Whitehawk 4 - 0 Corinthian-Casuals
Bostik League Premier Division
Saturday 27th April 2019
Report: Cameron Smith. Photos: Stuart Tree (full set here)

Football is a funny old game. Corinthian-Casuals were defeated 4-0 at the hands of Whitehawk, who were nevertheless relegated from the Bostik Premier, in a sour but thoughtful conclusion to James Bracken’s 2018/19 campaign.

Forty-one games, forty-eight goals, thirteen wins and eight draws. Those were the glorious statistics that outlined Corinthians’ 2018/19 season, but it won’t be the numbers on a table that will be the sweetest for supporters, players and staff. It would be the words ‘Kingstonian’ below ‘Corinthian-Casuals’. With the last match-day seeing ground-sharers K’s face Leatherhead and Casuals travel to Whitehawk, there were only two points in the gap… so all to play for.

Some of the Casuals contingent’s journeys would feature Brighton and Hove Albion’s ground on the way, but that would be ignored as Whitehawk FC’s The Enclosed Ground was the destination on a windy but cheerful afternoon. The hosts were part of a relegation scrap that needed a win from themselves and for Burgess Hill to beat Wingate and Finchley.

The Easter double on last Saturday and Monday left Casuals two points better, but there were changes in the final starting eleven of the season. A solid back-four remained the same with Robert Jamison sitting in central midfield and striker Warren Mfula partnering Reyon Dillon, who started ahead of Jack Tucker. A first half that was very even from the off, the white shirts of the visitors wanted to use Whitehawk’s hunger to stay up against them and attacked early on. Mfula was clean through but his touches gifted the keeper the ball. Build-up was good, but it was no cigar for Casuals.

The Hawks then hit the post and a series of strange refereeing decisions that had two Corinth players in the book in the first twenty minutes allowed them to pummel the defence. Juevan Spencer’s genius overlaps and commanding runs into the area became a trademark throughout the season. The no.2 did it again when he assisted energetic Majed Osman, but his effort was well saved. Hawks captain Harry Muggeridge scored the opener from only a few yards out as Goodge’s cross was tapped in, even if the ball was barely kept in on the by-line by the left-back. It was gutting to hear the celebrations from the Reds, but with the vocal Casuals in good number behind the goal, they pushed on. Two minutes is all it took for Muggeridge to grab a brace as a lack of concentration in the defence allowed the no.10 to dispatch another cross.

Half-time meant the last of James Bracken’s truthful and rousing evaluations for the players at the break, and when they returned onto the pitch, it would hopefully be a better display. Kingstonian were in a similar position as they were down to Leatherhead, but heads were focused on the task in hand. But, it was a luckless and lacklustre game, which transferred to the performances. Only two goals separated the sides but there was a long period of no goals. This did not mean no celebrations as Burgess Hill got the score back to 2-2 versus Wingate and when it filtered through, there were loud cheers from the Hawks end. It did not last long- Wingate nicked two late on to seal their fate in the Bostik Prem. Nonetheless, with the game delving into injury time, there was time for two more goals. Nathaniel Pinney got the third before Harry Muggeridge was given the ball when Whitehawk won a debatable penalty and converted it.

When the referee blew his whistle it was a strange atmosphere all over the ground as a subdued pitch invasion occurred when Whitehawk confirmed relegation. Behind Casuals’ goal? Disappointment was obviously floating in the air as a 4-0 thrashing with not too much to write home about may come off as a disaster. However, there was much more than that when the players walked over. No chins were allowed to be down and all heads had to be high as the players and supporters thanked each-other for the whole year of effort. All in the name of Corinthians, James Bracken, Dan Pringle, Jon Williams and Jamie Byatt as well as other heroic backroom staff “did it for free” and volunteered not just every day but every week to keep the Amateurs in the Bostik Premier.

The players deserve so much credit too, for carrying themselves in a professional way and caring about the club they play for, which is all anyone could ask for. Lastly, the supporters. Passionate, grateful and vocal are all the things you want in a fan-base, and the pink and brown army that travel all over the place certainly have those qualities. We wish everyone a good summer… roll on pre-season!

Corinthian-Casuals 2 - 0 Whitehawk
Bostik League Premier Division
Tuesday 9th October 2018
Match report and pics: Stuart Tree (full set here)

Corinthian-Casuals earned their first league home win of the season with a comfortable 2-0 victory over Whitehawk.
 
Second half goals from Warren Mfula and Gabriel Odunaike were enough to seal the three points on a welcome return to King George’s Arena following the FA Cup debacle which saw Casuals forced to play their ‘home’ replay against St Albans City at Met Police’s Imber Court.
 
On paper, this was always going to be tough; The Hawks had come off a 9-1 thrashing at the hands of Billericay in the Cup and as often with drubbings, it was expected that they would dig in to grind out a positive result.
 
James Bracken made a couple of changes to his side that lost 3-0 to the Saints on Saturday. Jack Tucker came in along with Coskum Ekim.  
 
Under the new lights, both sides failed to shine in the first half. Plenty of huff and puff was on display yet neither side could break the deadlock. Hawks came close when Sisimayi Williams unleashed a powerful effort from 25 yards that came off the side of the post. Brad Comins had to be sharp to prevent Brannon O’Neill from scoring.
 
At the other end, Casuals used their pace to frighten the Hawk’s back line. Warren Mfula had the best chance of the half when he broke the ranks, forcing a fine stop from Melvin Minter.
 
Corinth looked an altogether different side in the second period. Despite Whitehawk clipping the top of the crossbar at one stage, they rarely threatened Comin’s goal. The breakthrough came of 55 minutes. Mfula was played through and with one touch, stabbed home from ten yards – the striker injuring himself in the process.
 
Casuals had the wind in their sails and looked to put the game to bed. Though they needed an assist from Hawk’s Matt Drage to do so. The Centre back played a lazy pass back straight to Gabriel Odunaike who had all the time in the world to slot into an empty net to double the lead.
 
Defensively, Casuals remained strong and the introduction of Gil Carvalho continued to cause Whitehawk problems. However, the score remained the same and the Amateurs had their first clean sheet of the season.

"It feels good to get a first home win in the league," said James Bracken after the match. "We should be higher in the table for sure. We’re on eight points, along with a lot of other sides and with games in hand. Obviously, these games are hard to win but it shows we’re in and around that level along with the sides around 11-12 points on the board.
 
"Don’t get me wrong. We should’ve done better, especially in the first half. We had plenty of opportunities with good runs but poor execution of the pass. When there was a good pass, it was followed with a poor first touch. There was something missing in every one of our moves which meant we didn’t score. But, the components were all there in patches. The boys just needed to put it all together from the back, to the front, to the net.
 
"We’re improving all the time and that’s the main thing to take from this. We’re continually working to improve and we’re able to get the right results. Sometimes you can lose a few games as you try to implement something new but we’re able to win games whilst doing that, which is fantastic from my point of view.
 
"It’s a case of what are we learning from these wins. We’ve learned so much in defeat and so much from all the goals that we’ve conceded. But getting a clean sheet was massively pleasing and we were solid away at St Albans last week. So the defensive side is improving all the time.
 
"We learned tonight that we shouldn’t give teams in and around us as much respect as we have. We gave them too much respect in the first half and we addressed that at the interval. I asked them to apply themselves better and force errors in their game. That ethos led directly to the second goal.
 
"That’s what we learned in victory. Just to remember not to give too much respect. Force errors and get amongst them. Cause mistakes. That way, we can capitalise without having to build our own attack on the edge of our own box."