Hastings United 2 - 1 Corinthian-Casuals
Bostik League South
Saturday 12th August 2017
Match Report by Cameron Smith. Photos: Stuart Tree (full set here).
In a budding yet indecisive performance, the new-look Corinthian-Casuals side suffered a marginal 2-1 defeat at Hastings United on the opening day of the 2017/18 Bostik League Division One South.
102 days. It was 102 agonising days without competitive football for Casuals supporters. Thirsty for the weekly fix of football on a Saturday (only just replenished by the annual pre-season friendlies), a cluster of the Corinthians contingent brushed off the near 2 hour journey to the seaside for the season opener, and headed down to Hastings. A lot has happened between the final penalty kick in the dramatic play-off final shootout at Dorking Wanderers and the first touch of the ball at the glorious Pilot Field. Nine of the brilliant promotion-hunting players of the last campaign have left the club, most notably, league top scorer Shaun Okojie swapping their pink and brown shirts for other colours. However, these departures have opened up gaps for new recruits, and manager James Bracken wasted no-time in introducing the newbies to Bostik League football.
For an incident that occurred in February versus Chatham Town, Corinthians would be without the pitch-side management of Bracken and Dan Pringle, as the duo serve a touchline suspension: they looked on from the stands with walkie-talkies in hand. With the trusty captain Danny Bracken in goal, the back four was a mix of new and old; Dave Hodges and Jack Strange alongside right-back Nathan Daly, and centre-back Tommy Smith. Powerhouse Kevant Serbony returned to the Casuals first-team with regulars Mu Maan, Ben Cheklit and Josh Uzun, whilst Gabriel Odunaike and Jerson Dos Santos donned the iconic home shirt for the first time. Jamie Byatt was the only returning Casuals player on the substitutes bench.
Hastings United grabbed a play-off spot last season (5th), but succumbed to a semi-final loss to Dorking Wanderers- on penalties. The U’s looked not only to replicate their success in the previous campaign, but to amplify it. The Pilot Field was drenched in glorious sunshine as the clock reached three o’clock, and the 400-or-so spectators took their places around the ground.
Starting the match with high-tempo football, Casuals began the better side as enthusiasm and energy was pumped into the veins of the visitors. A delightful move inside the first ten minutes resulted in the ball in the back of the net, but celebrations were halted by the referee’s piercing whistle. Casuals’ robust unit Jerson Dos Santos was causing trouble for the Hastings back four as the no.9 towered over a white shirt in the six yard box a little too forcefully so he could nod a Jack Strange help-on home. Ruled out for a push, the brief celebrations in the Casuals end was brought to a halt by Mr. Paul Harris. A scrappy yet entertaining first eleven minutes would soon result in a goal… but not to the ones with the chances. Jack Dixon rose the highest in a packed penalty area as the no.8 gave the hosts the 1-0 lead. A free-kick deflected straight onto the head of Dixon got the Hastings supporters on their feet for the first time in the afternoon- in the battle of Hastings, the U’s drew first blood!
Casuals’ energy levels seemed to wither after the opening goal, with the white shirts of Hastings obtaining much of the possession and chances. Sam Crutwell almost grabbed the second in the 26th minute when the attacker flashed a powerful effort high and wide of Danny Bracken’s net. Half chances popped up at various points for Casuals, who just weren’t able to grab the vital equaliser that the vocal supporters behind the goal were hoping for. On the verge of half-time, Jack Dixon positioned himself in the penalty area again, and was looking to ease the risky 1-0 scoreline with another goal- and he did just that. A cross from the left flank saw keeper Bracken and attacker Dixon jump for the ball in the air, but it was the Hastings player that got out of the collision victorious. It was half-time a few moments later, and James Bracken would have been glad to speak to his players following the disappointing display at the break.
Overall, the quality of the second-half was ugly. It was a scrappy affair, with fouls committed by both sides across the pitch, with Casuals’ Serbony limping off injured early on. Like fouls, chances were shared between the teams as Hastings had a terrific effort from outside the area saved by Bracken’s fingertips as the score stayed at 2-0…
Until the 78th minute, where Corinthians finally managed to defeat the formidable Josh Pelling in goal. Mu Maan fired a ferocious yet accurate shot into the top left corner of the Hastings no.1’s net. The patient fans behind the goal were able to celebrate at last, with the goal-scorer not getting ahead of himself and pacing backwards so he could start up another attack straight away. Maan’s brilliant strike closed the gap and made it 2-1. With the introduction of veteran Jamie Byatt, Casuals were frantic in their attacking as the tricky feet of Odunaike and Daly bamboozled the full-backs on the right flank. Jack Strange, scorer here last year saw his vicious header whistle inches above the crossbar. Byatt forced a dramatic fingertip save onto the post from Pelling and flashed the ball over the bar in one of Casuals’ last attempts to grab a deserved equaliser, but the full-time whistle terminated any chance of an opening day point. It was a performance with certain potential, but it lacked the cutting edge.
