Thatcham Town 1-2 Corinthian-Casuals
Nyarko 34 Campion 29
Campbell 94
Saturday 14 October, 2023
Pitching In Isthmian South Central Division
Attendance 204
Report by Finlay Stubbs
A dramatic late-goal from Marcel Campbell gave Corinthian-Casuals their first away win of the season against Thatcham Town.
Casuals made their longest trip of the campaign following a spirited second-half display against league leaders Raynes Park Vale on Tuesday. Andy Gray responded to that narrow defeat by giving out three debuts, to goalkeeper Daniel Purdue, Marco Visser and Raphael Azimi.
The opening stages of the first half were mainly dominated by the hosts who looked to attack through wide areas with long diagonal passes into the wingers’ feet so they could deliver.
The first chance of the half fell to Christian Johnson after he latched onto a long pass and cut inside Michael Samson before driving into the box. Luckily for Casuals, their debutant goalkeeper, Purdue, was out quickly to deny the winger.
The chances came quickly for Thatcham in the opening 20 minutes, with Harry Hoath meeting a diagonal cross between the two posts but dragging his effort just wide of the goal.
However, Casuals defended resolutely and then punished Thatcham, taking the lead after a ball forward into the box found the chest of Campbell, who laid it off to Azimi. He then found Danny Campion at the far post to poke it home at the second attempt and put the visitors ahead, despite complaints of offside.
Undeterred, Thatcham looked to find an equaliser and were inches away from levelling proceedings following an excellent delivery into the box that found the head of Hoath, who was denied by the inside of the post.
Casuals, however, did not learn from the previous set-piece and the scores were soon level after a free-kick from Callum Wilmoth found the head of an unmarked David Nyarko at the front post to ensure both teams went into half-time on terms.
The second half was a scrappy affair, with both teams looking to play long, direct passes into the opposition's box, which lead to a physical midfield battle to pick up the second ball and sustain their attacks.
The first chance of the half fell to Campion, who almost diverted a cross from Oscar Walton over Fisher, but the goalkeeper smartly held on.
At the other end, Purdue came to his side’s rescue again with two big saves to keep Casuals in the contest. The first came from a ball over the top that put Nyarko through one-on-one with the goalkeeper, but the striker’s effort was turned onto the crossbar by Purple’s foot, much to his disbelief.
The second came from a quick free-kick into the path of Nathan Jones, who was also denied by the Casuals stopper coming out and smothering the danger.
Casuals hung on and as fatigue began to set in for the Thatcham defence, it allowed gaps to open up in the final third.
In injury time, substitute Jason Evans found Ayomide Majekodunmi who bombarded forward from right-back and found Campbell in the box. He then wriggled through the Thatcham defence before placing his effort calmly into the top corner to win the game - cue jubilation among the Casuals squad.
It was the ultimate smash and grab from Casuals, however it felt deserved after they battled through difficult periods defensively and took their chances when they came.
In attack, Casuals were clinical with Campion leading the line and causing the Thatcham back four all sorts of problems, while the match-winner, Campbell, was direct and looked to be positive on the ball.
With this hard-fought victory Gray and his management team will be optimistic for the months ahead and feel they can have a successful season despite a slow start.
Next up for Casuals is a home game against bottom-of-the-table Binfield, where Gray’s side will look to build on the weekend’s victory and climb the table.
Corinthian-Casuals: Purdue; Majekodunmi, Samson, Copeland, Vissir (Prescott 65); Campbell, Quarm, Raphael, Walton; Powell-Downey (Evans 62), Campion
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