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.
​
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 0 - 0 Leatherhead
Pitching In Isthmian League Premier Division
Saturday 24th October 2020
Attendance: 600
Report and Photos: Stuart Tree (full set of photos here)

Corinthian-Casuals Manager James Bracken described the stalemate against Leatherhead as ‘the worst game of football he’s been involved in’ as neither side could break each other down in blustery conditions.
 
The Casuals supremo was not happy with just a point against a side who in recent times, had been on the wrong end of results at King George’s.
 
Leatherhead had started with a flurry of attacks with the wind behind their backs. Balls were pumped up to makeshift centre-forward Jerry Nnamani, usually found at centre-back in an unusual approach to the game.
 
Casuals game plan had to change early on too when Kevant Serbony took a hard tackle in the middle of the park and had to be stretchered off. Neither side created much and Casuals continued their first half goal drought this season. Youssef Bamba and Jerson Dos Santos were the two closest to ending that, but both only having half-chances to do anything with.
 
The second period livened up in places with both sides having mini-spells. Matt O’Donoghue found himself bearing down on goal and only Zaki Oualah’s legs prevented the full back from scoring. Likewise, at the other end, Danny Bracken was forced into a sharp save when a swirling shot from Joe Leslie had to be turned over. Oualah was forced into another good stop when Ben Cheklit almost reproduced his 20 yard curler against Dulwich. Coskun Ekim followed up with a sharp shot just wide of the mark.
 
But the game won’t live long in the memory and a real shame considering it was played in front of a sell-out 600 crowd. As James Bracken says “we’re in the entertainment business” and for large periods of this affair, it wasn’t entertaining.
 
“I’m more than angry,” said James Bracken after the final whistle. “I’m also disappointed for everyone who’s come along intending to watch a game of football. I like people to come along have a great day and watch a good match. We’re in the entertainment business especially in a world where there isn’t a lot to cheer about at the moment. For some, it the highlight of their week. They look forward to Saturdays down at Casuals where they can meet up with their pals, and it’s a great place to be.
 
“But today, between Leatherhead’s lack of ambition and our inability to follow the most basic of instructions led to one of the worst games of football I’ve been involved in. Had we even scored near the end, I wouldn’t have even celebrated, just because as a spectacle, it was terrible.
 
“It wasn’t all our own doing. I’m not openly criticising Leatherhead. They came here for a point and they got that, so good luck to them. It’s odd to show no ambition like that though. We didn’t get off the bottom of the league for months last season. But they’ve come here, celebrating a point against us. I don’t know if I take that as a compliment. Looking at recent results for us, maybe teams are giving us a bit of respect. Maybe that’s been earned over the last month or so.
 
“As a spectacle, the game lacked quality and nous. The most frustrating element was if they’d just done what I’d asked them to do, we’d have won the game. Usually, they follow my instructions to the letter, but today, they haven’t. And we’ve passed up an opportunity for three points.
 
“Don’t get me wrong. We’ve had a couple of great chances to win the game. Their keeper has made a couple of great saves. But there was not enough consistency from us. Not enough building pressure. Some of the decision making I couldn’t get my head around. For example, we’re playing short corners when we know they’ve let in two from corners and yet we’re not putting balls in. They’re not in our repertoire, they’re not what we’ve worked on. I don’t know what they’re playing at. We talked about stretching them wide but again, we’ve not done that either. We wonder why we can’t create more chances? That’s because individuals haven’t listened.
 
“For the last twenty minutes, I’m just f*****g watching a bunch of Roy of the Rovers who want to take five hundred touches and dribble until they get tackled. It’s not how we do things here.
 
“It’s not how we play. I don’t care for the individual, I care for the group. They need to realise sharpish that there’s one way you’ll go if you cannot understand that.
 
“So I’ve been in a bad mood since the loss on Tuesday. Worse than bad. I’m unhappy. I’m an unhappy person. I don’t want to be unhappy. That’s because we lost in a game where we shouldn’t have lost. I’ve turned up here, still angry and upset about Tuesday. I haven’t put it behind me. We have an opportunity today to put it right and we don’t. Now I’m going home angry again. The players need to be like that too. Because I guarantee if they were, we’d have won that game today.” 

"​We’re pretty good at the moment, aren’t we?" commented Manager James Bracken following the 2-1 win at Leatherhead.

