​Casuals Thrive in Five Alive Performance

Corinthian-Casuals 5 – 1 Alton
Saturday 6th September 2025
Combined Counties Premier South
Report: Stuart Tree. Pics: Stuart Tree, Harvey Abbott and Andy Nunn.
 
Corinthian-Casuals produced a five-star performance as they put Alton to the sword in the Combined Counties Premier South.

The win lifts Mu Maan’s side to within one point off the top of the league table. With five different scorers, Casuals showed their full attacking prowess.

The double disappointment of the 2-0 loss to Tooting and Mitcham in the week, along with the departure of defender Tommy Smith, back to his old club, Redhill hung over King George’s. Thankfully, with the return of Arsenii Protsyshyn to the defensive line-up, there wasn’t a need for a major reshuffle.

Casuals had bounced back from each loss this season with resounding wins; Badshot Lea was followed by the win at Cobham and the FA Cup 5-3 loss saw a turnaround against unbeaten Epsom and Ewell. Could Corinth complete the hat-trick of bouncebackabilities?

It started off in the worst possible way. Alton’s Alex MaCallister headed home a corner at the near post to give the visitors the lead.

But when Rafa Barbosa broke free and rebounded his shot off the inside of the post, it gave Casuals the hope that they could break down Alton’s defence. And how they did!

A fortuitous deflection from Diogo Da Silva’s free kick saw Corinth equalise. His celebration a homage to his pregnant partner, both expecting their first child! Moments later, fellow Brazilian Rafa Barbosa lifted his acute angled shot over Rhomey Ashby-Hammond to give Casuals the lead by half time. Cue Barbosa’s very own chant from the 255 in attendance, given the rising popularity of the striker who now has 5 in 6 games.

But it was after the break that Maan’s side turned the screw. Andre Coker lit up the place with a fierce 30 yarder that sent eruptions around King George’s. Next in on the act was Patrick Maia – his calm finish came after being picked out by a fantastic Raf Barbosa ball across the box.

And the icing on the cake was from Trey Masikini - making two goal of the season contenders in one game. Diogo Da Silva broke through and laid the ball off perfectly for the Casuals No.11, who curled the ball inside the right post.

A host of substitutions, including the debut for Mansfield Town loanee George Burgess-Allen brought the game back down to earth as a beleaguered Alton couldn’t muster a comeback and thus the victory was complete.

“No disrespect to Alton, it could have been six or seven.” said Maan after the match.

“We stated off slow. I’m obviously not happy with the goal we conceded. But I can’t fault the reaction. We showed our potential, because we scored some cracking goals, some great individual performances from back to front, and everything seemed to click.

“It was disappointing to lose to Tooting in the week but it’s all about the reaction. We've lost before, and gone and given a perfect reaction. Both wins at Cobham and against Epsom following losses shows that we’ve got fight. I keep saying that we have a very good squad, they’re all very good lads in there. They deserved that today.

“The credit goes to the boys, because they're the ones out there. They're doing it. We've had a few new faces in there today too and it’s nice to see that they're starting to gel.

“After that performance I'd rather have had a game scheduled on Tuesday now. The boys know what levels that they reach, and they've set the standard here today.

Regarding the departure of Tommy Smith during the week, Maan said, “Players make their decisions. I only want players that want to be here, and if players want to go and move on for whatever reason, then that's their call.”