to shout about. Nathan McDonald was forced into another fine stop shortly after, to prevent Casuals equalising.
 
Edging towards half-time, centre-back Robert Jamison lunged into an unnecessary challenge in the Enfield area, which caused the referee to point to the spot. Three goals to one at half-time would have been detrimental to morale, so it was fortunate that Bracken stood in-between the sticks. Having already tipped an effort onto the bar previously in the half, Bracken confidently guessed Bricknell’s penalty and saved his spot-kick superbly. The ball bounced back into in the striker’s direction for a rebound that should have rippled the net… but did not! On the floor, Bracken jumped into action to save another Bricknell shot before the ball was cleared. It was two moments of genius from Bracken who kept Casuals in the game.
 
Unfortunately, the second-half never matched the energy of the first. Half-chances and set-piece opportunities occurred for the away side, with Bakare’s insane run after good work from Pinney nearly causing an own goal for Enfield and an equaliser for Casuals. The following corner was over-hit by Ekim, and started an attack for the Town, who managed to capitalise as Hatton’s chipped pass set up Faal to lob Bracken. From then on, it was mediocrity from both sides with Bracken avoiding the embarrassment of a fourth goal with a solid save late on. Overall, it was a frustrating afternoon for Casuals who recorded their fifth loss of the season against a strong Enfield team - it was 3-1 at full-time.
 
We wish Enfield Town the best of luck for the rest of the season as they rise to 4th. The ‘onwards and upwards’ attitude was adopted by Casuals supporters as a second qualifying round match in the magical FA Cup is next before Potters Bar at home in the league. The bottom of the league status for Corinth is deceptive- gutsy performances especially from Tucker, Pinney, Bracken, Serbony and Okojie as well as chances that would have easily been scored on another day gave the contingent hope.
 
“We’re always disappointed when we don’t win,” said James Bracken after the final whistle. “With our limited resources and what we have, there is such a thing as a good draw, which we’ve had a couple but we can never be happy with a loss.
 
“There’s been moments in all our games this season where we’ve been within a shout. Even today, in the first ten minutes we had two key moments which if we got right, we’re two-nil up and playing well.
 
“We’ve had other moments. We came back into it at 2-1 and had periods where we were in the ascendency. But the biggest disappointment was the last twenty minutes, where it petered out. The first goal after half time was always going to be massive and it went their way. You go 3-1 down here on a hot day, against a decent side – we had a mountain to climb.
 
“That said, the last twenty minutes from us isn’t good enough. I’ll back our players all the time, if they get out there and fight for the shirt. Today, either they quit trying or they weren’t fit enough. We allowed Enfield far too much time on the ball. They were able to get into dangerous positions under no pressure. That can’t happen. We do need to take stock that Enfield are a good side. They beat Bishop’s Stortford 5-0 recently and they’ll finish in the top four.
 
“We didn’t have enough ‘attitude’ about us throughout the match. The only one that comes out with credit in the last 20 minutes is Ollie Sitch. It looked like he gave a damn about winning the ball back.
 
“I truly believe we should have around 8 points by now. That would be a fair reflection on the first six games. Not today – we didn’t do enough to get anything. But 7-8 points would be around our ability level. When you look at the table and see Merstham have 10 points, I’m telling you now, we’re a better side than them. But they’ve gone away and won 4-0 today so we must look at what we’re doing and make sure we start getting some points of our own.
 
“But it’s that cumulative effect of game on game. We’re only human and it’s tough. The boys will have to show fight. If they don’t, then it’ll be time for changes. But we’ll go again next week against Chelmsford City, though that’s no easy game for sure! However, you wouldn’t put it past us to cause an upset. We’re capable. Another day, we could’ve scored three or four here at Enfield. Sharpen up a little and we’ll be close.”

I thought I’d bring my super-sub linesman on and get three points. It’s the best substitute we’ve had all season," said James Bracken following the 2-0 win at Enfield Town.

In seriousness, when you get those prolonged breaks in the game, you wonder which team will better adjust to the circumstances. I’ve had both. I’ve had teams come out after a lengthy break and hit the gas like we did today. Likewise, I’ve had sides who never got going again and it’s cost us.

I was grateful we managed to seize the initiative and get on the front foot. I thought the subs had a positive impact on the match and turned it in our favour after Enfield had a good ten-minute spell. We were well worth our win.

Would we have taken a draw when the referee sustained his injury with ten minutes left? No – my stance is always to try and win every game. That’s why we rarely draw.

If we’re 0-0 with ten to go, I’ll always make positive changes in an attempt to win. If you do that in three games and you win one of them, that’s as good as three draws. It’s also what people pay to watch. As a fan, I’d want to see my Manager picking a player off the bench that can win you a game. You have a throw of the dice.

