Greenwich Borough 3 - 4 Corinthian-Casuals
Ryman League Division One South Playoff Semi-Final
Tuesday 25th April 2017
DGS Marine Stadium
Attendance: 427
Match report - Cameron Smith. Pics: Stuart Tree (full set here)
An early sending off didn’t faze Corinthian-Casuals as a resilient, clinical and decisive performance defeated the unfortunate Greenwich Borough 4-3 on an unforgettable evening in the bitter cold of South-East London.
This was it. The supporters were pulling up to the DGS Stadium in droves, ready for the sharp injection of their midweek football fix whilst hungover from Saturday’s shenanigans. For a non-league football fan, this is a weekly occurrence. Saturday: Football. Tuesday: Football. And repeat. However every year, there is a harrowing four month gap, where a supporter’s football needs are unfulfilled- the dreaded end of the season.
Unfortunately, that time has arrived, and it is officially the end of the 2016/17 campaign. So it’s extremely strange for there to be even more football… especially for a Casuals fan. Eleven years in the Division One South is an impressive feat as Corinthians have dodged relegation and established a distinguishable place in the eighth tier of English football. It seemed like just another season in August 2016, when Casuals beat Whyteleafe 2-1 at King George’s on the opening game of the season, but the Corinth contingent had no idea that it would soon be one of the best years in their recent history.
Forty-five games later, James Bracken’s pink and brown army had achieved an elusive play-off spot, where they would travel to South-East London; Greenwich Borough were waiting. The Royal Borough of Greenwich is renowned for being the home of the Prime Meridian, where Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) began. It took no time for manager Gary Alexander to adapt to the non-league following his decorated footballing career in the Football League as Greenwich racked up valuable points versus Tooting, Lewes, Hastings and Carshalton this season. Sitting in third, Borough won the home tie for the play-off semi-final and would face the on-form Casuals. Meanwhile in the other semi-final, second-placed Dorking Wanderers hosted Hastings United at Westhumble.
Casuals’ cracking 5-1 win over Godalming Town boosted sky-high confidence on Saturday as seven consecutive wins with five cleans sheets left the underdogs with a chance. The previous two meetings between Borough and Casuals has seen the Amateurs of Tolworth win a total of six points thanks to a 2-0 home victory and a 3-0 away outing. Reyon Dillon’s brace aided Casuals’ visiting delight at the DGS in March so it would be to Greenwich’s despair to see the forward’s name on the team-sheet ahead of the vital fixture. A strong back four of Spencer, Strange, Dudley and Hodges left keeper and captain Danny Bracken feeling safe and secure in Casuals’ net. The midfield of Coskun Ekim, Mahrez Bettache, Jordan Clarke and Mu Maan were there to provide the ball for Casuals’ super striking partnership: Dillon and Okojie.
Bracken and Alexander shook hands whilst the two sets of players exchanged words on the pitch. Corinth were wearing the classic white away strip alongside the red and black home kit of the hosts. The scene was set- there were only a few moments more of daylight left until the night descended onto the compact DGS Stadium. The referee blew the whistle as the first-half started for the play-off semi-final. And for one team, this all-important clash would produce a nightmare start. A hopeful punt from the left flank saw a red shirt nod the ball back into the danger area in the fourth minute, when no.11 Mohamed Eisa controlled before comfortably firing into the hands of Danny Bracken. Casuals’ (and England’s) no.1 was baffled to see the ball in the net instead of his gloves as a monumental bobble in the goalmouth took the strike into the bottom left corner. Eisa had his eighteenth goal of the season, Greenwich had the opener and Casuals had the initial disadvantage. It took fourteen minutes of gradual pressure for the visitors to strike back.
Working the ball into the area, Casuals were searching for an equaliser via Mu Maan, who managed to get the ball out of his feet and skilfully round a defender before being unfairly taken down by Borough’s Glenn Wilson. Pointing to the spot with confidence, the referee ignored the appeals of the Greenwich players. Converting a penalty for the opener on Saturday, Shaun Okojie was his usual composed self when the striker sent Greenwich’s Holloway the wrong way and tucked the ball into his bottom right corner. It was 1-1.
Spirits were high in the noisy Casuals end, until a storm of anger and confusion was thrust towards the referee in the 20th minute. Casuals’ midfield anchor Coskun Ekim approached a long ball that fell for Lewwis Spence and threw himself into a 50/50 challenge, where he lifted his leg in an attempted clearance. Ekim’s high boot made contact with the chest of Spence instead of the ball and the Greenwich player fell to the floor in pain. It seemed like the referee would give Ekim a caution, but then Mr. Bishop reached for the red. Eskim was dejected as he left the pitch. Casuals had been dealt an immense task of bettering Greenwich with only 10 men.
