Aveley 2 - 1 Corinthian-Casuals
Isthmian League Premier Division
Monday 29th August 2022
​Report: Cameron Smith. Photo: Andy Nunn.

Corinthian-Casuals almost snatched a point in the dying embers of their Bank Holiday trip to Essex, but were agonisingly denied by the woodwork twice as an impressive Aveley side held on to win 2-1 and collect all three points.

Tony Reid rightly remained positive following Saturday’s 1-1 draw with Lewes at King George’s Field; Ben Cheklit’s early goal was cancelled out by a late equaliser after sustained pressure from the visitors. It was a physically draining test for the youthful Casuals side, who battled hard versus a relentless opponent and fully deserved the point they received. Inevitably, rotation was in order for the clash at Aveley that came just forty-eight hours after the Lewes game. Casuals made six changes including a start for goalkeeper Eddie Allan, among others.

As Aveley shuffled out in their navy home strip and Casuals donned chocolate and pink, it was a particularly overcast August afternoon in Essex. The newly-promoted Aveley had seemingly no trouble transitioning into Isthmian Premier Division life; winning three out of the four games played so far. They were clearly eager to continue this form as when the referee began proceedings, the hosts were instantly threatening the Casuals defence with silky passages of football as well as from dangerous set-pieces. This is what undid Corinthians in the twenty-fifth minute, when a corner was not cleared properly, resulting in Oscar Shelvey being able to tap the ball home in-front of the Aveley faithful after clever play from Alex Akrofi.

Despite the shaky beginning, Casuals settled by the time the first-half was coming to a close and began to probe the strong back four of Aveley. Nevertheless, the hosts remained the superior side both in possession and in terms of attacking opportunities- Allan was forced to stop an effort from Aileru before half-time arrived.

The travelling Corinthians made their way to the opposite end of the Parkside Stadium as the game resumed and from the off, Casuals looked more assured in their passing and attacking play. However, when Aveley substitute Benas Vaivada delivered a terrific corner into the danger area, centre-back Harry Gibbs rose above his marker and headed home. Seemingly the nail in the coffin for the away side, Aveley had doubled their lead, and there was only twenty-three minutes left to play.

Mirroring the resilience that Casuals showed to hold onto a precious point against Lewes on Saturday, Reid’s side were not going down without a fight. The chocolate and pink seemed rejuvenated by their substitutions: the hold-up play of Nathaniel Pinney and the remarkable pace and skill of Olumwabumni Babajide threatened the hosts’ comfortable lead. Babajide’s burst of energy clearly rattled Aveley’s backline when he pounced on a header intended for goalkeeper Hughes and nudged the ball around the no.1. Although the goal was open, Babajide was at a tight angle and was striding onto the ball with such power that he could only direct his effort onto the post. Even if the youngster was sprawled out on the floor and had his head in his hands at the miss, the Corinthians faithful and his teammates were as supportive as ever and willed him back up onto his feet.

This would be imperative in how the last moments of the game played out. Babajide was no longer ruing his miss and was instead causing havoc for Aveley’s Nzengo by outmuscling him, composing himself with a few vital touches that cleverly drew Hughes out from his goal, before slotting the ball past the stranded keeper and into the bottom corner. In the 87th minute, Casuals had finally nabbed a goal. It was game on.

Casuals were hovering around Aveley’s box for the remainder of the game, trying to conjure the goal that would rescue a hard-earned, and deserved point for the visitors. The Corinth supporters behind the goal, and most likely everyone else at Parkside thought that the goal had arrived when Pinney controlled the ball on the edge of the area, and unleashed a venomous piledriver that nearly broke the underside of the crossbar, before the ball eventually fizzled out of play. It was cruel for the Casuals, and even crueller was Sanogo’s header that narrowly floated over the bar just minutes later. The four minutes of stoppage time were then adjudged to be up, and the referee blew his whistle to the relief of Aveley, and to the frustration of Casuals.

However, there were positives to take from the defeat as a much-improved second-half displayed the determination that is becoming a key trait of Reid’s side. Casuals would look forward to a break from the Isthmian Premier Division; they face Burgess Hill Town in the FA Cup 1st Qualifying Round on Saturday at King George’s Field.

Corinthian-Casuals 1 - 1 Lewes
Isthmian League Premier Division
Saturday 27th August 2022
Report and Pics: Stuart Tree (full set of photos here)
Additional photos from Andy Nunn here.

Corinthian-Casuals and Lewes played out a gritty one-all draw with both sides believing they could’ve had all three points.

Lewes pinned Casuals back in their own half for large parts of the game with Sami Nabbad being the busier of the keepers. But conversely, Corinth will feel they missed a vital chance at 1-0 when Tayo Oyebola only needed to beat Rooks stopper Lewis Carey to seal the win.

Casuals boss Tony Reid rotated his squad in anticipation for two games in 48 hours, with Aveley away on the Monday. First starts for Ayuub Ali, Charlie Edwards and Eli Simpson saw a shuffling of the pack across the park.