We played the better football. Like last week, we were the only team who tried to play. We got the ball down and played through the thirds. We let the boys express themselves which was nice.

We’re one game away from an unbeaten month in January. That’s now our focus. A third win on the spin would be very welcome but Bognor Regis will be another tough game.

I’ve spoken to the lads about intensity – our training intensity has improved. There’re no excuses. When the games were coming thick and fast, there wasn’t time to prepare for the next match. It’s also physically demanding on players. When you’re winning, you ride it but when you lose, it’s hard to reach those levels again. Now, with a lack of midweek fixtures, we have time to prepare. We’ve now had time to do our research, work at it in training and that’s probably why the results are coming our way again. To be fair to the players, they’ve stepped up when they needed to.
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It’s great to provide these moments for the likes of Roger (Stringer) and the supporters. Some of these fans have supported the club when it wasn’t in the best of places, struggling most weeks and getting turned over more often than not. These are now the good times and people like Roger deserve that more than most. There’s plenty of supporters that deserve these moments and hopefully they last a lifetime in memories. 

Enfield Town 0 - 2 Corinthian-Casuals
Bostik League Premier Division
Saturday 19th January 2019
Match report: Cameron Smith - Pics: Stuart Tree (full set here)

With only eight minutes remaining, the sturdy and spirited Corinthian-Casuals scored twice to steal three vital points away in numbing conditions at Enfield Town.

2019 had provided two games for the pink and brown army prior to this trip to North London. Despite the stalemate with ten-man Harlow Town feeling like a loss, James Bracken’s side were unbeaten as last week saw Casuals come back from an early Leatherhead goal to stylishly win 2-1. The small but vocal contingent of Corinthians in and around the Queen Elizabeth II stadium had either jumped on a few trains or drove around the M25 to get to the vintage Enfield venue and were surprised to see a new face in the chocolate and pink no.6 shirt. Majed Osman made his first start for the Casuals ahead of the injured Coskun Ekim- it was Bracken’s only change.

There were seven goals in the reverse fixture earlier on in the season; a 6-1 drubbing at King George’s Field had Casuals shuddering at the thought of a repeat. Since then, Enfield have found themselves hovering around the play-offs whilst Corinth are not too far off in 12th. The Blues had a very strong tactic that was apparent from the off, asserting their long-ball football and physicality on their opponents. Casuals tried a more thoughtful approach but the two sides cancelled each-other out for the first-half.

Danny Bracken was tested when he dived to his left and parried a good effort away from danger. Meanwhile down the other end, Hakeem Adelakun and Jordan Clarke stood over a free-kick, won after a cynical Enfield challenge. Teed up by the left back, Clarke’s low shot was swallowed by keeper Joe Wright. This was the start of a flurry of chances late on in the first 45. Osman burst through on the right hand side of the box and belted an effort that bounced off the post agonisingly. But perhaps most agonisingly, Clarke controlled the rebound and just before releasing was unfairly pushed off his feet. Protests for a penalty were to no avail and Casuals went into half-time without a goal under their belt.

A second half that was destined to end like the first, the most notable highlight was Enfield’s close encounter with breaking the deadlock as Sam Youngs hit the post in the 75th minute. Moments later, something quite inexplicable happened. Referee Jeffrey Aldous replicated something he had seen hundreds of times before in his career… sit on the floor and signal to the bench in agony! Limping off the pitch (with the help of an Enfield and Casuals player), the future of the game was in limbo. Luckily for both sides, Enfield found one of their fans to run the line whilst one of the original linesmen grabbed the whistle and took over from his injured friend.

Maybe it was the introduction of Oldham and Serbony just before, or the ten minute delay that had pumped some energy into the fatigued visitors. Oldham whipped in a genius corner in the 82nd minute straight onto the head of Adelakun at the back post. Delightfully directing it to the crowded front post, the assist was touched down by poacher Odunaike, who did what he does best and poke the ball home and cause an eruption behind the goal. The resilience to push past on-field battles and off-field battles was encapsulated in the opening goal of the game.

After celebrations died down and chanting resumed, the chocolate and pink were determined to do more than just hold out for a narrow 1-0 victory… Substitute Max Oldham carved a delicious ball for the hidden Mfula in injury time, and remarkably slotted the ball past the oncoming Wright. The clinical pass, the tight angle, the perfect finish- Mfula was mobbed by his teammates as they celebrated with the jubilant travelling support. At full-time, Corinth had done the unthinkable and nicked three points from a seemingly dead-end match at the expense of the distraught Enfield Town.

Thank you to Enfield Town for their always warm hospitality and a good game of football- we wish them well for the remainder of the season. James Bracken made two games unbeaten three with the 2-0 victory and now Casuals look onto next Saturday for a fourth. Play-off hopefuls Bognor Regis Town visit King George’s Field in the Bostik Premier.

Read James Bracken's post-match thoughts here.