Corinthian-Casuals 1-0 Three Bridges
Ryman League Division One South
Saturday 23rd April 2016
Attendance: 164
Match report and pics: Stuart Tree (full set here).

Corinthian-Casuals ended the season in utter disappointment as decisions off the pitch scuppered James Bracken’s side’s chances of the playoffs and promotion.

Despite the tumultuous 24 hours which saw three points harshly docked for fielding an ineligible player back in January, Casuals had an outside chance to still make the top five. Six wins on the bounce had put Corinth’s playoff destiny in their own hands but decisions made by the FA and League meant that three vital points were stripped from a side that didn’t deserve such a punishment. Many hundreds of messages of support for the club came in from the Non-League community, not least from scores of Hastings fans, whose side were set to profit the most from Corinth’s loss.

Bracken named his strongest line-up possible with the only notable omission of the suspended Niall Wright. Jamie Byatt resumed his familiar attacking role after filling in at full back last week.

The opposition, Three Bridges had only pride to play for but proved their competitiveness in the week after a 3-3 draw with Peacehaven and a narrow last minute loss to Champions Folkestone.

Byatt almost opened the scoring in a matter of seconds but was to be the story of the first half. Stand in keeper, Alfie Jones was in fine form as he prevented a number of chances, not least saving from Shaun Okojie in the early minutes. Juevan Spencer also came close as did Josh Uzun’s beautifully struck free kick from 25 yards which was well tipped over by Jones.

Tension was in the air as supporters learned that Hastings United were losing to Herne Bay. However, Faversham Town, the only other side who could reach the playoffs were inexplicably beating in-form Hythe Town by a comfortable margin.

Second half and Casuals pushed for the goal which would give them the slim chance for playoff glory. The crucial introduction of substitute James Cottee turned the game; Dave Hodges in a trademark burst down the wing crossed to the near post where Cottee neatly flicked the ball past Jones and sent the fans into rapturous jubilation.

In truth, it was pretty comfortable for Casuals with Danny Bracken in goal only coming into action at the end to neatly stop a Bridges counter attack. However, events in Kent had conspired against the miracle that was needed as Faversham thumped playoff rivals Hythe Town 4-0. Hastings had surprisingly lost and the final scores meant Faversham clinched 5th whilst Casuals leapfrogged Hastings into 6th… one point behind the crucial playoff place.
After the match, James Bracken found it hard to contain his disappointment.

“Every one of those players deserves to be in the playoffs. That’s where my thoughts on the matter begin and end. I don’t think anything else has sunk in at the moment.

“We turned up today to win and we’ve won our seventh game in a row. That’s exactly what I’d said we’d do, even before Christmas. We’ve done enough to get in the playoffs. We should be in the playoffs but we’re not. The reasons are scandalous to say the least.

“It’s not about me… it’s about the lads. I’ve enjoyed every minute of this season apart from maybe three halves of football. Every minute of every game, they’ve done everything I’ve asked of them . They’ve worked their absolute socks off for nothing and they deserved their rewards. That’s what we set out to do but we haven’t got it.

“It’s been a fantastic season. When I came here in the summer and said I’d get this team promoted, people looked at me like I was a lunatic.

“If we’d made the playoffs, we’d have won them. People might say it’s easy to say that now but when I’m wrong, you can pull me up on it. Until then, I’ll say what I want to say, and that is we would’ve won it.

“Record points total, record position in the league, record FA Trophy run… I don’t know what more we could’ve done short of getting the fair rub of the green which we deserved.  I wanted the opportunity to pit ourselves against the other top sides in this division over two games to bring Ryman Premier football to a club that never believed it could be done.

When asked if this team could win the league next season, Bracken said, “Of course! I’m very forward thinking. In football, if you don’t move forward, then you go backwards. I’m continually moving forward. We have a squad here that is in my opinion a top three side.

“Next season, we’ll be stronger, I will be wiser, we’ll be more together and the squad will be settled from the start of pre-season rather than the forty-odd group of players we had last year which was too many. We’ll be ready to go.
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“This group of players have proven what they can do; we’ve lost once in the last ten games and seven on the spin. Not only that, we were leading the league in the early part of the season. We had a dip, come back from that and showed character. They showed everything you need to see in a team to be successful.

