Corinthian-Casuals 0 - 0 Lewes
Isthmian League Premier Division
Saturday 26th February 2022
Report and Photos: Stuart Tree (full set of pics here)

Corinthian-Casuals bounced back from a midweek 5-0 defeat in the League Cup to stifle playoff hopefuls Lewes in the Isthmian League Premier Division.
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It was Casuals first league clean sheet since November and was welcomed by Manager James Bracken after shipping a number of goals in recent games.

It was a tough ask against high-flying Lewes who had only lost once in eight league games and with Joe Taylor in their line-up, scorer of 25 goals already this season, keeping the Rooks out looked unlikely.

But taking the game to the visitors never allowed them to settle or impose themselves. At the end of ninety minutes, it would be Casuals supporters who felt more aggrieved that they hadn’t won the game.

It was a delight to see former Casual Juevan Spencer back at King George’s too and enjoyed his individual battles with ex-teammate Ben Cheklit all afternoon. Knowing each other’s game so well, it was intriguing who would get the best of each other. It clearly spurred Cheklit on… the winger looked dangerous all afternoon.

Casuals had the better of the chances in the first half with Elliott Bolton firing a rising shot over the bar and the diminutive Emmanual Mensah seeing his back post header brilliantly tipped over by Lewis Carey in goal. The other Emmanuel – Agboola, in goal at the other end was sharp to keep Lewes out on a couple of occasions too.

Casuals pressed and Alfie Bendle’s cross was turned in by Ollie Sitch from close range but deemed offside by the linesman. Kieron Cadogan also fired into the side netting to end the first half goalless.

The theme continued in the second half when Carey saved low to an oncoming Sitch. Casuals turned up the pressure and in the space of two minutes, saw the bar hit twice and another fabulous save by Carey, this time from Captain Jack Strange’s header.

The last few minutes could’ve seen either side win it with Cheklit and Spencer vying for the ball and what appeared a mis-timed challenge on the former, was not penalised due to the winger’s ‘honesty’ of staying on his feet. At the other end, substitute Ollie Tanner fired narrowly wide.

A point a piece and whilst a clean sheet for Casuals was very welcome, especially against the second-best scoring side in the league. But Bracken and his side would feel they should’ve had more.

“It was important that we reacted the way we have,” said James Bracken after the match. “Nothing but credit to the boys today. They were great. I was very forthcoming with giving them criticism on Tuesday and obviously that stuck. They’ve taken it on the chin and responded today with a performance full of quality.

“Games like Tuesday happen. You concede goals at crucial times and it ends up going in a certain direction. The only thing we can do is to make sure our attitude is good going into the next match. If a result like that doesn’t make you angry and it doesn’t fire you up, then you are not cut out for this.

“We’ve hit the woodwork three times, their keeper made a number of good saves and we should’ve had a penalty at the end, but we remain honest and don’t go down under the challenge. Another day, that’s a deserved win.

“I know I beat the drum but we’re a decent side. If teams think they’ll roll over us, they’ll find that they’ll come up short.
“We’ve turned up even more motivated because of the result in midweek. All week, I’ve had people asking me ‘what happened Tuesday?’, like they’re poking me with a stick. The only way to respond is by putting in a good performance and getting a decent result.

“We weren’t prepared to give Lewes easy goals which is what we’ve done in recent games. We’ve been expansive and sometimes too attacking. When you do that, and you don’t score, you’ll lose. That’s the bottom line. Today, I felt we had a much better balance.

“You also need the individuals to go out there and win their personal battles. You look across the back line and the middle of the park and I think we edged all of them. If you go out there and win more than half of your battles across the pitch, then you’re in the game. Then it’s all about taking your chances, which was a little unfortunate that we didn’t today.

“Results follow performances so as long as we stay at that level, then the results will follow.

“We’ll approach Tuesday before we worry about selections for Thursday. Who I pick for Tuesday are far easier after today.”
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Casuals face Haringey Borough on Tuesday and Carshalton Athletic on Thursday, both at home. 

