South Park 1 - 6 Corinthian-Casuals
Bostik League South
Tuesday 14th November 2017
Match report: Stuart Tree
Call it commentator’s curse. You know? The one where the expert pundit confidently makes a statement only for the exact opposite to unravel in front of their eyes.
Think Tim Lovejoy’s ubiquitous, ‘it’s only Ray Parlour’ before the Romford Pele belted the winner past his beloved Chelsea in the FA Cup final. Or when Hernan Crespo put AC Milan 3-0 up against Liverpool in the 2005 Champions League final... cue Andy Gray: “Game well and truly over, and I hate saying that.”
For 99.9% of matches at the eighth tier of English football, this propensity isn’t a factor. Games at this level are rarely broadcast but with the Bostik League’s deal with broadcasters ‘Back of the Net’, those who couldn’t make the trip to Reigate on a cold November night were able to tune into their live radio broadcast. Tune in like a certain programme editor who is writing this report despite being holed up at home making the decision to finish Saturday’s edition rather than have a late night (yes – I am writing a report based on what was broadcast, twitter feeds and messaging those who actually weren’t fair-weather fans like myself).
Pundits Ben Eltham and Mick Sullivan do an excellent job but commentator’s curse isn’t reserved for only the ost well known broadcasters. Sullivan was adamant that there was no way Malcolm Porter’s South Park side was going to succumb to the same kind of drubbing that Casuals gave them back in September, where James Bracken’s boys lampooned the Sparks by five goals to nil. No way!
Porter’s side was too good for that. It was an anomaly. A blip. No way were Casuals good enough to produce that kind of performance again and no way Porter would allow his side to be walked all over again. In fact, Sullivan tipped South Park to take the contest, ignoring Casuals fine form which saw them sit second in the league.
Within twenty five minutes of the contest, the analysis had bitten them truly on the behind. Gabriel Odunaike had given Casuals the lead with their first attack after 10 minutes. Max Oldham doubled the lead on 22 minutes and Danny Cunningham had added to Park’s woes on 25. 3-0 within half an hour was a blitz that few had predicted. It could’ve been worse for the home side as ex-Casual Josh Gallagher was lucky to stay on the field following a rash challenge on Kevant Serbony. Unsurprisingly, Gallagher wasn’t to last the 90 minutes.
South Park were given a lifeline on the stroke of half time when Chris Smith stepped up to the penalty spot and sent Danny Bracken the wrong way after Corinth had sloppily conceded a penalty. Eltham and Sullivan lamented that they expected Porter to lay into his side but perhaps Bracken would be the one more disappointed going into the changing rooms following the generosity of gifting a penalty.
Despite the setback, Casuals remained in control for the most part and their task was made easier when Gallagher was issued a second yellow and received his marching orders, leading to the chant “you should’ve stayed with the Casuals.”
Despite only 88 given as the attendance, you could hear the noise of the Corinth faithful across the airwaves. Amongst their ranks was Albert and Caio (pictured). Corinthians fans who’d flown in from Sao Paulo on Saturday only to arrive straight from the airport at the 92nd minute – suitcases and all in tow. Gutting. They had tickets to see Brazil bore their way to a 0-0 draw against England at Wembley on this night. Instead, they chose to head down to the nether regions of Reigate to finally get to see the Casuals in action. Brandishing their £45 tickets, they never stopped singing and even taught the rabble how to ‘Poropopo’ – a famous chanting dance found on the terraces of Arena Corinthians. They certainly made the right choice.
They had more to cheer about following Gallagher’s dismissal. It opened the floodgates for Corinthian-Casuals to surge forward and Just two minutes later, Odunaike bagged his second. Oldham, not to be outdone, matched him on 84 minutes before Odunaike got the final say by poking home in time added on. Final score: 6-1.
Eltham and Sullivan were bewildered and their prediction couldn’t have been further from the truth. The resounding win puts Casuals joint top with Lewes on points and remarkably, despite no player hitting double figures in the scoring charts, Bracken’s side are currently the league’s top scorers with 40 goals. Putting over a quarter of those goals past Park will help!