Thank you to Hastings United for their warm hospitality, we wish you good luck for the rest of the season! Despite the negative result, there were plenty of positives as new players showed their potential, and returning players refreshed us with their abilities. Corinthians’ tough start to the 17/18 campaign would continue on Tuesday evening as Greenwich Borough visited King George’s Field for the first Casuals home game of the season.
After the match, Manager James Bracken spoke about the result.
“Lots of positives. As far as defeats go, it’s not the worst.”
“Most Managers probably say the same thing after a defeat but I thought we were at least worthy of a draw.
“First half, we know that they’re going to want to play football, flood the midfield and use their rotations. They didn’t achieve it once. We limited them to very little controlled possession in our half and their centre halves would give the ball back to us or go long into the front.
“But we got caught out by two free kicks.”
“The first one, whenever you flick a ball on as a defender, it’ll always cause you problems at the back post. It wasn’t good from our point of view. It wasn’t a drastic error, rather just one of those things.
“The second one, I can’t comment on as I was writing something down at the time, so I’ve done a bit of a ‘Wenger’ there… I didn’t see it.
“I can’t be too hard on the lads because they followed our instructions.
“It’s a little disappointing that we’ve had our own chances in the first half in what was a tight game and to get undone by two goals like that made it an uphill struggle. We gave it a good go and by the end, we’ve laid siege in their half for the whole second period. With a little more guile and simplifying things we’d have created more chances. But we had chances and had we got the second goal early enough, we could’ve even gone on to win the game, because it was all us.
“Sitting in the stands for the game does hinder you to an extent but not as much as you’d expect. We had good communications with the dugout and with the boys relaying messages. It’s never going to be the same as if it comes directly from myself as by the time you relay the message, possession might have changed. The boys in the dugout, Joe (Davies) and Ike (Robertson-Feehi) done a great job. I’ve got no qualms about how it went.
“I’m emotional anyway and I want to win. Had I been in the dugout, I’d have got involved in appealing for decisions… and there were decisions that consistently went against us, that perhaps would’ve masked my view of the game. I’d have probably come away more fed up and wound up than I have. I’m not a good loser but I can certainly accept what happened today and accept the performance of our boys.
“I’ve been encouraged by our squad from the moment we’ve come back for pre-season. We lost nine players but gained a lot.
“We had seven missing today. Four of those are definite starters in what would be our strongest team. Some of those are players who got to the playoff final last season and they are missed when injured. Then again, the lads who’ve come in today have done well so I have no problem with that.
“We have a very good squad. We’re lucky in the fact that week-in, week-out we can get a good sixteen players out. That’s something we’ve never had a problem with. But those boys coming back from injury will be a big plus.”
Bostik League South
Saturday 12th August 2017
Match Report by Cameron Smith. Photos: Stuart Tree (full set here).
In a budding yet indecisive performance, the new-look Corinthian-Casuals side suffered a marginal 2-1 defeat at Hastings United on the opening day of the 2017/18 Bostik League Division One South.
102 days. It was 102 agonising days without competitive football for Casuals supporters. Thirsty for the weekly fix of football on a Saturday (only just replenished by the annual pre-season friendlies), a cluster of the Corinthians contingent brushed off the near 2 hour journey to the seaside for the season opener, and headed down to Hastings. A lot has happened between the final penalty kick in the dramatic play-off final shootout at Dorking Wanderers and the first touch of the ball at the glorious Pilot Field. Nine of the brilliant promotion-hunting players of the last campaign have left the club, most notably, league top scorer Shaun Okojie swapping their pink and brown shirts for other colours. However, these departures have opened up gaps for new recruits, and manager James Bracken wasted no-time in introducing the newbies to Bostik League football.
For an incident that occurred in February versus Chatham Town, Corinthians would be without the pitch-side management of Bracken and Dan Pringle, as the duo serve a touchline suspension: they looked on from the stands with walkie-talkies in hand. With the trusty captain Danny Bracken in goal, the back four was a mix of new and old; Dave Hodges and Jack Strange alongside right-back Nathan Daly, and centre-back Tommy Smith. Powerhouse Kevant Serbony returned to the Casuals first-team with regulars Mu Maan, Ben Cheklit and Josh Uzun, whilst Gabriel Odunaike and Jerson Dos Santos donned the iconic home shirt for the first time. Jamie Byatt was the only returning Casuals player on the substitutes bench.
Hastings United grabbed a play-off spot last season (5th), but succumbed to a semi-final loss to Dorking Wanderers- on penalties. The U’s looked not only to replicate their success in the previous campaign, but to amplify it. The Pilot Field was drenched in glorious sunshine as the clock reached three o’clock, and the 400-or-so spectators took their places around the ground.
Starting the match with high-tempo football, Casuals began the better side as enthusiasm and energy was pumped into the veins of the visitors. A delightful move inside the first ten minutes resulted in the ball in the back of the net, but celebrations were halted by the referee’s piercing whistle. Casuals’ robust unit Jerson Dos Santos was causing trouble for the Hastings back four as the no.9 towered over a white shirt in the six yard box a little too forcefully so he could nod a Jack Strange help-on home. Ruled out for a push, the brief celebrations in the Casuals end was brought to a halt by Mr. Paul Harris. A scrappy yet entertaining first eleven minutes would soon result in a goal… but not to the ones with the chances. Jack Dixon rose the highest in a packed penalty area as the no.8 gave the hosts the 1-0 lead. A free-kick deflected straight onto the head of Dixon got the Hastings supporters on their feet for the first time in the afternoon- in the battle of Hastings, the U’s drew first blood!