Lewes came into the match unbeaten and with a squad brimming with talent and an eagerness to better their campaign last season. It won’t be a surprise to anyone to see Tony Russell’s side at the business end of the league table come April.

They started the brighter of the sides with fluid passing and movement, keeping the Casuals back line on their toes. It was a pattern that continued for the ninety minutes, yet it was the home side who struck first, with their only real chance of the half. A counter saw the ball fed out wide and the cross found Ben Cheklit in the box who swivelled and shot low into the bottom corner, leaving Carey flat-footed.

Nabbad was called into action on a number of occasions, not least in the second half, working a number of fine stops. When he was beaten, the crossbar came to his rescue on two occasions, one crashing off the underside but clear of the goal-line. Chances such as those often indicate that it’ll be your day. It almost was, when Tayo Oyebola dispossessed a Rooks defender to leave himself with just Carey to beat, but was unable to convert the golden chance to kill the game.

Alas, with minutes to go and under relentless pressure, Casuals cracked when Joe Taylor, from the byline, smashed in a cross which Jack Tucker could only divert into his own net. Lewes went for the kill with Michael Abnett heading their best chance clear off the line.

And so it remained a draw, with both Managers believing they should’ve had more. Casuals will be pleased to have taken a point from one of the pre-season favourites and maintain their good start to this Isthmian League Premier Division campaign.
 
“We really should’ve taken the game to them when we went 1-0 up”, said Reid after the match. “We should’ve stopped worrying about what they were doing and concentrate on our own play. We showed that a little more in the second half when we pressed from the front and robbed the ball from them in defensive areas on a couple of occasions.

“We’d let their Centre Halves have too much time on the ball, allowing them the space to play to the centre. We weren’t engaging. They were able to easily find Razz Coleman-De-Graft too often, who is clearly their danger man. We cancelled that out and started to play our own game. Take nothing away from Lewes, they are a good side. We got rolled too easily for our own goal and we got too cute against a very well established striker.

“But we’re learning about ourselves a lot. We’ve been together for a couple of months. I said to the boys, keep believing in yourselves, the formula, the system and stop worrying about other teams.

“We’re scoring goals and creating opportunities. It could’ve been very different had Tayo taken his chance. We do this in training, we do this in the warm-ups, but it can be different in the game. He just needs to compose himself and we go 2-0 up.

“I went with some experience in the side today. The older heads showed good composure and they helped the younger lads out. They’re starting to communicate a lot better. They pushed their line higher up the pitch and we condensed it better in the final third.

“But we competed against a very good side. When you can bring players on that have scored 30 plus goals and those who’ve played for Brighton, it asks tough questions of you. But we need to show that we can ask questions of the opposition too.

“I gave credit to the boys for getting that point against Lewes who have high expectations and exceptional resources.

“The only game I look back on is the draw at Haringey where we threw away a two goal lead. We should’ve had three points there and suddenly, we’re in the mix at the top of the table. We’ll look to get three points at Aveley and then it’s into the FA Cup. I’m pleased we were able to rotate the side with confidence. They didn’t shy away from the challenge either. They all want to play and have been knocking on the door. Some of them got their opportunity and they didn’t disappoint. It’s a competition between themselves. We’ll likely need to rotate again for Monday as that was a tough game out there. But we’ll look to keep momentum too.”

Horsham 5 - 0 Corinthian-Casuals
Isthmian League Premier Division
Tuesday 16th August 2022
Report and Photos: Stuart Tree (pics here).

Horsham’s Camping World Community Stadium once again proved an unhappy hunting ground for Corinthian-Casuals as a dominant second half performance from the hosts saw them climb to the top of the table courtesy of a 5-0 drubbing.

It’s the second game in succession at Hop Oast that Casuals have lost 5-0 and thus has proven to be an incredibly hard place to earn anything from. In fact, Corinth have only gained one point in their four visits to the new stadium.

Horsham have made their intentions clear about title ambitions with a wealth of marque signings over the summer and it was one of their most prominent – Jack Mazzone who was the major cause of Casuals’ headaches on this evening, claiming a hat-trick in the process. Another of their new faces – Shamir Fenelon was also on the scoresheet, but it was an old face, Lee Harding, who opened the scoring, out-muscling Saidou Sanogo and firing into the opposite corner on 13 minutes.

Five-nil was never on the cards at half time as Casuals had been in the game for the whole of the first period. Reid’s side looked impressive on the counter and stretched Horsham’s full backs continually. Tayo Oyebola tested Mitchell Beeney with a curling shot, destined for the top corner and a threaded pass from Luke Stokoe saw Jack Knight through on goal with Beeney working hard to prevent the striker scoring. Fine margins. Had Casuals taken that chance…?

But the second half was a mess. Early cracks appeared in the very first minute when Sami Nabbad’s excellent reflex save was the only thing that prevented Horsham doubling their lead. But those cracks became chasms just minutes later when a free kick to the right of the penalty area was fizzed in low and hard, with Mazzone beating Knight to the punch and grabbing his first of the night. 2-0 down in front of a partisan crowd away from home is tough to recover from.