The supporters had belief. The songs and cheers continued, and so did the match. Minutes later, Reyon Dillon single-handedly sent the Casuals end into raptures of celebration. Fending off the presence of centre-back Liam Hickey, Dillon rounded the no.5 before powering the ball across the goalmouth. Deflecting off the boot of Greenwich’s Daniel Young, the half-cross half-shot beat the aghast keeper and put the 10-man Casuals 2-1 up.
An action-packed second-half had only just reached the half-hour mark when another goal nestled into the net. This time, it wasn’t due to a fault of the pitch or a deflection- it was pure class. In the 34th minute, Peter Sweeney brilliantly curled a free-kick into the top corner as Greenwich equalized: it was 2-2.
Half-time was dominated by the natter of the first 45’s frantic events amongst the 427 attendance and the refills of hot drinks (or alcohol) as the night spilled onto the scene in Greenwich. Casuals have a habit of scoring just after the restart, but it was the hosts who nearly took the lead via a corner which was nodded towards the crowded area, but fell to the completely open Wilson. It beat Bracken, but it did not beat the crossbar as groans from the quiet Greenwich faithful echoed around the ground… before being drowned out by the terrific Casuals contingent.
The extreme effort of combatting Greenwich with one less man brought the ten men closer together as everyone pulled their weight and battled on. Dillon nearly grabbed the third as his shot agonisingly edged past the post. Then, the hard work paid off. Maan, who was denied a goal-scoring opportunity in the first-half, had the chance to contribute in the 59th minute. The midfielder slammed a free-kick into the Greenwich wall that took a slight touch off a defender before gloriously flying into the net. The goalkeeper was caught off guard as Casuals cheekily took the lead. 3-2!
The suspense cooled when Casuals, incredibly, scored their fourth. Mahrez Bettache was hovering on the edge of the area after a corner was rebuked. The midfielder punted the ball into the area towards Jack Strange, who peeled away from his marker and expertly headed the ball to Shaun Okojie, who did what he does best- score. It was the definition of ‘scenes’ in the Casuals end as Okojie celebrated. Casuals had a two goal breathing space as the score-line read 4-2… to the team with ten men!
Wilson, who hit the bar in the first 45, volleyed the ball past Bracken in the 83rd minute as the celebrations of Casuals’ fourth was a distant memory now. This topsy-turvy thriller was now 4-3 to Casuals.
The Earth’s atmosphere is made up of mostly nitrogen and oxygen. But in the DGS Stadium on that Tuesday night in Greenwich, it was made up of pure tension. The five minutes of stoppage time was perhaps the longest five minutes a Casuals fan will ever have as substitutions and injury breaks contributed to the time. You could feel the excitement and remarkable disbelief as the referee blew for full-time, it was 4-3 to the ten-man amateurs: Corinthian-Casuals!
An insane result saw players, supporters and staff merging to sing, dance and celebrate this monumental achievement. In those few moments, all the hard work and all the sacrifices had been worth it. Hours after full-time, there was still a sense of awe in the Casuals camp. To say the least, it was a night to remember!
The news of the other semi-final reached Greenwich very late as Dorking and Hastings couldn’t find a winner after 120 minutes, and were forced to go to penalties. Dorking were victorious with a 4-3 penalties win. The venue and opponent had been decided: it would be Dorking Wanderers vs Corinthian-Casuals at Westhumble, Dorking on Saturday 29th April. Whoever won, would be promoted. No pressure lads!
Stuart Tree spoke to the emotional James Bracken at full-time:
“That was thoroughly deserved tonight. We played over an hour with just ten men after a harsh red card was issued. The first goal was an absolute joke of a goal too. The bobble over Danny is a horror show and in games of this importance, you don’t want things like that play such an important part.
“At that point, you feel like things are stacking up against us. But we know the team spirit – and in the club as a whole, is massive.
“At half time, I said to the boys that we can either dwell on these moments or we can come out and be nothing but heroes. No one expected anything from us at that point. No one ever does. People often overlook us.
“We’re in the playoff final on merit. That’s not on luck. We were fantastic.
“That game today was worthy of a Disney film. One of those films where everything is stacked against you and we’re the underdogs with nothing going our way. Yet somehow, we pull through.
“I said to the lads after, you get moments in life – not just in football – where you get that tingle… that feeling that there’s something a little special here. We had an opportunity today to have one of those moments and take it. That’s exactly what they did.
“The playoff final will be tough. You don’t expect to play mugs. We’ll be up against a good side. But we’re a good side too and we’ve just shown against a very good team that even with ten men, we’re a threat. We’re resolute, we don’t concede many chances and we take our own.
“On the form we’re on, you probably wouldn’t want to play us.
“Now, we have to finish this job off. We’re not here to be finalists… we’re here to be winners and to end up in the Ryman Premier.”
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