Wingate & Finchley 1 - 0 Corinthian-Casuals
London Senior Cup Quarter Final
Tuesday 12th February 2020
Match report and pics: Stuart Tree (full set of photos here)
Corinthian-Casuals cup participation came to a close for another season as they exited the London Senior Cup at the hands of Wingate & Finchley.
A solitary goal from the wonderfully named Great Evans was enough to see the hosts progress to the semi-final where they’ll face either Hendon or Balham.
For Manager James Bracken, it was a frustrating evening where his side had started brightly but failed to capitalise and never found the level required until too late.
The side had been re-shuffled from the weekend with the likes of Coskun Ekim filling in at the back and Casuals playing an unfamiliar shape. It looked to be working at first, where the Amateurs had the bulk of possession and the best of the early chances.
But as the half progressed, Wingate grew in confidence and by the break, Danny Bracken had been the busier of the two goalkeepers. The Blues had also hit the post from close range and Warren Morgan produced a fine block to prevent Wingate taking a half-time lead.
Casuals began the second half as they did the first, and two great chances presented themselves in quick succession. Sadly, clinical finishing evaded Corinth and as with the Velocity Trophy exit the week before, it would ultimately be their undoing.
Just seven minutes into the half, Great Evans took down a weighted lobbed pass and slotted home from close range.
Wingate looked to finish off proceedings, but Bracken did well to keep out Charlie Ruff’s shot and the Blues also had a goal disallowed for offside. Casuals made changes and livened up in the last ten minutes. Substitute Gabriel Odunaike also had a goal chalked off by the linesman’s flag and fellow sub Matty Bakare finally tested keeper Fergal Hale-Brown, who got down well to keep out the midfielder’s low drive.
After the full-time whistle, where the players and management thanked the few hardy Casuals fans who braved the cold, Manager James Bracken apologised saying ‘it wasn’t good enough.’ He’ll be insisting a much better performance in the next few weeks when Casuals return to the Maurice Rebak Stadium for the all-important league ‘six-pointer’.
“The performance was more disappointing than the result,” said Bracken after the match.
“We’ve set ourselves up to be good enough to win in both our last two cup matches and on both occasions, the performances haven’t been good enough.”
“We took our foot off the gas after 25 minutes because it seemed like it was a little too comfortable for us. If you do that at 0-0, then nine times out of ten, you lose the game.
“The final third from us tonight was really poor. For all the possession and domination in the first half hour, and with good spells throughout the game, we’ve not forced their keeper to make enough saves."
Now, Bracken looks ahead to the all-important league campaign and four vital games coming up.
“We’ve got a lot of tough games coming up but the next four are winnable. I’m realistic – every game is winnable but we don’t want to be relying on our run-in at the end of the season. We need to pick up as many wins as we can and see where we are. We can’t be looking at other team’s results – we need to take care of our own matches.
“Our results since the turn of the year puts us sixth in total points won, so we’re much improved. We’ve let in the same amount of goals as Worthing. If you’d had said to me, we’d have conceded the same number of goals as the league leaders, I’d have presumed we were third or fourth in the table.
“However, we’re not and we need to be more clinical. Losing Shaun (Okojie) wasn’t ideal but other lads now need to step up to the plate and score goals.
“I think the players are good enough. But they’ll only get away with one or two more performances like that before we decide to make changes. I’m loyal as anything. We’re not a revolving door club and that’s why there’s an affinity with the fans and the players – they get to know them, appreciate each other and appreciate their qualities. We work with players here. We try to improve them as best as we can and we’ll always do that.
“But we’re here to win games of football. The next four are winnable but if we don’t look like winning them then we’ll look at changing things. It’s a wake up call.
“I’m optimistic though. There’s been some dark times this season and a lot of soul searching to be done. When you’re playing well but keep losing 1-0, then you question everything. But in 2020, we’re sixth in points earned, morale is good.
“Perhaps tonight, like with some of the cup competitions this season, have been overlooked by some of the players. This tonight was more than winnable with a semi-final place at stake. Maybe I wanted to win a trophy more than some of the boys who’ve played. But they know what’s required of them in the league. They’re up for the challenge and they’ll give everything.”