"Tonight we played against a few more than eleven and still got away with the win.

"Some of their supporters reckoned we cheated our way through the game. How on earth they’re working that out I don’t know. We’ve scored two good goals and they were gifted a penalty. So I’m not sure how that’s cheating our way through a match. There wasn’t anything about our game that was even tantamount to cheating.

"Leatherhead had five wins on the spin and we’ve come here and thoroughly deserved the victory.

"That second goal was as good as you’ll see in any level of non-league football. Two or three backheels in a move that finishes with a goal. You don’t see that very often.

“We played the conditions fairly well. We were delighted to get the equaliser just before half time which to be fair, the first half was fairly even. They’ve had moments and we’ve had moments kicking into the strong wind. I’d have been happy going in at 1-0 down because I always thought we had at least two goals in us. The equaliser set us up nicely and second half, had we just been a little more cute in the final third, we’d have scored more. 

"You have to approach things differently in that kind of wind and again, we’re still learning. In the first half, unless I’m calling it through from the sidelines, they’re not getting it right. But we’re looking like a group of men that, more often than not, know what we're doing. If they need a little gee-up now and again from me... well, that’s my job.

“Another good performance, another good night and another building block to keep pushing on with." 

Speaking of the penalty save, Bracken gave praise to his brother, keeper and Captain Danny Bracken. “Let’s give my brother (Danny Bracken) credit. Only because he’ll give himself all the credit anyway. I’m sure he’s going to tell me how we’ve got a 100% record since he’s been back. But seriously, he makes a difference to us. He’s a presence. He doesn’t make rash decisions. He’s consistent and makes saves when you need him to. Tonight, he’s not had to make any ‘worldies’. He’s saved the penalty, which to be fair, I called – I’d told him where to go – so I’m taking that credit. He just used his body and my brain. He gives the boys in front of him more confidence. He’s more vocal. But I’m not just going to single out Dan. A lot of the boys are taking responsibility and it needs to carry on.

"We've just got to keep doing what we’re doing, because as I said a couple of weeks ago, who’s going to beat us? Okay, realistically speaking, we’ll lose one or two – of course we will, but if we stay on track, keep our work level up, keep our energy high and stay fit, then who knows what we can achieve."

Leatherhead 1 - 2 Corinthian-Casuals
Bostik League Premier Division
Wednesday 28th November 2018
Match report: Stuart Tree. Photos: Andy Nunn. (See full set of pics here)

Corinthian-Casuals moved up to sixth in the Bostik League Premier Division following a dramatic 2-1 win at in-form Leatherhead on Wednesday evening.

Coming from behind, Warren Mfula and Max Oldham were on hand to seal the victory and three points at Fetcham Grove with the turning point seeing keeper Danny Bracken saving a second-half penalty.

Both sides came into this wet and windy encounter on the back of multiple wins. A blow was dealt to Manager James Bracken when centre-back Reece Hannigan was missing due to a back injury. Midfielder Coskun Ekim covered his position alongside Jack Strange.

In tricky conditions, it was the hosts who struck first. Jeremiah Amoo neatly slotted past Bracken in the 19th minute. A cagey first half continued with neither side creating any other clear cut chances. That was until the 44th minute when Max Oldham’s byline cross was converted by Warren Mfula.

Leatherhead had a golden opportunity to make amends early in the second period when a hotly-disputed penalty was awarded. Tanner’s players argued with themselves as to who would take it and perhaps came to the wrong decision. Firing low to Bracken’s left, the keeper made a comfortable save to keep the scores level.

Corinth opened up and with pace, created numerous attacks on Leatherhead’s goal, countering the long ball game the Tanners had set up to play all evening. It paid off in the 80th minute with a goal of sublime beauty. A flowing move, which involved Jordan Clarke, Gabriel Odunaike and finally Max Oldham contained no less than two back-heels in the build-up.

Things turned sour for both sides in the final stages; first Gabriel Odunaike was dismissed after he reacted to an alleged comment made directly to him from the assistant referee and Leatherhead’s Charlie Wassmer received a second yellow for a late challenge on substitute Reyon Dillon.

But it was Casuals that came away with the three points and sees the Amateurs just seven points off the top with at least one game in hand on their table-topping rivals.

​Read James Bracken's post match comments here.