Wingate and Finchley 2 - 2 Corinthian-Casuals
Isthmian League Premier Division
Saturday 28th August 2021
Report and Photos: Stuart Tree (full set of pictures here)

It was Corinthian-Casuals best result at Wingate and Finchley for years but James Bracken will feel aggrieved with not taking all three points home following a stellar first half performance.

A brace from Warren Mfula inside the first half put Casuals in the driving seat for their first win of the season but were pegged back by their hosts with just six minutes remaining.

Casuals had the better of the attacking play in the first period with the front three of Mfula, Kieron Cadogan and Ben Cheklit regularly slicing through the Wingate back line. A great ball to Mfula saw the striker calmly finish from 15 yards to give Corinth the lead within quarter of an hour.

Fifteen minutes later and Mfula was once again on hand to race through and put a second past Fergal Hale-Brown in the Wingate goal (see photo above).

The game could’ve been put to bed just before the break when once again, Mfula had broken through latching onto another delightful ball only for this occasion to see his shot saved by Hale-Brown. Had that chance been taken and Wingate would’ve faced an almost insurmountable task in getting back into the game.

As such with football, the third goal is always the key; Casuals could’ve easily snatched one early on in the second half. Again, penetration into the Wingate box was frequent, just the defending was more resolute. Elliott Bolton’s rasper of a shot was well tipped over the bar by the increasingly busy Hale Brown.

But Wingate struck back with a fine goal of their own. Bilal Sayoud placed his header from a cross perfectly into the bottom corner past a despairing Danny Bracken.

And that’s when it all started to shift in momentum. It wasn’t helped when Casuals lost Michael Abnett through injury only for Hakeem Adelakun, his replacement, to also be subbed off just ten minutes after coming on, again through injury. This forced players to be shifted out of position and gave Wingate even more impetus to mount a challenge.

It all went wrong for Casuals with just six minutes remaining. A failed roulette turn by Will Efambe was seized upon by Wingate who capitalised – Danny Bracken saved well from the original shot but Jack Strange’s clearance hammered into Darnell Goather-Braithwaite and as such with bad luck, flew into the back of the net.

It could’ve gotten worse for Casuals, who were hanging on by the end. Bracken collided with Coskun Ekim, allowing Wingate through on a keeperless goal but the final shot was deflected over by an unnamed Casuals rear-end. And Bracken pulled off an outstanding save to ensure it wasn’t an entirely fruitless afternoon.

Certainly a ‘game of two halves’ Casuals will need to put in more of their first half performance and less of their second half effort if they’re to get points out of Monday.

Corinthian-Casuals 0 - 1 Folkestone Invicta
Isthmian League Premier Division
Saturday 21st August 2021
Report and Photos: Stuart Tree (full set of photos here)

Corinthian-Casuals and Folkestone Invicta played out a closely-fought contest that won’t live long in the memories of either sets of supporters, but one that Invicta boss Neil Cugley will be happy with taking the three points.

More memorable for the off-field atmosphere created by Fiel Londres – a group of thirty-so Corinthians fans on their first pilgrimage to King George’s, the game was decided by a solitary goal in the 17th minute by the dangerous David Smith.

Casuals probably gave their title contender opponents too much respect in the first twenty minutes and despite going close via a deflected free kick, it was Folkestone who broke the deadlock with a cross to Smith who couldn’t miss from close range.

Invicta were close to adding a second late on in the first half when a goalmouth scramble led to the ball crossing the line, but Referee Shelby Elson had blown for an infringement in the melee.

Casuals looked better in the second half and certainly had more endeavor in an attempt to get back into the match. Spurred on by constant authentic South American chants, backed by a samba beat, Warren Mfula forced a fine save from Roberts in goal. 

Corinth’s attacks were met with what could be one of the best defences they’ll face in the league this season and couldn’t find any sustained pressure. The best opportunity fell to Ben Cheklit, who, after the match had said the slightest touch by the Folkestone defender was just enough to ensure he didn’t made clean contact from a cross to the far post… his effort sadly falling just wide.

Folkestone Boss Cugley was happy with the win, commenting ““I thought we scored a good goal and battled hard.” Casuals could’ve walked away from this tough fixture with a point but now travel to Wingate and Finchley on Saturday in an attempt to get off the mark.

"Folkestone are a good side," said Manager James Bracken after the match. "The front pair are very lively with Draycott in behind them. I actually thought we done alright though. In the first half, we didn’t play our football. We didn’t run their wing-backs backward. We seemed to set ourselves up in a defensive block and struggled to break out from that. There was a lack of quality from us in trying to complete the first pass. We always had an out ball, but too often we didn’t find it."
 