I will relax now. I have a few games left with Sutton Youth side, I’ll take a breather – a few weeks off and then I’ll be ready to go again come the start of pre-season.

Walton Casuals 2 - 3 Corinthian-Casuals
Ryman League Division One South
Saturday 16th April 2016
Moatside
Report by Cameron Smith. Pics: Stuart Tree

Corinthian-Casuals left their fate to the final day of the season as they moved into the play-offs thanks to a late winner from Jamie Byatt to edge Walton Casuals 3-2 at the Moatside stadium.

After a convincing 3-0 victory at Walton & Hersham, Corinthians were looking to extend their impressive five wins in a row but were hampered by a few key absences. Dave Hodges and Emil Salama’s names did not appear on the team-sheet, with striker Byatt converting to left-back and James Cottee starting on the wing. Danny Dudley was introduced to the substitutes bench after a three game absence. Meanwhile, Walton Casuals, who are forced to play in Merstham FC's ground due to Waterside Stadium's renovation, sat in 17th place, safe from relegation with nothing apart from pride to play for. 

The first-half was end to end with both sides threatening to open the scoring. The best chance came in the fifteenth minute as Ben King stood over a free-kick, weighing up his chances. The centre-back curled a brilliant set-piece onto the top of the crossbar much to the relief of the helpless Walton keeper Brannon Daly.

Daly was called into action again as three minutes later, a low Niall Wright effort was a straight-forward save for the hosts's shot-stopper. Perhaps due to the horrendous condition of the goal-mouth, Daly let the ball go and the in-form Shaun Okojie took advantage, tapping the ball into the net for his seventeenth of the season. Still dwelling on his previous mistake, Daly nearly fumbled Josh Uzun's corner into his own net before the crossbar came to the rescue. On the half-hour, Corinthians fans behind the goal were celebrating but not for anything to do with the game in front of them. With play-off rivals Faversham Town losing and Hastings drawing, Casuals moved into fifth place, the play-offs!

The jubilance lasted ten minutes until Walton equalised; Omar Folkes found himself with a clear opportunity to level the game and he did- even if the powerful effort deflected before finding the net. With new found confidence, Walton nearly took the lead before half-time but skipper Scott Day’s shot sailed over the bar.

The hazardous strike-partnership of Folkes and Odunaike looked to tire the Casuals defence in the second half. That became apparent when Odunaike rounded keeper Bracken but could only hit the side-netting. That missed opportunity for Walton was to be rued as Uzun broke his fourteen games without a goal. The midfielder side-footed the ball into the far corner ahead of the crazy celebrations that ensued from fans and players as Casuals resumed their lead.

Terry 'Butcher' Murray headed the ball just over the bar from a corner as the visitors pressurized the busy Walton defence, searching for a third goal. Nevertheless, the hosts also had chances to score- and they took one of them. The dangerous Odunaike was set through on goal and after racing past Bracken, the speedy striker passed the ball into the net with ease as Walton equalized for the second time.

With fifteen minutes to go, there was one proven goalscorer that could save the away side. However, club legend Jamie Byatt was playing his role at left-back. Nevertheless, Warren Morgan trespassed his way through the worried Walton defence on the byline, he delivered a fantastic pinpoint pass into the area for the oncoming Byatt to slot home. The left-back used his striker's instinct to find space and to convert the ball into the near post. Byatt screamed in delight at his third goal of the season and it proved to be the winning one.

Play-off rivals Faversham Town lost 2-1 at East Grinstead while Hastings gained a point during the 2-2 draw at Ramsgate, which mean Casuals edge into the play-offs with only one game to go. The final day of the season will see Casuals face Three Bridges at home, Hastings host Herne Bay and Faversham play Hythe Town. As James Bracken said: “Our fate is in our hands.”

Walton and Hersham 0 - 3 Corinthian-Casuals
Ryman League Division One South
Saturday 9th April 2016
Attendance: 112
Match report: Cameron Smith. Photos: Stuart Tree (full set here)

A slick Corinthian Casuals side cruised past relegation-stricken Walton & Hersham with a 3-0 victory at sunny Stompound Lane, their fifth win in five games.
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After the vital midweek win at home to Carshalton Athletic, Casuals marched to the Sports Ground, home to third-from-bottom Walton & Hersham. Five points from safety, Walton were on the edge of relegation after nine consecutive games without a point; their last win being in early January. Meanwhile, Casuals were on the hunt for promotion. Play-offs in sight, James Bracken had piled pressure onto fellow promotion-seeking clubs. Bracken made one change to his Carshalton-conquering starting XI, with Josh Uzun replacing Brandon Johnson in midfield.

