Corinthian-Casuals 2-4 Carshalton Athletic
Bostik League One South
Monday 28th August 2017
Match report - Cameron Smith
It was a fourteen minute second-half spell that condemned Corinthian-Casuals to a 4-2 loss as Carshalton Athletic’s capability to convert their chances defeated a Danny Cunningham brace in the Bostik League Divison One South at the King George’s Arena.
“I believe this is a better team than the one we had at the end of last season.” These words from James Bracken following the 5-0 victory over East Grinstead on Saturday injected even more hope into Casuals supporters as the annual Bank Holiday fixtures were next; a tough clash with Carshalton Athletic was on the horizon. Jerson Dos Santos stole the show in the visit to West Sussex with a terrific hat-trick, whilst Reyon Dillon and Josh Uzun were the other scorers.
The Robins have had a brilliant start to their 17/18 Division One South campaign as an unbeaten run of three games includes two wins and a draw, as well as their progression into the first round of the Emirates FA Cup. Predicted to grab an automatic promotion spot at the start of the season, Peter Adeniyi’s side have a few renowned names in their squad, with goal-scoring machine Tommy Bradford, former-Chipstead striker Raheem Sterling-Parker and ex-Corinthian Casuals centre-back Danny Dudley in their ranks. The fantastic Dudley, who was a crucial part of the team that reached the play-off final last season, joined Carshalton in the summer and would make his first appearance back at King George’s.
Looking to combat the strong starting eleven of the Sutton-based club was the on-form Casuals side, fresh from a morale-boosting win two days before. James Bracken decided to utilize the great depth of his squad; hotshot Gabriel Odunaike and set-piece king Josh Uzun were rested. It was Malachi Robinson who would take the place of ‘Gabby’ on the wing, whilst Uzun would give the no.9 shirt to Daniel Cunningham. After a few absences, Dave Hodges returned to the match-day squad, but was given a spot on the bench as Jamie Byatt thrived in left-back again.
Silky passing and outstanding organisation (especially in midfield) saw Casuals outbalance the strong attacking and defensive presence of Carshalton in the first thirty minutes, with the twenty-minute mark producing an opening goal. After a few minutes of speculation around the penalty area, Ben Cheklit found some space on the right flank to whip an early cross towards Cunningham in the box. It was a perfectly placed assist for the striker to peel away from his marker Dudley and dive towards the ball, before connecting and sending it into the goalkeeper’s near post. Brilliant anticipation from Cunningham gave Casuals the 1-0 lead. Starting slightly better than the visitors, Corinth could not keep up with the pace and prowess of the attacking red shirts of Carshalton as they settled. Then, in the 43rd minute, Casuals would lose their lead. It seemed inevitable that Jordan Cheadle, who netted a set-piece at King George’s on Boxing Day for former side Walton Casuals, would dispatch the penalty. Jack Strange’s challenge resulted in the spot-kick, which Cheadle did in fact score. Carshalton struck back just before the break; it was 1-1.
Half-time gave spectators a chance to have a breather following forty-five minutes of full-on football. Would the second-half bring the same intensity? Or would one side prevail?
It was the latter that was the outcome.
Six minutes after play was resumed, Carshalton struck via no.11 Mickel Miller, who managed to capitalise from a corner. A decent following, the Robins contingent behind the goal were delighted to take the lead for the first time in the game, but they would be celebrating again soon. Miller was not finished with the chocolate & pink defence and would burst onto the scene in the 63rd minute, before beating Danny Bracken and firing into the net. It was a very different performance from the Casuals everyone saw in the first-half as the tight midfield and solid back four was loosened up by the clinical Carshalton. It was now 3-1, but Raheem Sterling-Parker wanted in on the goalscoring two minutes later; the no.9 oozed class when he slotted home another goal for the away side. Four goals to one, Athletic were surely victors?
The Corinthians behind the goal, nor the ones on the pitch gave up after the fourth and seemingly deciding goal flew into the back of the net. Dos Santos was on the edge of the area when he decided to power a shot towards goal, and despite the goalkeeper getting his gloves on it, the rebound fell perfectly for Cunningham. Fuelled by his first, the striker was first to the loose ball again, when he nodded past keeper Richard Ossai. Awoken by Danny’s second goal, the Casuals fans resumed their chants and resumed their support- it was 4-2 with twenty-two minutes left. Anything was possible!
