Lewes 1 - 2 Corinthian-Casuals
Isthmian League Premier Division
Tuesday 23rd November 2021
Report: Stuart Tree. Image: Andy Nunn.
Casuals midfielder Ricardo Thompson summed up the game in one tweet following the match. He simply wrote “Big win last night, football really is a game of 2 halves.”
And that really was the case. Manager James Bracken was full of praise for the way Lewes started, describing them as the best side he’d seen all season, amongst other plaudits for Tony Russell’s Rooks.
Lewes were everything you’d want your side to be, or everything you’d fear to play against on a Tuesday night in their own den in front of over 500 fans. Organised, decisive, quick… pick as many superlatives as you want.
It only took eight minutes for Casuals fans alike to feel that they could be in for a long and fruitless night. Top scorer Joe Taylor added a fourteenth goal to his season tally, turning one in from close range to leave Danny Bracken no chance.
If Lewes had added a second, the result could’ve looked very different. But Lewes failed to capitalise on a first half dominance with Taylor fluffing his lines front and centre which, with any serious contact with the ball would’ve likely doubled the lead.
James Bracken was quick to address the imbalance and switched a couple of players to stem the tide. It worked. Casuals grew into the half and could’ve equalised when Ben Cheklit’s volley was expertly kept out by Lewis Carey. Kieron Cadogan also had a decent chance to reduce the arrears but blazed over. Casuals were fortunate to be going in at half-time just one goal down when Taylor’s effort was somehow dragged wide when once again, looked like he should score.
Bracken’s half time team talk certainly changed Casuals approach. The Manager admitted afterwards that he told his players to ‘play without fear’. It worked. Their game management improved immensely and now it was the visitors in the ascendency. It took just three minutes to watch Cadogan use those magical feet of his to shift the ball and shoot, leaving Carey no chance.
The equaliser spurred Casuals on and with Lewes’ Taylor being substituted, their threat diminished even more. Corinth took the lead with a wonderful free flowing move from one end to the other being completed via the left foot of Warren Mfula.
Casuals had to resolutely hold on for the last twenty minutes with a real flurry of action in their own box coming into stoppage time. Bracken had to be on his best guard, making a couple of vital saves as well as an excellent performance from the back four.
It's a win that propels Casuals into the top ten for the first time this season and had you left at half time, you’d never understand how Lewes conspired to lose this match, or how Casuals showed such determination to win.
“We were fearless in the second half,” said Manager James Bracken following the win. “We didn’t go out there with fear but Lewes were fantastic in that first fifteen minutes. The best team we’ve played by a mile. They were the first side that we’ve played where we had to change our shape, just because I felt it was only going one way. We were one-nil down and it wasn’t looking good for us.
“But we made the change, moving one player into a different position and it stemmed the flow. It levelled off a bit and we had a couple of chances ourselves. It gave us enough at half time to get our tails up and remind ourselves that we’re a good team and that we have good players who can go and play without fear.
“I said it’s not life or death. It’s a game of football and we’ve got nothing to lose from here. If we lost, I’ll take it on the chin – I pick the team and I set the tactics. So I told them to get on the front foot and go and be aggressive. Try and win a game of football. If we don’t, we’ll bounce back Saturday. We just tried to take all the pressure off and reminding them that we are a good side.
“I’ve set from the get-go that we can make the playoffs. You don’t play without ambition. You don’t come and give all of this time, effort and commitment to finish 10th or 15th or second from bottom. We do this because we want to achieve something. If you’re playing without ambition, then what are you playing for? Playoffs will always be our aim and until it becomes mathematically impossible to do that, then that’ll be our target.
“Brighlingsea Regent on Saturday and I’m targeting three points. We’ll give them respect – in fact we’ll make sure we give them more than enough respect because we don’t want to fall short on games where you feel like you are the favourites. We try to win every game of course. We came here tonight with an aim to win and not a lot of people would’ve given us the chance to do so, but we have.”