Corinthian-Casuals 0 - 3 Bowers & Pitsea
Isthmian League Premier Division
Saturday 12th February 2022
Report: Stuart Tree. Photos: Andy Nunn. (Full set here)

​Corinthian-Casuals put in their most insipid performance this season as they were convincingly beaten by Bowers and Pitsea at the United Business Group Stadium on Saturday.

A Lewis Manor brace along with a Michael Ademiluyi strike was enough to give the Essex side three vital points on the road as they look to pull away from the drop zone.

Casuals were without a number of players including Emmanuel Mensah who was still suffering from a dead leg in midweek. Nordibek Bobomurodov returned to make his first start for the club as they looked to get back to winning ways following a lack of three points in recent games – albeit against top of the table opposition.

But they got off to the worst start as Bowers took the lead on just six minutes. Manor was on hand to tuck away a Jamie Dicks free kick leaving Casuals defenders scratching their heads.

Corinth never got their engine started, let alone out of first gear as Bowers could’ve – and should’ve been out of sight before half time. Two gilt-edged chances fell to Manor who somehow didn’t add to his early strike. The hosts were also dealt another defensive blow as Jerry Nnamani had to come off thanks to a hamstring pull.

But Casuals weren’t to get away with it as Michael Ademiluyi pounced at the far post from a long throw just before the break to leave Bracken’s side an uphill task.

The home side clearly had a rocket put up their backsides by Bracken as they started much brighter, but a third for Bowers on the break, with Manor tapping in from close range was enough to seal victory. Casuals never truly got going and never really troubled Beaney in the Bowers goal.
 
"As a game of football, that’s the worst I’ve seen all season," said James Bracken after the match. "Credit to Bowers though for coming and doing what they’ve done to us as it worked for them. We’ve shot ourselves in the foot. The goals that we’ve conceded are terrible. To let players have tap ins from four yards unmarked is criminal.

"Lewis Manor has bagged two and we all know what he’s capable of. We prepared for what to expect and to anticipate him winning first balls because he’s very good at that. A player of that ilk is as good as a Cunnington in terms of being a target man. But we’ve switched off too many times.

"I thought we were better in the second half but they’ve scored against the run of play. We had plenty of the ball but we did nothing with it. Our only real good chance in the match came in the 93rd minute. We weren’t good enough. The overall level was not up to the standard I expect.

"Sometimes you get sucked into a game of football that suits one side and their style. I think that’s what has happened against Bowers. I don’t want to be seen as making excuses but the wind and the pitch was better suited for them than it was us. But we needed to do better on the day to combat that.

"We went out there with one or two knocks and a few missing. We have six games in less than two weeks coming up which is shocking. Even for a fully fit squad, that’s a tough ask.

"The bottom line is we’ve conceded three against Bowers, three against Bishops Stortford, three against Margate, three against Bognor and five against Cheshunt before Christmas. That’s certainly not what I want to see. We’ll address that though and look to tighten up once again.

"But we must have a reality check; we shouldn’t really be in this division on our resources. But we’re sitting twelfth in the league. We’re not down the bottom fighting off relegation. We’ve played some of the better sides and got great results. It’s been an enjoyable season for the most part. But we need to dust ourselves down and go again.”

Kingstonian 1 - 1 Corinthian-Casuals
Isthmian League Premier Division
Wednesday 9th February 2022
Report: Stuart Tree. Photo: Andy Nunn

Corinthian-Casuals and Kingstonian played out a scrappy 1-1 draw on Wednesday night in a result that ultimately benefitted neither club.

An opening first half goal from Daniel Ajakayie was cancelled out nine minutes later by a Peter Ojemen header – his first goal for the Casuals.

Casuals came into the match with squad selection issues having Elliott Bolton missing through Covid and the loss of Ola Williams in defence and Mo Diallo, through a strain, up top. Most notably was Captain Danny Bracken who’s injury continues to keep him out with the returning Manny Agboola back between the sticks.

As typical in so many derby encounters, the exchanges between the sides was nervy and players on both sides took time to settle into the game. It was on 21 minutes before anything of real note happened when Ajakayie pounced on a defensive mistake and slotted home from a neat angle leaving Agboola stranded after he’d attempted to come claim the ball.