The game was put to bed six minutes later when Hakeem Adelakun sold a back pass short and Nabbad was unable to beat Mazzone to the ball, allowing the striker to tap in from a neat angle. Casuals contained for a while with Ben Cheklit, Erald Desa and Nat Pinney providing a few half chances until Fenelon got in on the act in the 83rd minute and Mazzone scoring his best of the evening in stoppage time.

It was a real comedown from the 4-1 win over Bowers and Pitsea at the weekend and a stark reminder that not all games will come as easy as that opener. Casuals will now travel to another away game, this time at Haringey with just one training session in between to lick their wounds.
 
“When you see things unravelling like that, it’s hard to swallow,” admitted Reid after the match.

“I’m embarrassed and shocked. Everything we worked on in pre-season went out of the window.

“We have to get your own house in order. We ran around like headless chickens. Yes, we started well enough and the first half hour we saw some good play, but the game is 90 minutes. I thought we made Horsham look good. 100% we could’ve had a different game if we had equalised when we had the opportunity.

“We have to take it on the chin. We will make changes, that’s for sure. I’m more disappointed that we didn’t put a shift.

“There’s areas that we need to be more savvy. They’ll need to learn how to play the game.

“I know we’ve got a good team. There’s some very good individuals. I know what I’ve got to do. Screaming and shouting at players won’t change anything and I'm calm about it. We have to be level-headed. Come Thursday in training, we know what we need to work on.”

Corinthian-Casuals 4 - 1 Bowers & Pitsea
Isthmian League Premier Division
Saturday 13th August 2022
Report and Photos: Stuart Tree (full set of pics here).
​More photos from Andy Nunn here.

You’ll have to trawl through the history books to find out if and when Corinthian-Casuals last scored two goals in the opening four minutes. You’ll also have to go back to 2016 for Casuals last opening day win.
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Both were achieved in a stellar 4-1 win over Bowers and Pitsea in which we heard the chants of ‘we are top of the league’ sang somewhat in jest, yet truthful, even if it is after just one game.

Both Corinth and Bowers have had major changes over the Summer. Both saw their long-standing managers depart along with a wealth of players. Many new faces have appeared. Just four of the twenty-two players starting were involved in the previous fixture six months ago – all Casuals.

Manager Tony Reid had stated that his side will play with a high-intensity, attacking ethos and it paid off after just two minutes. An early corner was headed home by Saidou Sanogo – with Kie Plumley unable to keep the ball from spilling over the line.

Before the first goal was even registered on social media, Casuals had struck again. Tayo Oyebola latched onto a cutting pass and slotted under Plumley to make it two-nil – extravagant and acrobatic celebrations ensued.

Casuals pressed on and kept up the intensity regardless of the searing heat. Bowers defence was run ragged and Ben Cheklit broke the lines only to see his shot smack off the bottom of the post. He soon made amends when making no mistake in a similar move to put the hosts a dizzy 3-0 up.

The dampener was a sloppy goal conceded at the other end. Complacency had perhaps kicked in seeing as Casuals were three goals to the good. A corner was conceded and the resulting clearance fell to Ola Bello who’s unsighted shot squirmed under Sami Nabaad to give Bowers hope.

It was the only blemish on an otherwise impressive afternoon and Casuals put the game to bed in the 73rd minute when Plumley, on attempting to prevent a corner, scuffed his clearance straight to Cheklit on the edge of the box and the Captain calmly stroked the ball into an unguarded net. Job done.

It was a real statement from Reid and his side to usher in his reign. He’d hoped to win the fans over with his style of football and on this evidence, he might have already done so. Including pre-season, Casuals have scored four goals in three of their last four matches. That's got to be encouraging. However, Casuals face an arguably tougher test at Horsham, one of the potential favourites and second in the league, on Tuesday. First vs second? Why not?

“What we’ve been working on in pre-season showed today,” said Manager Tony Reid after the match. “Though the fast start took me by surprise.

“I gave them a little pep-talk before as I’d heard from their changing room ‘stay in the game’. For me, that gave me the initiative and we’ll have them on the ropes right from the start.

“We took our chances well.

“I’m not going to get carried away. Let’s have this conversation after ten games. But what we’ve achieved today is a real positive. Credit to the boys, they’ve taken the information on board.

“We’ve gone three-nil up, but an error saw us concede. We should’ve cleared our lines. But they’ve scored from a set piece. I warned the boys that this will happen throughout the season so they need to be aware as to when to just get the ball clear. I want the ball eighty yards up the other end in those situations.

“We learnt from it after speaking at half time. We ensured that we wouldn’t concede again and we managed the game well. It was a little scrappy at times and they tried to nullify us from playing. Credit to the boys in the middle, who worked tirelessly and moved the ball quickly.
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Commenting on the trip to Horsham on Tuesday, Reid said, “It’s eleven vs eleven at the end of the day. I know a bit about them. I know Dom (Di Paola) from old and it’ll certainly be a good test but it’s about who turns up on the day. We’ll try to keep this momentum going.”