Corinthian-Casuals 2 - 3 North Leigh
Emirates FA Cup First Round Qualifying
Saturday 3rd September 2016
King George's Arena
Attendance: 168
Match report: Cameron Smith. Pics: Stuart Tree (full set of photos here)
On a sombre Saturday afternoon, Corinthian Casuals exited the Emirates FA Cup in the first qualifying round as Evo-Stik Southern League side North Leigh scored an 89th minute winner to win 3-2 and progress into the next round.
The overcast King George’s was host to two sides doing very well in their respective leagues as the magic of the FA Cup took over Tolworth. Two changes were made from the entertaining 3-3 draw against Tooting on Bank Holiday Monday; the injured Dave Hodges was replaced by Shaun Okojie as Byatt reverted to left-back and Niall Wright was out for Kevant Serbony. Fourth in their division, North Leigh hoped to extend their two-game winning streak with an FA Cup victory. The international break brought a healthy 168 to the ground and everyone was in for an interesting clash.
Like the Tooting fixture, the opposition struck first. Lance Williams was first of all denied by the superb reflexes of Danny Bracken before the no.6 headed in the rebound. Four minutes later, Corinth responded with the tricky talisman Shaun Okojie generating a chance out of virtually nothing- the striker shrugged off a defender and directed a low shot from outside the box into the near corner of the net. Calm and composed even in the celebration, Okojie levelled after thirteen minutes. However, he wasn’t finished. Clever work from Josh Gallagher saw the forward burst into the box and set up Okojie for his second. Super Shaun had turned the game around in the matter of minutes with two similar efforts, both sharing the same destination- that bottom left corner. Later in the first half, the visitors crept back into the match with Bracken having to keep out lots of shots from the spirited Yellows. Referee John Pike blew for half-time with the score 2-1 to Casuals as both teams re-grouped.
Inclement weather dampened the mood in the latter forty-five as rain lashed down onto the game. Ten minutes after the re-start, George Seacole scored to equalise as the no.9 headed the ball into the ground to make it difficult for Bracken, who grabbed a touch but couldn’t completely dispose as the away side made it 2-2. North Leigh were ignited as Seacole and Odihambo had opportunities to edge ahead, but either missed or were dismissed by the on-form Bracken. Goal-scorer Williams preposterously sliced the ball over the bar from six yards out as three players in yellow had their head in their hands at the incredible miss, this occurred after Creholes effort hit the post.
Ten minutes from time, Casuals had their furst real chance of the half as Kev Serbony exploded towards goal but North Leigh keeper Thompson made a impressive diving save after the powerful shot was tipped onto the post. Moving closer and closer to a replay, it was the Windmill Army’s Lance Williams, previous goal-scorer and the man who unbelievably missed from yards out, to step up and win the game for his club. Unmarked, Williams brilliantly looped his header past Bracken and into the net to make amends. Despite Okojie nearly scoring his hat-trick with two chances in stoppage time, Casuals’ FA Cup hopes were over.
This game saw Corinth knocked out of the FA Cup as North Leigh advanced into the second qualifying round. We wish them well in the future. Next, Casuals return to King George’s for a league game against Guernsey on Tuesday evening.
“Yet again, we've gone behind which is something we have to stop doing.” said Bracken after the match. “Yet again, we've come back from behind to be winning but we've conceded three goals again. We've let in twelve goals in six games and I cannot remember one of those goals being a good one.
“Every single time, there's been someone who's culpable, whether it's giving away a cheap free kick or not marking their man or switching off. It's happened too often.
“That'll be addressed on Tuesday night. Some of the boys who've been waiting will get opportunities and others will have to realise that, whilst I'm a fair man, I'm also here to deliver performances to a good level on a consistent basis. We've not done that today and even in the games that we've won, we cannot continue conceding two or three goals.
“It might be entertaining and make people come to watch us, knowing there'll be lots of goals but I hate those games. I look at other results and think '4-3? I'm glad I'm not involved in those matches'. But at the moment, with the amount we are conceding, we are involved in those games. It needs to be stopped and fast.
“I want to go back to winning games 1-0 or 2-0. Back to how it should be.
“We never played in the second half. We never got the ball down and under control. We had the wind at our back and that seemed to be an excuse to knock the ball up the other end as far as we could. It was pretty brainless from us if I'm honest.
“When we changed the shape and made the substitutions, it improved us and we started to get back into it and even at the end, Shaun Okojie has a header from six yards and I'd put money on him to score from there. He's also had an open goal where he's taken a heavy touch, so we could've snatched a draw and got a replay. But it would've masked over the fact that we're leaking too many goals and that cannot continue.
“We're down to second in the table but with a game in hand so it's not doom and gloom but I'm at the point where I should be giving chances to other lads after conceding twelve goals in six games. If I have a striker that doesn't score for ten games, then I won't play them and it's the same for defenders. We need to keep clean sheets, concede less and be more dominant. We'll give people the opportunity to prove they can do it and if they can, they'll be in possession of those shirts.
“I'll always say this to the boys though; I'll never judge them in defeat and I won't judge them on their work-rate. There's no problem with their effort but perhaps there is in terms of the quality of our play and our defending
“We have to get back to the basics; winning first headers, picking up second balls, consistently tracking runners, marking in the box. Just defend properly and don't give away cheap free kicks. Things like that will cost us and we've got away with it for a while. When you win 3-2, you tend to forget about it but when you lose 3-2, it highlights it. So we'll address it.
“There's no panic button to push just yet but one or two need a little reminder that levels of performance need to improve. We need to step it up on Tuesday and we'll judge them in their reaction against Guernsey and not in the performance in the Cup today.”
