Sutton Common Rovers 2-0 Corinthian-Casuals
Jenkins 48
Ghannam 86
Saturday 13 January 2024
Pitching In Isthmian South Central Division
Attendance: 111
Report By Finlay Stubbs
Photo by Gary Brigden
Corinthian-Casuals were left frustrated after they fell to a disappointing 2-0 defeat to 10-man Sutton Common Rovers on Saturday afternoon.
Despite a much-improved performance, Casuals were undone by two goals at either end of the second half.
Casuals were given hope in the latter stages when Matthew Tanton was sent off following a second yellow card, however the visitors failed to capitalise.
Paul Barnes made five changes from the New Years’ Day defeat to Chipstead, with several debutants coming in, who put in impressive displays. The first 10 minutes proved to be hotly contested, leading to plenty of fouls in the midfield, which invited the hosts to deliver crosses into the box.
Nebay Haile had the first real chance of the game for Casuals when he cut inside off the right and saw his effort brilliantly saved by Oshane Brown. It was then Jason Kaate’s turn to test Brown with a driven cross that was beaten away, to deny a simple tap-in at the far post.
The hosts began to create chances of their own as Charlie Martin’s toe-poked effort hit the post with the rebound well cleared by the Casuals defence. Rovers had the ball in the back of the net just before half-time when Ollie Twum poked home from close range, only for the offside flag to be raised and the sides went in level at the break.
Casuals started the second half slowly and were punished when Aaron Jenkins’ attempted cross snuck inside the near post to give SCR the lead.
The visitors almost got their equaliser soon after when Haile won the ball high up the pitch. His first strike was well saved by the SCR keeper and his second attempt was cleared miraculously off the line.
The hosts were close to doubling their lead when Daryl Coleman’s free kick was headed across goal and cleared off the line by Jakob El Hage.
Rovers were forced to play the last 20 minutes with 10 men when their captain, Tanton, was sent off for a second bookable offence after he brought down Haile. Casuals then began to control possession which led to several chances, including substitute Ashley-Paul Robinson’s free-kick which just flash wide.
However, the hosts doubled their lead with four minutes left to play when a misplaced pass ended up at the feet of Nabeel Ghannam, who rounded Dan O’Donovan and slotted his effort home.
In the latter stages, O’Donovan got down low to his right to deny SCR another before the full-time whistle was blown.
Overall, it was a frustrating afternoon for Barnes’ side, who at times threatened the Rovers goal, but were denied on several occasions by Brown.
“I think the performance was good," the Casuals manager said afterwards. “A lot more solid today and I think we began to play a lot more, then the goal was just a killer five minutes into the second half.
“We then got on the front foot against 10 men and gave them a very soft goal which takes the wind out of our sails. It's a tough one to take but we knew it wasn't going to be easy. There’s nobody else that’s going to fix it, only us.
“Unfortunately, we are not in a position where we can test things if boys can’t do it. Then we bring in players that can.”
Casuals return to action on January 23rd, when we host QPR Under-21s in the London Senior Cup.
Corinthian-Casuals: O’Donovan; Sankanu, L.Taylor, El Hage (A.Clarke 85), Majekodunmi; Abie, Q.Taylor, Pollock(Robinson 63); Dembele, Haile, Kaate
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