But Casuals were level on the half hour mark when Peter Ojemen rose highest of the players to nod home Kieron Cadogan’s cross, with Sanneh unable to keep the ball out of the net.

The second half saw Casuals come out the blocks the better side with the best chance falling to Ricardo Thompson, who looked as though he was caught in two minds when the ball came to him 15 yards out without pressure – the midfielder shanking wide. Ojemen also had another good chance to add to his first half header, this time nodding the ball over.

Though on the front foot, Casuals had lost a key component in their engine with Mani Mensah being replaced at half time with a dead leg and Corinth tired as the half progressed. K’s grew in ascendancy and forced Agboola into action on several occasions. Not least with a fine near-post stop following a Kingston breakaway.

But the match played out without hitting any major high points and both sides will undoubtedly feel that a point is a justified result.

“We’re relatively happy with the point at the end of the game,” said Manager James Bracken after the match. We had boys across our back line who until Saturday, hadn’t played football for three or four weeks. So we knew we might get tired and we lacked a few options, what with injuries and Covid cases.

“However, I thought we played well. I thought we were the better side for the first half. We were on the front foot and had a real idea on how to go about winning the game. But we didn’t find that final ball anywhere near enough, especially from wide areas. I thought that our crossing tonight was poor. Too many were scuffed in across the floor or headed away by the first man. We didn’t have the quality on those like I’d expect us to have. The lads know that though. I don’t need to tell them. I did say to them afterwards that you don’t always get the quality you want to achieve but you then need to show a higher level of work-rate in order not to be beaten. Had we found a bit more quality in those areas, we’d be coming away with a win.

“But it’s another game unbeaten. You look at our results in the match programme and there’s not many ‘red’ losses in there. We’re a match for anyone in this league. Tonight, we we’re perhaps one or two players light from winning that game.

“Bowers and Pitsea on Saturday will be an incredibly difficult game. They were pegged back very late on at Folkestone this week. If a team are capable of being 2-1 up away at Folkestone up until the last kick of the game, then what do we expect other than a hard game?

“I’m sure it’ll be a different style of football from tonight. We expect them to be direct. We’ll expect long throws to come in on us. But we’ll make sure we prepare.”

“We achieved a draw here against Worthing, we lost at Bognor with a disallowed goal that would’ve put us 3-1 up after half time and score three away on Saturday at Stortford to get a positive result. We’ve got another positive result tonight against a side that’s vying for the playoffs. So what we don’t want to do now is have a dip in levels. And to be fair to the boys, they’ve kept the levels up. But I maintain, Saturday will be an incredibly difficult game.”

Bognor Regis Town 3 - 2 Corinthian-Casuals
Isthmian League Premier Division
Tuesday 1st February 2022
​Report: Stuart Tree. Photos: Andy Nunn (set of photos here)

Corinthian-Casuals Manager James Bracken was left furious with ‘strange decisions’ by the referee as Bognor Regis Town came from behind to clinch a dramatic 3-2 win at Nyewood Lane.

Casuals had led 2-1 at the break and looked to have extended their lead early in the second half but referee Peter Lowe deemed Ollie Sitch to have fouled Amadou Tangara in the build-up. He later went on to over-rule his own judgement on a penalty shout to give Bognor the three points.

Bracken left his side unchanged from the 1-1 draw with Worthing on Saturday including his makeshift defence, as he was still missing his four recognised Centre-Backs. Their performance against the league leaders at the weekend warranted a fair crack once again at holding the line.

But the game got of to a frantic start with Bobby Mills once again living up to his nickname of ‘Lobby’ producing another delicate lob over an oncoming Tangara. Before anyone could breathe, Bognor had equalised. Danny Bracken was forced into a good stop from Jordy Mongoy but Dan Gifford was on hand to tap in the rebound.

The game settled down somewhat after the opening exchanges until 25 minutes in when Tangara upended Ollie Sitch in the box, giving Casuals a golden chance to re-take the lead. Kieron Cadogan made no mistake from the penalty spot.