Isthmian League Premier Division
Tuesday 23rd November 2021
Report: Stuart Tree. Image: Andy Nunn.
Casuals midfielder Ricardo Thompson summed up the game in one tweet following the match. He simply wrote “Big win last night, football really is a game of 2 halves.”
And that really was the case. Manager James Bracken was full of praise for the way Lewes started, describing them as the best side he’d seen all season, amongst other plaudits for Tony Russell’s Rooks.
Lewes were everything you’d want your side to be, or everything you’d fear to play against on a Tuesday night in their own den in front of over 500 fans. Organised, decisive, quick… pick as many superlatives as you want.
It only took eight minutes for Casuals fans alike to feel that they could be in for a long and fruitless night. Top scorer Joe Taylor added a fourteenth goal to his season tally, turning one in from close range to leave Danny Bracken no chance.
If Lewes had added a second, the result could’ve looked very different. But Lewes failed to capitalise on a first half dominance with Taylor fluffing his lines front and centre which, with any serious contact with the ball would’ve likely doubled the lead.
James Bracken was quick to address the imbalance and switched a couple of players to stem the tide. It worked. Casuals grew into the half and could’ve equalised when Ben Cheklit’s volley was expertly kept out by Lewis Carey. Kieron Cadogan also had a decent chance to reduce the arrears but blazed over. Casuals were fortunate to be going in at half-time just one goal down when Taylor’s effort was somehow dragged wide when once again, looked like he should score.
Bracken’s half time team talk certainly changed Casuals approach. The Manager admitted afterwards that he told his players to ‘play without fear’. It worked. Their game management improved immensely and now it was the visitors in the ascendency. It took just three minutes to watch Cadogan use those magical feet of his to shift the ball and shoot, leaving Carey no chance.
The equaliser spurred Casuals on and with Lewes’ Taylor being substituted, their threat diminished even more. Corinth took the lead with a wonderful free flowing move from one end to the other being completed via the left foot of Warren Mfula.
Casuals had to resolutely hold on for the last twenty minutes with a real flurry of action in their own box coming into stoppage time. Bracken had to be on his best guard, making a couple of vital saves as well as an excellent performance from the back four.
It's a win that propels Casuals into the top ten for the first time this season and had you left at half time, you’d never understand how Lewes conspired to lose this match, or how Casuals showed such determination to win.
“We were fearless in the second half,” said Manager James Bracken following the win. “We didn’t go out there with fear but Lewes were fantastic in that first fifteen minutes. The best team we’ve played by a mile. They were the first side that we’ve played where we had to change our shape, just because I felt it was only going one way. We were one-nil down and it wasn’t looking good for us.
“But we made the change, moving one player into a different position and it stemmed the flow. It levelled off a bit and we had a couple of chances ourselves. It gave us enough at half time to get our tails up and remind ourselves that we’re a good team and that we have good players who can go and play without fear.
“I said it’s not life or death. It’s a game of football and we’ve got nothing to lose from here. If we lost, I’ll take it on the chin – I pick the team and I set the tactics. So I told them to get on the front foot and go and be aggressive. Try and win a game of football. If we don’t, we’ll bounce back Saturday. We just tried to take all the pressure off and reminding them that we are a good side.
“I’ve set from the get-go that we can make the playoffs. You don’t play without ambition. You don’t come and give all of this time, effort and commitment to finish 10th or 15th or second from bottom. We do this because we want to achieve something. If you’re playing without ambition, then what are you playing for? Playoffs will always be our aim and until it becomes mathematically impossible to do that, then that’ll be our target.
“Brighlingsea Regent on Saturday and I’m targeting three points. We’ll give them respect – in fact we’ll make sure we give them more than enough respect because we don’t want to fall short on games where you feel like you are the favourites. We try to win every game of course. We came here tonight with an aim to win and not a lot of people would’ve given us the chance to do so, but we have.”
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