A first-half which was dominated by random bounces, misjudged passes and embarrassing falls, it seemed like both sides were attempting to get used to the rough surface of the Sports Ground. Liam Beech, the Hersham goalkeeper, was put through his paces and constantly had his eye on the action as Casuals controlled the right-flank with the speedy Warren Morgan and trickster Emil Salama linking up multiple times.

The hosts’ defence kept strong and combatted the aerial ability of Jamie Byatt and Shaun Okojie. The ball was in the back of the net after Okojie leapt high into the air from a pinpoint Ben King cross and beat keeper Beech to head home for Casuals. Jubilance was drowned out as the linesman’s flag was silently raised; the score-line remained goal-less.

Entering the second-half, goals were imminent as Shaun Okojie scored his fifteenth of the season with a conversion into the left-hand corner after intelligent passing play from Salama and Byatt. Okojie has now netted a stunning eight goals in five matches.

A minute later, Emil Salama took advantage of Walton & Hersham’s fallen confidence, dancing in and out of players before selflessly laying the ball off to Sekou Kaba, who slotted home.

The two-goal cushion let Casuals relax as substitute James Cottee took his time to beautifully place the ball into the net after a slip from the previously-solid centre-back Van Sullivan. The score was 3-0 and Walton had lost all hope. They were lucky to keep it at three when Cottee plucked the ball from the air brilliantly before unleashing a fire-cracker which nearly broke the crossbar.

Fellow substitute Juevan Spencer was somehow not awarded a penalty as the winger charged into the area before being upended. However, the Corinthian spirit showed as Spencer picked himself up and continued with the game. The dying embers of the match sparked a free-kick on the edge of the area as Uzun stood over it. The midfielder curled a delightful effort into the top corner before being denied by a spectacular Beech save. Casuals fans punched the air at full-time, celebrating a well-deserved three points.

Corinth leave the Swans on the verge of relegation, with a home fixture against second-placed Dorking Wanderers deciding their fate. Bracken’s side will be disappointed to see that play-off neighbours Faversham Town thrashed Walton Casuals 7-0, Hastings Utd beat Molesey 4-2 and Hythe Town won 2-0 away at Sittingbourne. After a week’s rest, Casuals travel to Merstham to face the other Walton - Walton Casuals are the next opponents and it is another must-win game.

Manager James Bracken spoke of how ‘unlucky’ it would be to not make the playoff stages with the points total accumulated this season by the Amateurs.

Casuals sit on 79 points, one point off the crucial fifth spot with two games left. Last season, 81 points was good enough to make the playoffs and the season before, just 78 points.

However, a competitive season sees Faversham Town (80 points), Hastings (80 points) and Casuals effectively vying for the final place.

“We’d be extremely unlucky if we were to get 85 points and not make the playoffs,” said Bracken.

“We still believe. All we can do is approach the seven games positively and win all of them. We’ve won five in a row with four clean sheets and two games left. If we achieve the seven wins but don’t get into the playoffs, then clearly it’s still not been good enough. But it’d be very unlucky not to be good enough.

“You couldn’t foresee that in the position we’re in, if we won all seven, we wouldn’t make it. Realistically, if we won all seven games, we’d get there. I still think we will after the last two games. We’re reliant on other results and when you look at how they went today – a 7-0 and a 5-1, teams are obviously under performing at this stage of the season that shouldn’t be.”

Bracken reflected on the 3-0 win, which virtually condemns Walton and Hersham to the final relegation spot.
“The pitch was impossible today. As long as Walton were in the game, we knew it’d be tight because the pitch dictated that we couldn’t play the kind of football that we’d like. We tried to bring the ball down but it bobbled around so much, we got caught and control was bad because of it.

“It became a case of putting the ball forward with as much quality as we can, putting pressure on a side that’s shipped a fair few goals. We knew we’d get a breakthrough and once we had, we knew they’d lose a bit of desire to hang on into a game and we’ve been able to finish off the job.”