Emirates FA Cup First Round Qualifying
Saturday 3rd September 2016
King George's Arena
Attendance: 168
Match report: Cameron Smith. Pics: Stuart Tree (full set of photos here)
On a sombre Saturday afternoon, Corinthian Casuals exited the Emirates FA Cup in the first qualifying round as Evo-Stik Southern League side North Leigh scored an 89th minute winner to win 3-2 and progress into the next round.
The overcast King George’s was host to two sides doing very well in their respective leagues as the magic of the FA Cup took over Tolworth. Two changes were made from the entertaining 3-3 draw against Tooting on Bank Holiday Monday; the injured Dave Hodges was replaced by Shaun Okojie as Byatt reverted to left-back and Niall Wright was out for Kevant Serbony. Fourth in their division, North Leigh hoped to extend their two-game winning streak with an FA Cup victory. The international break brought a healthy 168 to the ground and everyone was in for an interesting clash.
Like the Tooting fixture, the opposition struck first. Lance Williams was first of all denied by the superb reflexes of Danny Bracken before the no.6 headed in the rebound. Four minutes later, Corinth responded with the tricky talisman Shaun Okojie generating a chance out of virtually nothing- the striker shrugged off a defender and directed a low shot from outside the box into the near corner of the net. Calm and composed even in the celebration, Okojie levelled after thirteen minutes. However, he wasn’t finished. Clever work from Josh Gallagher saw the forward burst into the box and set up Okojie for his second. Super Shaun had turned the game around in the matter of minutes with two similar efforts, both sharing the same destination- that bottom left corner. Later in the first half, the visitors crept back into the match with Bracken having to keep out lots of shots from the spirited Yellows. Referee John Pike blew for half-time with the score 2-1 to Casuals as both teams re-grouped.
Inclement weather dampened the mood in the latter forty-five as rain lashed down onto the game. Ten minutes after the re-start, George Seacole scored to equalise as the no.9 headed the ball into the ground to make it difficult for Bracken, who grabbed a touch but couldn’t completely dispose as the away side made it 2-2. North Leigh were ignited as Seacole and Odihambo had opportunities to edge ahead, but either missed or were dismissed by the on-form Bracken. Goal-scorer Williams preposterously sliced the ball over the bar from six yards out as three players in yellow had their head in their hands at the incredible miss, this occurred after Creholes effort hit the post.
Ten minutes from time, Casuals had their furst real chance of the half as Kev Serbony exploded towards goal but North Leigh keeper Thompson made a impressive diving save after the powerful shot was tipped onto the post. Moving closer and closer to a replay, it was the Windmill Army’s Lance Williams, previous goal-scorer and the man who unbelievably missed from yards out, to step up and win the game for his club. Unmarked, Williams brilliantly looped his header past Bracken and into the net to make amends. Despite Okojie nearly scoring his hat-trick with two chances in stoppage time, Casuals’ FA Cup hopes were over.
This game saw Corinth knocked out of the FA Cup as North Leigh advanced into the second qualifying round. We wish them well in the future. Next, Casuals return to King George’s for a league game against Guernsey on Tuesday evening.
“Yet again, we've gone behind which is something we have to stop doing.” said Bracken after the match. “Yet again, we've come back from behind to be winning but we've conceded three goals again. We've let in twelve goals in six games and I cannot remember one of those goals being a good one.
“Every single time, there's been someone who's culpable, whether it's giving away a cheap free kick or not marking their man or switching off. It's happened too often.
“That'll be addressed on Tuesday night. Some of the boys who've been waiting will get opportunities and others will have to realise that, whilst I'm a fair man, I'm also here to deliver performances to a good level on a consistent basis. We've not done that today and even in the games that we've won, we cannot continue conceding two or three goals.
“It might be entertaining and make people come to watch us, knowing there'll be lots of goals but I hate those games. I look at other results and think '4-3? I'm glad I'm not involved in those matches'. But at the moment, with the amount we are conceding, we are involved in those games. It needs to be stopped and fast.
“I want to go back to winning games 1-0 or 2-0. Back to how it should be.
“We never played in the second half. We never got the ball down and under control. We had the wind at our back and that seemed to be an excuse to knock the ball up the other end as far as we could. It was pretty brainless from us if I'm honest.
“When we changed the shape and made the substitutions, it improved us and we started to get back into it and even at the end, Shaun Okojie has a header from six yards and I'd put money on him to score from there. He's also had an open goal where he's taken a heavy touch, so we could've snatched a draw and got a replay. But it would've masked over the fact that we're leaking too many goals and that cannot continue.
“We're down to second in the table but with a game in hand so it's not doom and gloom but I'm at the point where I should be giving chances to other lads after conceding twelve goals in six games. If I have a striker that doesn't score for ten games, then I won't play them and it's the same for defenders. We need to keep clean sheets, concede less and be more dominant. We'll give people the opportunity to prove they can do it and if they can, they'll be in possession of those shirts.
“I'll always say this to the boys though; I'll never judge them in defeat and I won't judge them on their work-rate. There's no problem with their effort but perhaps there is in terms of the quality of our play and our defending
“We have to get back to the basics; winning first headers, picking up second balls, consistently tracking runners, marking in the box. Just defend properly and don't give away cheap free kicks. Things like that will cost us and we've got away with it for a while. When you win 3-2, you tend to forget about it but when you lose 3-2, it highlights it. So we'll address it.
“There's no panic button to push just yet but one or two need a little reminder that levels of performance need to improve. We need to step it up on Tuesday and we'll judge them in their reaction against Guernsey and not in the performance in the Cup today.”
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