Then, in Casuals’ eyes, the turning point came immediately after the break. A cross from Ben Cheklit was flapped at by Tangara who’s spilled it to an awaiting Bobby Mills six yards out. However, Referee Peter Lowe deemed there to be a foul on the stopper, rather than him just spilling the ball and even booked Sitch in the process. Video replays emerging since, show that this was mighty soft! VAR huh?

Momentum swung and Casuals dropped off the pace for a spell which allowed Bognor back into the game. Nervous defending saw the Rocks capitalising on errors which led to Finlay Lovatt firing home an equaliser.

Then, on 66 minutes, Hakeem Adelakun was deemed to have brought down Joe Dandy, however the Referee had indicated a corner. Under pressure from Rocks players to speak to his Assistant, he unusually overturned his own decision and awarded a penalty. Despite Bracken getting a hand to the shot, it snuck in off the post and the home side led for the first time courtesy of James Crane.

Casuals pushed for an equaliser yet it just wouldn’t come. Bognor defended resolutely in numbers. The best chance Casuals had was in the last moments when a floated ball into the box saw Tangara come steaming through a group of players, flattening Nat Pinney in the process. Yet a free kick was awarded to the keeper. It had been one of those evenings.

We thank Bognor for their wonderful hospitality and warm welcomes and goodbyes afterwards. The fans are a credit to the league and we look forward to welcoming them for the return fixture on the 15th.

“I’m not pleased with the referee’s performance,” admitted James Bracken after the match.

“I rarely talk about referees. You can look back through the reports to see where I moan about them but they’re poor every week. But I won’t use it as an excuse for anything. We get on with it and I preach that ethos to the players too.

“But tonight, he’s poor. I’ve never known so many strange decisions. The turning point is us going three-one up at the start of the second half, with us on the front foot. It sets the tone for the rest of the match. And to not only disallow the goal but he books Ollie in the process. It’s scandalous.

“Even at the kick-off, Bognor won the toss and chose ends. That makes it our kick-off. But he got that wrong too and gave them the kick-off. We tell him but he refuses to acknowledge the mistake. I’m not being funny, if you can’t work out who’s won the coin toss and who’s kick-off it is, then there’s little hope for the rest of the game.

“The penalty call he’s had a fine view of it and didn’t deem it a foul. The linesman, who’s further away has given it.

“I could rattle on about so many decisions that were erroneous today. Look at the end of the match. We’re chasing the game, We’ve put a ball into a box full of players. The keeper calls it, comes charging out erratically and flattens our centre-forward who’s just standing there. How does he possibly come to the conclusion that it’s a free kick to the goalkeeper? How can that be? It’s got to be a penalty, especially as he hasn’t won the ball. Bottom line, he’s wiped out our player, and the ref has given a free kick to them. If that’s a defender come bowling through your players, it’s a penalty all day.

“He was consistently poor one way. It swung the tide of the game.

“Even at the end, 3-2 down, I fancied us to nick a late one. Considering what they were up against, the boys did great. We had it all to do. Obviously, the 3-1 disallowed goal, he’s got wrong. Too many bad calls at crucial moments of the game. It’s been appalling, quite frankly.

“I don’t feel we’ve been given a fair crack tonight.  

“Our centre-halves will be back over the next week. With the injuries and suspensions we’ve had, we know it’s a squad game and we’ve been getting through these last couple as best as we can. The boys who’ve stepped up have done great. But I also said to them, we’ll have players back Saturday which is good for the group.

“We changed our shape tonight after 15 minutes because I didn’t like the look of the game. I get a gut feeling. Had we left it as it was, would’ve been 4-1 either way at half time. And we didn’t need to make it one of those games. We wanted to add more control to the match and we have – going in 2-1 up at half time. We created plenty of chances and should’ve been 4-1 up at half time. Dan’s made a couple of good saves and you could argue it could be 4-4 – but that’s what he’s there to do… make saves.
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“I did feel we were the better side in the first half and we were a threat. We were getting in behind them and had two or three opportunities where we could’ve pulled it back for someone to smash it home.”