Corinthian-Casuals 2 - 0 Carshalton Athletic
Ryman League Division One South
Tuesday 5th April 2016
Attendance: 160
Report by Cameron Smith. Pics by Stuart Tree

Two goals in two minutes from the in-form Shaun Okojie gave ten-men Corinthian-Casuals hope in landing a place in the play-offs after a hard-earned 2-0 victory over Carshalton Athletic in a lively encounter at King George’s.
 
A memorable late winner against East Grinstead on Saturday was still fresh in the minds of the Casuals supporters as the race for the play-offs heated up. The absence of Danny Dudley was a massive blow to James Bracken’s side. However, after a clean sheet against the Wasps, Ben King was injected with new-found confidence in the unfamiliar position. Meanwhile, Juevan Spencer was replaced in midfield by Brandon Johnson. Emil Salama, who made an impressive impact from the substitutes bench on Saturday, started on the right wing ahead of Josh Uzun.
 
Carshalton were in 10th place, three spots behind Casuals. They were maintaining a four game unbeaten run, where they most notably beat Hastings United 3-1.
 
From the start, Casuals had control of the game. Jamie Byatt had a chance to score inside the first twenty seconds but the ball was cleared on the goal-line. Warren Morgan took advantage of a lapse in concentration from the visitors with a marauding run before being unfairly upended by Captain Tony Sinclair in the area. As the referee pointed to the spot, Shaun Okojie strolled towards the ball, eyeing up the goalkeeper. The striker had ice flowing through his veins as he sent keeper Luke Colquhoun the wrong way and scored in the fourth minute.
 
Perhaps still affected conceding early, Colquhoun received the ball in the six yard box and without thinking, passed it out wide to a marked full-back. Salama was on his toes and intercepted the ball before squaring it to Okojie in the centre. The target-man made no mistake as he slotted past the devastated Robin’s keeper and celebrated.
 
Carshalton lacked attacking inspiration and most of the possession fell in the hosts favour until the stroke of half-time. As midfield engine Niall Wright was heavily involved in a squabble on the half-way line, the referee Andrew Williams awarded Casuals a free-kick. After the pushing and shoving died down, Williams, to the shock of King George’s, showed a straight red card to Wright and only a yellow for agitator Tommy Bradford. The bizarre decision took an even stranger turn when the original judgement of a Casuals free-kick was over-ruled and it became a set-piece for the away side. Expressions of confusion, disbelief and anger rippled through the shell-shocked crowd. The first-half ended with mixed emotions as Casuals faced an up-hill task of protecting their 2-0 lead with ten men.
 
Anxiously, Casuals fans watched on as Danny Bracken made a great stop to deny the speedy Ricky Korboa, who skipped past the Morgan with ease. Byatt knocked down a long-ball for Okojie to turn and shoot just wide of the post.
 
There was an unpleasant moment after Carshalton’s Colquhoun dropped the ball at the near post from a corner, resulting an exchange with fans behind the goal. This led to the keeper seemingly taking matters into his own hands before calm was restored.
 
A lengthy stoppage; it looked less likely that Carshalton would conjure two goals, especially when Korboa was dismissed for a second yellow with ten, tense minutes to go. That was the case as Casuals deservedly took home all three points.
 
Remaining in tenth place, it looks like Carshalton will have to settle for a mid-table spot. Play-off rivals Hastings edged East Grinstead while Molesey were held at Tooting and Herne Bay lost against Ramsgate. One point from the play-off spots, Corinth sit in seventh place with two consecutive trips to Walton on the cards.
 
After the match, Manager James Bracken gave his thoughts.

“Was it a feisty game? Well, I can’t remember us committing a bad foul in the whole game. We’ve had one sent off just before half time for something I honestly can’t see and neither can anyone else in the ground.

“It changed the game even though we were two-nil up by that point. Our game plan certainly worked and counter-acted everything they were trying to achieve, which is why we scored two early goals.

“Second half, I thought we were fantastic.

“There’s different ways to play football. Not one way – and that’s a mistake a lot of people make – they think there’s one way to play football and win. There isn’t. If you know all of the different ways to play and you can apply them at the right times, you’ll always get the upper hand. That’s what we’ve done tonight.