However, just moments before Cunningham netted his second header of the day, Ben Cheklit hobbled off the pitch for Max Oldham, which was a worrying sign for the Casuals. The final twenty minutes were long and agonising for both sides, but it was definitely more agonising for Corinthian-Casuals, who had three stand-out chances to jump back into the game.
Dos Santos was circulating on the edge on the box again when the no.10 had another effort on goal, but his low shot narrowly missed the goal, and clipped the post on its way behind. Carshalton seemed to sit back slightly in the last 10 minutes, so their relaxed style of play would be shaken by a glorious chance for Casuals.
The third golden chance was rejected by Richard Ossai- the Carshalton shot-stopper. Cunningham proved to be a real pain for the Robins throughout the 90 minutes and nearly grabbed his hat-trick when Jamie Byatt’s incredible left foot curled a cross for the striker, who managed to clip the ball high in the air with a single touch. It was an audacious effort that deserved to dip over Ossai and into the net, but the keeper’s quick reactions prevented a third goal. The deflated Casuals supporters could only applaud Ossai’s stunning save.
Jack Strange was shaking his head when he left the field for half-time at East Grinstead, and even muttered to the Casuals supporters ‘I could’ve had a hat-trick!’ as three identical headers from set-pieces flew narrowly wide. Strange would be put in the same situation again versus Carshalton as the centre-back connected with a Uzun (who came off the bench for Mu Maan) corner and directed the ball towards goal. The leap was perfect, the power was perfect and the accuracy… was near-perfect as the header shattered against the underside of the crossbar. The ball bounced on the goal-line before being cleared and the Casuals supporters joined the players in screaming for a goal to be allowed- they thought it was over the line. Referee Mr Sunny Gill peered over to the linesman on the touchline, who was shaking his head and the man in black continued with play. Harsh was an understatement as James Bracken’s army had hit the post and the crossbar, but to no avail.
The full-time whistle blew without another Casuals goal as Carshalton left Tolworth with three points and a 4-2 away win.
Thank you to Carshalton Athletic for a thrilling Bank Holiday fixture on a roasting Monday afternoon. The result bumped the Robins into second place in the league as Walton Casuals remain at the top without a defeat or a draw- four games, four wins. Casuals’ short-lived winning streak was over, but James Bracken’s side would be happy that the next round of the FA Cup was next on the list as Ashford Town beckoned on Saturday 2nd.
After the match, Assistant Manager Dan Pringle reflected on the afternoon.
"First 45 minutes, we were in total control. We attacked at will, created some good opportunities but were disappointed to go in at half time at one-apiece. It was a sloppy penalty to give away. I feel they were quite fortunate to be on level terms with us at that point.
“We can put the loss down to a mad ten minutes in the second half. We switched off and got punished for it. We showed good character to come back from it. Great for Dan Cunningham to bag a couple of goals and Jack Strange's header, which was clearly over the line could’ve made all the difference. But we left it too late.
“When you concede four goals, you cannot expect to win a game of football.
“We need to cut out the errors. The four goals we conceded were very sloppy on our part. We weren’t carved open or never inflicted any sustained pressure on us. But the two goals in two minutes hurt us.
“It’s one game today where we’ve been punished for mistakes but there’s 42 more league games to go. Let’s see where we are at the tail end of the season.
“Everyone has to be a little bit careful with their expectations of the club. Last year was fantastic, reaching the playoff final. But we lost nine players in the Summer. To completely rebuild the squad again with people expecting the same results from us is obviously difficult.
“We have no playing budget as everyone knows and we’ve had to start from scratch again. But James and I have so much belief in our ability and in the ability of the lads that there’s no reason we can’t be up there again.
“This is probably the toughest start to the season that we could’ve had. But we’re through to the next round of the FA Cup and two wins in the league, including beating title favourites Greenwich… we’d have probably taken that if it was offered to us at the start.”