London Senior Cup Quarter Final
Tuesday 12th February 2020
Match report and pics: Stuart Tree (full set of photos here)
Corinthian-Casuals cup participation came to a close for another season as they exited the London Senior Cup at the hands of Wingate & Finchley.
A solitary goal from the wonderfully named Great Evans was enough to see the hosts progress to the semi-final where they’ll face either Hendon or Balham.
For Manager James Bracken, it was a frustrating evening where his side had started brightly but failed to capitalise and never found the level required until too late.
The side had been re-shuffled from the weekend with the likes of Coskun Ekim filling in at the back and Casuals playing an unfamiliar shape. It looked to be working at first, where the Amateurs had the bulk of possession and the best of the early chances.
But as the half progressed, Wingate grew in confidence and by the break, Danny Bracken had been the busier of the two goalkeepers. The Blues had also hit the post from close range and Warren Morgan produced a fine block to prevent Wingate taking a half-time lead.
Casuals began the second half as they did the first, and two great chances presented themselves in quick succession. Sadly, clinical finishing evaded Corinth and as with the Velocity Trophy exit the week before, it would ultimately be their undoing.
Just seven minutes into the half, Great Evans took down a weighted lobbed pass and slotted home from close range.
Wingate looked to finish off proceedings, but Bracken did well to keep out Charlie Ruff’s shot and the Blues also had a goal disallowed for offside. Casuals made changes and livened up in the last ten minutes. Substitute Gabriel Odunaike also had a goal chalked off by the linesman’s flag and fellow sub Matty Bakare finally tested keeper Fergal Hale-Brown, who got down well to keep out the midfielder’s low drive.
After the full-time whistle, where the players and management thanked the few hardy Casuals fans who braved the cold, Manager James Bracken apologised saying ‘it wasn’t good enough.’ He’ll be insisting a much better performance in the next few weeks when Casuals return to the Maurice Rebak Stadium for the all-important league ‘six-pointer’.
“The performance was more disappointing than the result,” said Bracken after the match.
“We’ve set ourselves up to be good enough to win in both our last two cup matches and on both occasions, the performances haven’t been good enough.”
“We took our foot off the gas after 25 minutes because it seemed like it was a little too comfortable for us. If you do that at 0-0, then nine times out of ten, you lose the game.
“The final third from us tonight was really poor. For all the possession and domination in the first half hour, and with good spells throughout the game, we’ve not forced their keeper to make enough saves."
Now, Bracken looks ahead to the all-important league campaign and four vital games coming up.
“We’ve got a lot of tough games coming up but the next four are winnable. I’m realistic – every game is winnable but we don’t want to be relying on our run-in at the end of the season. We need to pick up as many wins as we can and see where we are. We can’t be looking at other team’s results – we need to take care of our own matches.
“Our results since the turn of the year puts us sixth in total points won, so we’re much improved. We’ve let in the same amount of goals as Worthing. If you’d had said to me, we’d have conceded the same number of goals as the league leaders, I’d have presumed we were third or fourth in the table.
“However, we’re not and we need to be more clinical. Losing Shaun (Okojie) wasn’t ideal but other lads now need to step up to the plate and score goals.
“I think the players are good enough. But they’ll only get away with one or two more performances like that before we decide to make changes. I’m loyal as anything. We’re not a revolving door club and that’s why there’s an affinity with the fans and the players – they get to know them, appreciate each other and appreciate their qualities. We work with players here. We try to improve them as best as we can and we’ll always do that.
“But we’re here to win games of football. The next four are winnable but if we don’t look like winning them then we’ll look at changing things. It’s a wake up call.
“I’m optimistic though. There’s been some dark times this season and a lot of soul searching to be done. When you’re playing well but keep losing 1-0, then you question everything. But in 2020, we’re sixth in points earned, morale is good.
“Perhaps tonight, like with some of the cup competitions this season, have been overlooked by some of the players. This tonight was more than winnable with a semi-final place at stake. Maybe I wanted to win a trophy more than some of the boys who’ve played. But they know what’s required of them in the league. They’re up for the challenge and they’ll give everything.”
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