“I don’t know what the laws are when the keeper leaves the field of play and confronts fans and puts his hands up, but if he does that on the pitch to a player, he walks. I don’t see why he should be able to do that to our fans who were again, fantastic tonight.

“Four wins down and three to go. That’s the way we’re looking at it.

“Going into Saturday we’re very focussed. We’ve had pressure for the last four games because I’ve told them that we have to win them all and we’ve won four out of four. So there’s no more pressure now.

“There’s pressure on one or two teams around us who should have a look at what we’re doing and realise we were six points adrift and now we’re a point outside the playoffs with three games to go. So maybe they’ll feel a bit of pressure.” 

Corinthian-Casuals 1 - 0 East Grinstead Town
Ryman League Division One South
Saturday 2nd April 2016
Report by Cameron Smith. Photos by Stuart Tree (full set of photos here)
 
Shaun Okojie scored a scrappy 89th minute winner to secure all three points against East Grinstead Town on a sunny afternoon in Tolworth.
 
Okojie, who scored five goals in five games last month, was inevitably chosen to frighten the East Grinstead defence alongside usual partner Jamie Byatt. The absent Danny Dudley was replaced at centre-back by Ben King while Josh Uzun was introduced at the expense of James Cottee on the left wing. The visitors, who have gained confidence in hope of advancing above their dangerous 21st position (one spot from the relegation zone) after a victory over Guernsey on Easter Monday, hoped to take valuable points away from play-off hopefuls Casuals.
 
Lacking a proven source of creativity, the first half was frustrating as chances went by, not taken. The inclusion of Uzun however, gave Casuals life when a powerful effort kept Grinstead goalkeeper Jack Howard on his toes. It was not just Casuals having half-chances as the away side thought they should have been awarded a penalty after Ben King lunged in on a Wasps forward. However, the referee consulted the linesman and gave a goal-kick, much to the relief of deputy King. As half-time lingered, both teams needed to change their approach in this disjointed affair.
 
Created by Juevan Spencer, Casuals kick-started the second half with a flowing move ending in Okojie firing a brutal shot horrendously wide of the gaping net. Another beautifully worked move, Jamie Byatt headed in a trademark Spencer cross, which resulted in crazy celebrations from the well-spirited crowd behind the goal. Jubilance was short-lived as the linesman flagged the goal offside and stamped on the Casuals parade. Niall Wright was gifted a rare opportunity to grab headlines as a block set the midfielder up for a shot but the ball somehow ended up in the car park! In the 77th minute, Emil Salama made tremendous impact from the substitutes bench with a lightning shot cannoning off the crossbar much to the disappointment of the faithful Casuals supporters.
 
Nevertheless, Casuals continued to make chances and did not give up- even in the 89th minute. Shaun Okojie netted his thirteenth of the season with a header from one yard out in a perplexing goal-line scramble. The goal-scorer was thrown to the floor by his team-mates in ecstatic scenes.
 
A devastating loss for the respectable East Grinstead contingent, they still hover just outside the drop zone. Meanwhile, Casuals sit in seventh, four points of play-off heaven. More points hope to be consumed in the mid-week fixture at home to Carshalton Athletic and I predict that it will be a goal-fest.
 
After the match, Manager James Bracken spoke to Stuart Tree.
 
 “We deserved to have that game won well before that last minute winner today. That’s probably as an important goal as we’ve had all season.
 
“We’ve had that determination and work-rate about us all year. It would’ve been very easy for us to feel sorry for ourselves in the last ten minutes and settle for the fact that it wasn’t going to be our day, but we didn’t – we kept going and playing until the final whistle.  
 
“We got our just rewards. I said to the lads, if you’re going to be successful and win things, you need to have that resolve about you as a team and they certainly did today.
 
“We’ve picked up three wins out of three which is what we’ve needed to do. Realistically, we’ve got to pick up another three wins out of the last four games as an absolute minimum. More than likely, we’ll need to win all four. But if we keep playing like we are then that will happen.
 
“We’ve had a good squad all season. In fact it’s probably been too good. Over the last couple of months, it’s evolved and one or two have gone for different reasons and we’ve tightened up the squad a little ready for the final run-in. We have that in the changing room now and that’s why we’ve won three out of the last three.”