Bognor Regis Town 3 - 2 Corinthian-Casuals
Isthmian League Premier Division
Tuesday 1st February 2022
​Report: Stuart Tree. Photos: Andy Nunn (set of photos here)

Corinthian-Casuals Manager James Bracken was left furious with ‘strange decisions’ by the referee as Bognor Regis Town came from behind to clinch a dramatic 3-2 win at Nyewood Lane.

Casuals had led 2-1 at the break and looked to have extended their lead early in the second half but referee Peter Lowe deemed Ollie Sitch to have fouled Amadou Tangara in the build-up. He later went on to over-rule his own judgement on a penalty shout to give Bognor the three points.

Bracken left his side unchanged from the 1-1 draw with Worthing on Saturday including his makeshift defence, as he was still missing his four recognised Centre-Backs. Their performance against the league leaders at the weekend warranted a fair crack once again at holding the line.

But the game got of to a frantic start with Bobby Mills once again living up to his nickname of ‘Lobby’ producing another delicate lob over an oncoming Tangara. Before anyone could breathe, Bognor had equalised. Danny Bracken was forced into a good stop from Jordy Mongoy but Dan Gifford was on hand to tap in the rebound.

The game settled down somewhat after the opening exchanges until 25 minutes in when Tangara upended Ollie Sitch in the box, giving Casuals a golden chance to re-take the lead. Kieron Cadogan made no mistake from the penalty spot.

Then, in Casuals’ eyes, the turning point came immediately after the break. A cross from Ben Cheklit was flapped at by Tangara who’s spilled it to an awaiting Bobby Mills six yards out. However, Referee Peter Lowe deemed there to be a foul on the stopper, rather than him just spilling the ball and even booked Sitch in the process. Video replays emerging since, show that this was mighty soft! VAR huh?

Momentum swung and Casuals dropped off the pace for a spell which allowed Bognor back into the game. Nervous defending saw the Rocks capitalising on errors which led to Finlay Lovatt firing home an equaliser.

Then, on 66 minutes, Hakeem Adelakun was deemed to have brought down Joe Dandy, however the Referee had indicated a corner. Under pressure from Rocks players to speak to his Assistant, he unusually overturned his own decision and awarded a penalty. Despite Bracken getting a hand to the shot, it snuck in off the post and the home side led for the first time courtesy of James Crane.

Casuals pushed for an equaliser yet it just wouldn’t come. Bognor defended resolutely in numbers. The best chance Casuals had was in the last moments when a floated ball into the box saw Tangara come steaming through a group of players, flattening Nat Pinney in the process. Yet a free kick was awarded to the keeper. It had been one of those evenings.

We thank Bognor for their wonderful hospitality and warm welcomes and goodbyes afterwards. The fans are a credit to the league and we look forward to welcoming them for the return fixture on the 15th.

“I’m not pleased with the referee’s performance,” admitted James Bracken after the match.

“I rarely talk about referees. You can look back through the reports to see where I moan about them but they’re poor every week. But I won’t use it as an excuse for anything. We get on with it and I preach that ethos to the players too.

“But tonight, he’s poor. I’ve never known so many strange decisions. The turning point is us going three-one up at the start of the second half, with us on the front foot. It sets the tone for the rest of the match. And to not only disallow the goal but he books Ollie in the process. It’s scandalous.

“Even at the kick-off, Bognor won the toss and chose ends. That makes it our kick-off. But he got that wrong too and gave them the kick-off. We tell him but he refuses to acknowledge the mistake. I’m not being funny, if you can’t work out who’s won the coin toss and who’s kick-off it is, then there’s little hope for the rest of the game.

“The penalty call he’s had a fine view of it and didn’t deem it a foul. The linesman, who’s further away has given it.

“I could rattle on about so many decisions that were erroneous today. Look at the end of the match. We’re chasing the game, We’ve put a ball into a box full of players. The keeper calls it, comes charging out erratically and flattens our centre-forward who’s just standing there. How does he possibly come to the conclusion that it’s a free kick to the goalkeeper? How can that be? It’s got to be a penalty, especially as he hasn’t won the ball. Bottom line, he’s wiped out our player, and the ref has given a free kick to them. If that’s a defender come bowling through your players, it’s a penalty all day.