Bostik League One South
Monday 28th August 2017
Match report - Cameron Smith
It was a fourteen minute second-half spell that condemned Corinthian-Casuals to a 4-2 loss as Carshalton Athletic’s capability to convert their chances defeated a Danny Cunningham brace in the Bostik League Divison One South at the King George’s Arena.
“I believe this is a better team than the one we had at the end of last season.” These words from James Bracken following the 5-0 victory over East Grinstead on Saturday injected even more hope into Casuals supporters as the annual Bank Holiday fixtures were next; a tough clash with Carshalton Athletic was on the horizon. Jerson Dos Santos stole the show in the visit to West Sussex with a terrific hat-trick, whilst Reyon Dillon and Josh Uzun were the other scorers.
The Robins have had a brilliant start to their 17/18 Division One South campaign as an unbeaten run of three games includes two wins and a draw, as well as their progression into the first round of the Emirates FA Cup. Predicted to grab an automatic promotion spot at the start of the season, Peter Adeniyi’s side have a few renowned names in their squad, with goal-scoring machine Tommy Bradford, former-Chipstead striker Raheem Sterling-Parker and ex-Corinthian Casuals centre-back Danny Dudley in their ranks. The fantastic Dudley, who was a crucial part of the team that reached the play-off final last season, joined Carshalton in the summer and would make his first appearance back at King George’s.
Looking to combat the strong starting eleven of the Sutton-based club was the on-form Casuals side, fresh from a morale-boosting win two days before. James Bracken decided to utilize the great depth of his squad; hotshot Gabriel Odunaike and set-piece king Josh Uzun were rested. It was Malachi Robinson who would take the place of ‘Gabby’ on the wing, whilst Uzun would give the no.9 shirt to Daniel Cunningham. After a few absences, Dave Hodges returned to the match-day squad, but was given a spot on the bench as Jamie Byatt thrived in left-back again.
Silky passing and outstanding organisation (especially in midfield) saw Casuals outbalance the strong attacking and defensive presence of Carshalton in the first thirty minutes, with the twenty-minute mark producing an opening goal. After a few minutes of speculation around the penalty area, Ben Cheklit found some space on the right flank to whip an early cross towards Cunningham in the box. It was a perfectly placed assist for the striker to peel away from his marker Dudley and dive towards the ball, before connecting and sending it into the goalkeeper’s near post. Brilliant anticipation from Cunningham gave Casuals the 1-0 lead. Starting slightly better than the visitors, Corinth could not keep up with the pace and prowess of the attacking red shirts of Carshalton as they settled. Then, in the 43rd minute, Casuals would lose their lead. It seemed inevitable that Jordan Cheadle, who netted a set-piece at King George’s on Boxing Day for former side Walton Casuals, would dispatch the penalty. Jack Strange’s challenge resulted in the spot-kick, which Cheadle did in fact score. Carshalton struck back just before the break; it was 1-1.
Half-time gave spectators a chance to have a breather following forty-five minutes of full-on football. Would the second-half bring the same intensity? Or would one side prevail?
It was the latter that was the outcome.
Six minutes after play was resumed, Carshalton struck via no.11 Mickel Miller, who managed to capitalise from a corner. A decent following, the Robins contingent behind the goal were delighted to take the lead for the first time in the game, but they would be celebrating again soon. Miller was not finished with the chocolate & pink defence and would burst onto the scene in the 63rd minute, before beating Danny Bracken and firing into the net. It was a very different performance from the Casuals everyone saw in the first-half as the tight midfield and solid back four was loosened up by the clinical Carshalton. It was now 3-1, but Raheem Sterling-Parker wanted in on the goalscoring two minutes later; the no.9 oozed class when he slotted home another goal for the away side. Four goals to one, Athletic were surely victors?
The Corinthians behind the goal, nor the ones on the pitch gave up after the fourth and seemingly deciding goal flew into the back of the net. Dos Santos was on the edge of the area when he decided to power a shot towards goal, and despite the goalkeeper getting his gloves on it, the rebound fell perfectly for Cunningham. Fuelled by his first, the striker was first to the loose ball again, when he nodded past keeper Richard Ossai. Awoken by Danny’s second goal, the Casuals fans resumed their chants and resumed their support- it was 4-2 with twenty-two minutes left. Anything was possible!