Casuals’ energy levels seemed to wither after the opening goal, with the white shirts of Hastings obtaining much of the possession and chances. Sam Crutwell almost grabbed the second in the 26th minute when the attacker flashed a powerful effort high and wide of Danny Bracken’s net. Half chances popped up at various points for Casuals, who just weren’t able to grab the vital equaliser that the vocal supporters behind the goal were hoping for. On the verge of half-time, Jack Dixon positioned himself in the penalty area again, and was looking to ease the risky 1-0 scoreline with another goal- and he did just that. A cross from the left flank saw keeper Bracken and attacker Dixon jump for the ball in the air, but it was the Hastings player that got out of the collision victorious. It was half-time a few moments later, and James Bracken would have been glad to speak to his players following the disappointing display at the break.
Overall, the quality of the second-half was ugly. It was a scrappy affair, with fouls committed by both sides across the pitch, with Casuals’ Serbony limping off injured early on. Like fouls, chances were shared between the teams as Hastings had a terrific effort from outside the area saved by Bracken’s fingertips as the score stayed at 2-0…
Until the 78th minute, where Corinthians finally managed to defeat the formidable Josh Pelling in goal. Mu Maan fired a ferocious yet accurate shot into the top left corner of the Hastings no.1’s net. The patient fans behind the goal were able to celebrate at last, with the goal-scorer not getting ahead of himself and pacing backwards so he could start up another attack straight away. Maan’s brilliant strike closed the gap and made it 2-1. With the introduction of veteran Jamie Byatt, Casuals were frantic in their attacking as the tricky feet of Odunaike and Daly bamboozled the full-backs on the right flank. Jack Strange, scorer here last year saw his vicious header whistle inches above the crossbar. Byatt forced a dramatic fingertip save onto the post from Pelling and flashed the ball over the bar in one of Casuals’ last attempts to grab a deserved equaliser, but the full-time whistle terminated any chance of an opening day point. It was a performance with certain potential, but it lacked the cutting edge.
Thank you to Hastings United for their warm hospitality, we wish you good luck for the rest of the season! Despite the negative result, there were plenty of positives as new players showed their potential, and returning players refreshed us with their abilities. Corinthians’ tough start to the 17/18 campaign would continue on Tuesday evening as Greenwich Borough visited King George’s Field for the first Casuals home game of the season.
After the match, Manager James Bracken spoke about the result.
“Lots of positives. As far as defeats go, it’s not the worst.”
“Most Managers probably say the same thing after a defeat but I thought we were at least worthy of a draw.
“First half, we know that they’re going to want to play football, flood the midfield and use their rotations. They didn’t achieve it once. We limited them to very little controlled possession in our half and their centre halves would give the ball back to us or go long into the front.
“But we got caught out by two free kicks.”
“The first one, whenever you flick a ball on as a defender, it’ll always cause you problems at the back post. It wasn’t good from our point of view. It wasn’t a drastic error, rather just one of those things.
“The second one, I can’t comment on as I was writing something down at the time, so I’ve done a bit of a ‘Wenger’ there… I didn’t see it.
“I can’t be too hard on the lads because they followed our instructions.
“It’s a little disappointing that we’ve had our own chances in the first half in what was a tight game and to get undone by two goals like that made it an uphill struggle. We gave it a good go and by the end, we’ve laid siege in their half for the whole second period. With a little more guile and simplifying things we’d have created more chances. But we had chances and had we got the second goal early enough, we could’ve even gone on to win the game, because it was all us.
“Sitting in the stands for the game does hinder you to an extent but not as much as you’d expect. We had good communications with the dugout and with the boys relaying messages. It’s never going to be the same as if it comes directly from myself as by the time you relay the message, possession might have changed. The boys in the dugout, Joe (Davies) and Ike (Robertson-Feehi) done a great job. I’ve got no qualms about how it went.
“I’m emotional anyway and I want to win. Had I been in the dugout, I’d have got involved in appealing for decisions… and there were decisions that consistently went against us, that perhaps would’ve masked my view of the game. I’d have probably come away more fed up and wound up than I have. I’m not a good loser but I can certainly accept what happened today and accept the performance of our boys.
“I’ve been encouraged by our squad from the moment we’ve come back for pre-season. We lost nine players but gained a lot.
“We had seven missing today. Four of those are definite starters in what would be our strongest team. Some of those are players who got to the playoff final last season and they are missed when injured. Then again, the lads who’ve come in today have done well so I have no problem with that.
“We have a very good squad. We’re lucky in the fact that week-in, week-out we can get a good sixteen players out. That’s something we’ve never had a problem with. But those boys coming back from injury will be a big plus.”
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