"Second half, we concentrated on ourselves and came into it with a bit more belief. At the end, I think we deserved a draw. If we’d have scored in the second half, you’d say that was with the run of play. I got the feeling from their bench that they were hanging on for large parts of that second half."
 
"Folkestone will be a top four side. But we’ve given them a tough test today and be happy to get away from here with a 1-0 win." 
​

Potters Bar Town 3 - 1 Corinthian-Casuals
Isthmian League Premier Division
Saturday 14th August 2021
Match report and Photos - Stuart Tree (full set of pictures here)​

Corinthian-Casuals extended their run of opening day defeats with a 3-1 loss at Potters Bar Town in the Isthmian League Premier Division following two late penalties to gift the points to the Scholars.

Casuals haven’t won a first day fixture since defeating Whyteleafe at home 2-1 back in 2016, though this looked like the best chance to end that run after Birthday Boy Ben Cheklit had given Corinth the lead early in the second half.

However, missed chances, a goal cruelly struck off and two penalties ensured the home side took all three points.

There were competitive debuts galore across the pitch for James Bracken’s side but he would end up missing key strikers Warren Mfula and Kieron Cadogan as Casuals lay waste a host of opportunities to score.

Casuals started brightly and although there wasn’t much to separate the sides, Corinth had the bulk of possession in the first half. Ola Williams had come closest for the visitors but headed narrowly wide.

The deadlock was broken just three minutes into the second half when Jack Tucker played a delightful ball to Captain Cheklit who made no mistake in front of goal to give his side the lead.

Casuals pressed for a second and a number of chances went begging. In an instant, the momentum switched – the Scholars scored from out of the blue. Corinth were sloppy; giving away a free kick in the middle of the park, players defensively switched off allowing a ball to be played into acres of space. Devonte Aransibia made the most of the opportunity and struck a well placed shot past Danny Bracken to equalise.

Arguably, the turning point came shortly after when Casuals were denied the chance to re-take the lead. Another great ball from Tucker saw Michael Abbnett head back across goal for Bobby Mills to finish. However, despite the ball being played back, the Assistant on the far side deemed the striker to be offside and the well worked goal was denied. Mills had another very good chance to score, front and centre but scuffed his shot into the arms of the keeper.

Thirty seconds later, Bar won a penalty when the giant Sydney Ibie was felled in the box. Ben Ward-Cochrane with the conversion from the spot. The game became ugly and chances dried up until the 90th minute when a second spot kick was given after Ibie was once again adjudged to have been fouled in the box. Cue Ward-Cochrane’s second from the spot.

The score line sounds harsh on Casuals who, at times played some delightful football, garnering plenty of positive comments from those in attendance. However, pretty passing is only effective if there’s end product and on this day, that went begging. The game could’ve very been different had the second goal stood. Congratulations to Bar on their victory and the three points won. We thank them for their kind and generous hospitality and, despite a dastardly M25 playing dirty tricks on many of the travelling contingent, a good day was had in glorious sunshine with plenty to refresh the crowd.

“The finishing touch just wasn’t there for us today”, said Manager James Bracken after the match.

“Had we scored three or four, no one would’ve argued that was a fair result. We had one goal ruled out with the ball coming back from the goal-line, so not sure how that’s offside – that’s very frustrating.

“It was a day of missed chances. We had a lot of opportunities with some very good balls put into their box.

“Had we been given the second goal, I don’t see the game unfolding the way it has. Unfortunately, we haven’t scored the goals to allow us the errors that we’ve made. Some of those errors were suicide. The goals we’ve conceded were ridiculous. The first, they were able to pop a ball into space after switching off from a free kick. As I said, it’s suicide.

“When you’re one-nil up away from home on the first day of the season, you don’t give away three goals. And that’s exactly what we’ve done. We have to make sure those errors don’t happen again.

“But we’re playing some good football. There’s no surgery required. It’s just a case of taking those chances that we’ve created. We’ve scored first away from home and we were the better team with the ball. We need to be seeing these games out. We’ve dominated the possession. They’ve not had any control in our half – only the odd counter attack. Dan’s only had to make one save in the whole game.

“The chances we created was encouraging. But not taking our chances is on us. We play well to get it to that point, so now we have to ensure we bury those.

“I’ve seen enough today to know what quality we have. I know exactly what we’re capable of. We’ve got two forwards to come back, both of which have quality and goals in them. We’ve got healthy competition… we’ve got good options. The boys can all see that too. They look at each other in training and they know that everyone is capable.”