However, just moments before Cunningham netted his second header of the day, Ben Cheklit hobbled off the pitch for Max Oldham, which was a worrying sign for the Casuals. The final twenty minutes were long and agonising for both sides, but it was definitely more agonising for Corinthian-Casuals, who had three stand-out chances to jump back into the game.
Dos Santos was circulating on the edge on the box again when the no.10 had another effort on goal, but his low shot narrowly missed the goal, and clipped the post on its way behind. Carshalton seemed to sit back slightly in the last 10 minutes, so their relaxed style of play would be shaken by a glorious chance for Casuals.
The third golden chance was rejected by Richard Ossai- the Carshalton shot-stopper. Cunningham proved to be a real pain for the Robins throughout the 90 minutes and nearly grabbed his hat-trick when Jamie Byatt’s incredible left foot curled a cross for the striker, who managed to clip the ball high in the air with a single touch. It was an audacious effort that deserved to dip over Ossai and into the net, but the keeper’s quick reactions prevented a third goal. The deflated Casuals supporters could only applaud Ossai’s stunning save.
Jack Strange was shaking his head when he left the field for half-time at East Grinstead, and even muttered to the Casuals supporters ‘I could’ve had a hat-trick!’ as three identical headers from set-pieces flew narrowly wide. Strange would be put in the same situation again versus Carshalton as the centre-back connected with a Uzun (who came off the bench for Mu Maan) corner and directed the ball towards goal. The leap was perfect, the power was perfect and the accuracy… was near-perfect as the header shattered against the underside of the crossbar. The ball bounced on the goal-line before being cleared and the Casuals supporters joined the players in screaming for a goal to be allowed- they thought it was over the line. Referee Mr Sunny Gill peered over to the linesman on the touchline, who was shaking his head and the man in black continued with play. Harsh was an understatement as James Bracken’s army had hit the post and the crossbar, but to no avail.
The full-time whistle blew without another Casuals goal as Carshalton left Tolworth with three points and a 4-2 away win.
Thank you to Carshalton Athletic for a thrilling Bank Holiday fixture on a roasting Monday afternoon. The result bumped the Robins into second place in the league as Walton Casuals remain at the top without a defeat or a draw- four games, four wins. Casuals’ short-lived winning streak was over, but James Bracken’s side would be happy that the next round of the FA Cup was next on the list as Ashford Town beckoned on Saturday 2nd.
After the match, Assistant Manager Dan Pringle reflected on the afternoon.
"First 45 minutes, we were in total control. We attacked at will, created some good opportunities but were disappointed to go in at half time at one-apiece. It was a sloppy penalty to give away. I feel they were quite fortunate to be on level terms with us at that point.
“We can put the loss down to a mad ten minutes in the second half. We switched off and got punished for it. We showed good character to come back from it. Great for Dan Cunningham to bag a couple of goals and Jack Strange's header, which was clearly over the line could’ve made all the difference. But we left it too late.
“When you concede four goals, you cannot expect to win a game of football.
“We need to cut out the errors. The four goals we conceded were very sloppy on our part. We weren’t carved open or never inflicted any sustained pressure on us. But the two goals in two minutes hurt us.
“It’s one game today where we’ve been punished for mistakes but there’s 42 more league games to go. Let’s see where we are at the tail end of the season.
“Everyone has to be a little bit careful with their expectations of the club. Last year was fantastic, reaching the playoff final. But we lost nine players in the Summer. To completely rebuild the squad again with people expecting the same results from us is obviously difficult.
“We have no playing budget as everyone knows and we’ve had to start from scratch again. But James and I have so much belief in our ability and in the ability of the lads that there’s no reason we can’t be up there again.
“This is probably the toughest start to the season that we could’ve had. But we’re through to the next round of the FA Cup and two wins in the league, including beating title favourites Greenwich… we’d have probably taken that if it was offered to us at the start.”
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