“He was consistently poor one way. It swung the tide of the game.

“Even at the end, 3-2 down, I fancied us to nick a late one. Considering what they were up against, the boys did great. We had it all to do. Obviously, the 3-1 disallowed goal, he’s got wrong. Too many bad calls at crucial moments of the game. It’s been appalling, quite frankly.

“I don’t feel we’ve been given a fair crack tonight.  

“Our centre-halves will be back over the next week. With the injuries and suspensions we’ve had, we know it’s a squad game and we’ve been getting through these last couple as best as we can. The boys who’ve stepped up have done great. But I also said to them, we’ll have players back Saturday which is good for the group.

“We changed our shape tonight after 15 minutes because I didn’t like the look of the game. I get a gut feeling. Had we left it as it was, would’ve been 4-1 either way at half time. And we didn’t need to make it one of those games. We wanted to add more control to the match and we have – going in 2-1 up at half time. We created plenty of chances and should’ve been 4-1 up at half time. Dan’s made a couple of good saves and you could argue it could be 4-4 – but that’s what he’s there to do… make saves.
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“I did feel we were the better side in the first half and we were a threat. We were getting in behind them and had two or three opportunities where we could’ve pulled it back for someone to smash it home.” 

“If we took half of our chances today, we would have scored five, that's the God's honest truth,” explained Manager James Bracken after the 3-1 loss to Bognor Regis Town.

He added: “I'm not talking about half chances, or shots outside the box, but one-on-one's, shots hitting the crossbar and free headers inside the six yard box. We just didn't make the most of our chances.

"I can't fault them though; all I will remember from the game is the reaction in the last 12 minutes. Someone complimented me a while ago and said that your teams never know when they're beaten. That was epitomised in the last 12 minutes of the game, which should have been more like 20 but the ref decided to play just two minutes over the top... but that is a side issue.

"That is what will come away with me, and it is what we need to focus on in the coming week, the positivity in the last twelve minutes, and the whole performance really. My brother (Danny Bracken) could have done better for the first. The second was clumsy and we switched off for the penalty and we were going for the game and caught out for the third.

“We got more out of that today as a defeat, than we ever would have a win. I'm proud of the players, and I have no problem with them with regards to effort and the way we played. It just came down to the fact we didn't take our chances and we got caught out, but that's football.”

Bracken also reserved special praise for Max Oldham stating that he was “brave to walk off without a stretcher” following his clash of heads which left him unconscious.

“I’ve got nothing but respect for Max for going for that ball, winning it the way he did and getting up, walking off the pitch like a man rather than being stretchered off. Fair play to him, he showed a lot of gumption today and that’s what you want to see in your team.

Next up for Corinthian Casuals are two away trips in the shape of a trip to Hornchurch next Saturday, followed by a visit to Folkestone the following Tuesday.

Bracken continued: “We will get both of them watched. We've watched Hornchurch and there won't be much football played by them, which is par for the course for most teams in this league now.

“At the beginning of the season teams were actually getting the ball down and playing football, but it's got to Christmas and when things don't go to plan, they resort to shelling it, and it’s ugly.

“We'll be ready for that though, and we will make sure we're best prepared, as we were today. Bognor are a decent side. Had we won, we’d have been a point behind them and who’d have said at Christmas, we’d be a point behind them going into February? There’s no right for us to be anywhere near where we are. But when you watch us, you can see exactly why we should still be looking up. Get back on another winning run and we’ll be within the playoffs again. Until that’s not achievable, that’s what we’ll be going for.”

James was talking to Joshua Doherty and Stuart Tree.

