Corinthian-Casuals 5 - 4 Hendon
FA Trophy 3rd Round Qualifying
Saturday 31st October 2020
Report and Photos: Stuart Tree (full set here)
More photos from Andy Nunn here.
It was a ‘Ghoul-fest’ at King George’s Arena on Halloween as Corinthian-Casuals and Hendon played out a nine-goal thriller in the FA Trophy.
A brace from Jerson Dos Santos was complemented with goals from Keiron Cadogan, Jack Strange and Ben Cheklit to ensure James Bracken’s Casuals progress to the next round of the competition.
It was stark contrast to the week before in which Bracken had described the dour 0-0 with Leatherhead as ‘one of the worst games he’d been involved in.’ In fact, the match drew praise from all of the 407 in attendance with comments left on social media afterwards, such as ‘genuinely one of the best games I've ever seen in 40 years as a neutral.’
The score-line bounced around like a tennis tie-break all afternoon. Even Bracken couldn’t quite recall what the final score was during the post-match interview. He was simply enjoying the occasion, with King George’s rocking.
The scoring started early with ex-Casual Shaun Lucien sending Danny Bracken the wrong way from a penalty, awarded when Warren Morgan fouled his attacker. Casuals were level seven minutes later when Dos Santos bopped in a header after Jonathan North couldn’t parry the first effort to safety. Dos Santos made it two when he let fly a rasping shot from 20 yards to give Casuals the lead.
Hendon Captain Tommy Brewer scored an equally-impressive goal to ensure the sides went in at half-time level.
The attacking intent from both sides intensified in the second half and Casuals once again took the lead, also from the penalty spot. Cadogan placing the ball in the left corner out of reach of North.
There was some controversy to Hendon’s next equaliser; Danny Bracken was felled in a melee from a corner which allowed Toby Byron to freely head home.
However, Casuals weren’t done. Jack Strange found space in the box to poke in from ten yards before Ben Cheklit had looked to have sealed the tie with a beautiful curler, leaving North clutching thin air. 5-3 for those keeping count.
Hendon made Casuals sweat for a nervy few minutes when Cheyce Grant pulled one back in the 89th minute and they could’ve taken the tie to penalty kicks deep into stoppage time had they converted a header which was frighteningly close.
This report doesn’t detail the number of other efforts from both sides, as we’d end up with ‘War and Peace’. A shout out to Bracken in goal who made a number of vital saves as well as the attacking intent of both sides who looked to score every time they surged forward. As James Bracken said last week, ‘We’re in the entertainment business’ and this was something straight out of the Palladium.
FA Trophy 3rd Round Qualifying
Saturday 31st October 2020
Report and Photos: Stuart Tree (full set here)
More photos from Andy Nunn here.
It was a ‘Ghoul-fest’ at King George’s Arena on Halloween as Corinthian-Casuals and Hendon played out a nine-goal thriller in the FA Trophy.
A brace from Jerson Dos Santos was complemented with goals from Keiron Cadogan, Jack Strange and Ben Cheklit to ensure James Bracken’s Casuals progress to the next round of the competition.
It was stark contrast to the week before in which Bracken had described the dour 0-0 with Leatherhead as ‘one of the worst games he’d been involved in.’ In fact, the match drew praise from all of the 407 in attendance with comments left on social media afterwards, such as ‘genuinely one of the best games I've ever seen in 40 years as a neutral.’
The score-line bounced around like a tennis tie-break all afternoon. Even Bracken couldn’t quite recall what the final score was during the post-match interview. He was simply enjoying the occasion, with King George’s rocking.
The scoring started early with ex-Casual Shaun Lucien sending Danny Bracken the wrong way from a penalty, awarded when Warren Morgan fouled his attacker. Casuals were level seven minutes later when Dos Santos bopped in a header after Jonathan North couldn’t parry the first effort to safety. Dos Santos made it two when he let fly a rasping shot from 20 yards to give Casuals the lead.
Hendon Captain Tommy Brewer scored an equally-impressive goal to ensure the sides went in at half-time level.