Bostik League South
Tuesday 14th November 2017
Match report: Stuart Tree
Call it commentator’s curse. You know? The one where the expert pundit confidently makes a statement only for the exact opposite to unravel in front of their eyes.
Think Tim Lovejoy’s ubiquitous, ‘it’s only Ray Parlour’ before the Romford Pele belted the winner past his beloved Chelsea in the FA Cup final. Or when Hernan Crespo put AC Milan 3-0 up against Liverpool in the 2005 Champions League final... cue Andy Gray: “Game well and truly over, and I hate saying that.”
For 99.9% of matches at the eighth tier of English football, this propensity isn’t a factor. Games at this level are rarely broadcast but with the Bostik League’s deal with broadcasters ‘Back of the Net’, those who couldn’t make the trip to Reigate on a cold November night were able to tune into their live radio broadcast. Tune in like a certain programme editor who is writing this report despite being holed up at home making the decision to finish Saturday’s edition rather than have a late night (yes – I am writing a report based on what was broadcast, twitter feeds and messaging those who actually weren’t fair-weather fans like myself).
Pundits Ben Eltham and Mick Sullivan do an excellent job but commentator’s curse isn’t reserved for only the ost well known broadcasters. Sullivan was adamant that there was no way Malcolm Porter’s South Park side was going to succumb to the same kind of drubbing that Casuals gave them back in September, where James Bracken’s boys lampooned the Sparks by five goals to nil. No way!
Porter’s side was too good for that. It was an anomaly. A blip. No way were Casuals good enough to produce that kind of performance again and no way Porter would allow his side to be walked all over again. In fact, Sullivan tipped South Park to take the contest, ignoring Casuals fine form which saw them sit second in the league.
Within twenty five minutes of the contest, the analysis had bitten them truly on the behind. Gabriel Odunaike had given Casuals the lead with their first attack after 10 minutes. Max Oldham doubled the lead on 22 minutes and Danny Cunningham had added to Park’s woes on 25. 3-0 within half an hour was a blitz that few had predicted. It could’ve been worse for the home side as ex-Casual Josh Gallagher was lucky to stay on the field following a rash challenge on Kevant Serbony. Unsurprisingly, Gallagher wasn’t to last the 90 minutes.
South Park were given a lifeline on the stroke of half time when Chris Smith stepped up to the penalty spot and sent Danny Bracken the wrong way after Corinth had sloppily conceded a penalty. Eltham and Sullivan lamented that they expected Porter to lay into his side but perhaps Bracken would be the one more disappointed going into the changing rooms following the generosity of gifting a penalty.
Despite the setback, Casuals remained in control for the most part and their task was made easier when Gallagher was issued a second yellow and received his marching orders, leading to the chant “you should’ve stayed with the Casuals.”
Despite only 88 given as the attendance, you could hear the noise of the Corinth faithful across the airwaves. Amongst their ranks was Albert and Caio (pictured). Corinthians fans who’d flown in from Sao Paulo on Saturday only to arrive straight from the airport at the 92nd minute – suitcases and all in tow. Gutting. They had tickets to see Brazil bore their way to a 0-0 draw against England at Wembley on this night. Instead, they chose to head down to the nether regions of Reigate to finally get to see the Casuals in action. Brandishing their £45 tickets, they never stopped singing and even taught the rabble how to ‘Poropopo’ – a famous chanting dance found on the terraces of Arena Corinthians. They certainly made the right choice.
They had more to cheer about following Gallagher’s dismissal. It opened the floodgates for Corinthian-Casuals to surge forward and Just two minutes later, Odunaike bagged his second. Oldham, not to be outdone, matched him on 84 minutes before Odunaike got the final say by poking home in time added on. Final score: 6-1.
Eltham and Sullivan were bewildered and their prediction couldn’t have been further from the truth. The resounding win puts Casuals joint top with Lewes on points and remarkably, despite no player hitting double figures in the scoring charts, Bracken’s side are currently the league’s top scorers with 40 goals. Putting over a quarter of those goals past Park will help!
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