The attacking intent from both sides intensified in the second half and Casuals once again took the lead, also from the penalty spot. Cadogan placing the ball in the left corner out of reach of North.
There was some controversy to Hendon’s next equaliser; Danny Bracken was felled in a melee from a corner which allowed Toby Byron to freely head home.
However, Casuals weren’t done. Jack Strange found space in the box to poke in from ten yards before Ben Cheklit had looked to have sealed the tie with a beautiful curler, leaving North clutching thin air. 5-3 for those keeping count.
Hendon made Casuals sweat for a nervy few minutes when Cheyce Grant pulled one back in the 89th minute and they could’ve taken the tie to penalty kicks deep into stoppage time had they converted a header which was frighteningly close.
This report doesn’t detail the number of other efforts from both sides, as we’d end up with ‘War and Peace’. A shout out to Bracken in goal who made a number of vital saves as well as the attacking intent of both sides who looked to score every time they surged forward. As James Bracken said last week, ‘We’re in the entertainment business’ and this was something straight out of the Palladium.
“Last year, we didn’t score enough goals,” said Manager James Bracken after the match. “We had one of the best defences in the league and the second lowest goal tally. In the summer, I was single minded that I wanted us to score more. But we were prepared that we might win some games 4-3 or 5-4 because when you do score more, you leave yourself open. That’s a trade off.
“Anytime you see teams win by big scores, there’s often a 3-2 or a 4-3 in there. It’s about finding a balance.
“We should remember that we went behind in this match. It was important that we went in at half-time in touch. We not only responded to going behind early, we took the lead. We kept going and we got ourselves into a winning position.
“Of course, I’d rather win 2-0 or 3-0 than 5-4 but that’s the trick in finding the right balance. I can deal with that. We’ll look at the goals that we’ve conceded and see where we can improve. We can also rest easy knowing we’ve got five goals in the team. If we’re able to do that again on Tuesday, then whoever we play will have a lot to do to beat us.
“My feelings are out there on the performance we put in against Leatherhead. People have said to me that I was right in what I said and that my criticism was justified. These are from people I trust who’ve watched us consistently over the years – not those who’ve turned up to see one or two games.
“You can skin a cat a thousand different ways in football. The most important thing is when you set the team up in the 15-20 minutes before the game, they all follow the game plan. They all need to be on board with the instructions and give it 100% maximum effort. We didn’t do that last week. We did this week. And we won. So there’s nothing but praise for the boys. I thought there were a lot of fantastic performances out there. They got the fans going.
“I want an atmosphere like that every week. I’m sure everyone wants that atmosphere every week. Why wouldn’t you? You can go to a lot of other non-league clubs and they’re full of old people who just want to moan. You hear the groans from the stands.
“Here, we like to be in it together. It’s not us and them. The fans are behind the goal doing there bit and the boys on the pitch are doing their bit. You keep each other going. The team needs the fans and vice versa. I’m not sure which came first today. All I know was the team played well, we scored five goals and the fans were fantastic.
“I felt very relaxed today. I found myself tapping my feet, nodding along to the songs. I thought I was going to start dancing. Maybe I need to check what people put in my tea today.
“I enjoyed it. After last week, that’s really what I needed. I said to the boys, enjoy it, smile, because if you’re doing that, then I’m enjoying it and that’s all I really want. They followed my instructions, they scored five goals and we won. What’s not to enjoy about that?”
Riverside Radio Highlights
This season for the first time at Riverside Radio, our Sports Team are recording highlights of featured matches. Any feedback would be greatly appreciated as we'll continue to work to bring you better highlights. If anyone would like to help or get involved in recording highlights or anything else at the Riverside Radio Sports Team you can email the Sports Editor, Henry Thomas-Aldridge, at henry@riversideradio.com
This season for the first time at Riverside Radio, our Sports Team are recording highlights of featured matches. Any feedback would be greatly appreciated as we'll continue to work to bring you better highlights. If anyone would like to help or get involved in recording highlights or anything else at the Riverside Radio Sports Team you can email the Sports Editor, Henry Thomas-Aldridge, at henry@riversideradio.com
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