Corinthian-Casuals 1 - 3 Bognor Regis Town
Bostik League Premier Division
Saturday 26th January 2019
Match report: Cameron Smith. Photos: Stuart Tree (full set here)

An opening beauty from Hamilton Antonio was cancelled out by three Bognor Regis goals as Corinthian-Casuals suffered their first defeat of 2019 in an eventful but ultimately frustrating Bostik Premier clash at King George’s.
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Three games in the New Year saw two wins and a draw. It had been a fantastic start for James Bracken and his side with an “unbeaten January” being the target. Bognor Regis Town were the visitors and the seaside outfit hovered just outside the elusive play-offs in 7th. A good number flocked from the south coast to Tolworth on a cold and rainy afternoon and with dozens of AFC Wimbledon fans getting their non-league fix before a huge FA Cup clash with Premier League side West Ham, the attendance was high. And so were the stakes.

Majed Osman’s impressive performance versus Enfield Town last week earned him another start in the middle of the park ahead of Mu Maan; Coskun Ekim partnered the no.6. Under pressure from Casuals’ lightning quick attack, Bognor were on the back-foot for the opening 15 minutes. Jordan Clarke had a shot blocked and the traffic on the left flank via Adelakun’s crosses had shaken the away side. Finding a pocket of space, midfield magician Hamilton Antonio struck a pinpoint yet powerful effort towards the keeper’s bottom right-hand corner. Evading the green shirts in-front of him, Antonio’s shot did find the glove of Bognor no.1 Dan Lincoln, but there was not enough contact to avert it wide. Casuals were 1-0 up thanks to an audacious strike!

A first-half of niggly challenges and midfield battles, there was a threat from Bognor as they settled, but notwithstanding consistent Casuals chaos. However, chances went begging as Casuals should’ve turned the screw. First, Warren Mfula found himself through on goal only to have his shot forced wide. Jordan Clarke’s penetrating run into the byline caused chaos and Bognor scrambled clear. To top it off, Gabriel Odunaike should’ve converted a header from almost under the bar that he couldn’t get on top of.  Neither side could add anything else to the half: Antonio’s early quality separated the two teams.

Immediately searching for a second goal, Corinthians seemed to start the second half like they started the first. On the prowl. Clarke was bothering the green shirts once again and had a booming shot dip onto the crossbar from 25 yards out in an agonising hands-on-head moment, where a slice of luck was the difference between 1-0 and 2-0. Just before Bognor equalised, a shot that narrowly missed the post had foreshadowed the visitors’ dominance from the 55th minute onwards. Tommy Scutt’s messy goal that beat Casuals captain Bracken was timed perfectly with the descent in the weather. The rain lashed it down and so did Casuals’ performance.

Five minutes later, a tackle in the area caused the referee to point to the spot for Bognor and Jimmy Muitt was the one to brilliantly dispatch the penalty. In the space of five minutes, it was 2-1 to Bognor- comeback completed. Thinking back to earlier, Casuals were ruing the missed chances of Gabriel Odunaike and Warren Mfula. Two one-on-ones with Odunaike in the second-half saw the striker hit a creative but weak flick first-time that found the keeper’s hands, as well as not being able to finish the other chance.

Introduced two minutes prior, Max Oldham had a collision in the 77th minute and didn’t show any sign of movement upon landing. Play was stopped of course, and the Casuals physio attended to the winger. As minutes went by, the supporters around King George’s realised just how serious the injury was and lending his jacket to the concussed Oldham, James Bracken defined what we call ‘The Corinthian Spirit’. Bognor’s physio generously lent a helping hand before an ambulance was called and assistance arrived. After nearly 20 minutes of stoppage, Oldham was able to walk off the pitch to a standing ovation from everyone in the ground.

Play restarted at the 77th minute mark and the Casuals had new found confidence after a distressing situation. Calls to ‘Do it for Max’ were heard from behind the goal and a few set-pieces nearly saw Casuals equalise. Centre-back Jack Strange was in an unfamiliar position when he hit a decent shot over the bar from 20 yards out. But unfortunately for Casuals, Muitt had a simple yet clean finish to make it 3-1 to Bognor in the 90th minute, therefore concluding the bizarre match.

Max Oldham was treated at hospital and accompanied by the awesome Jon Williams- he is set to make a full recovery. We would like to thank Bognor Regis and their great physio for their help and messages; we wish them well for the rest of the season. Casuals’ three or four key opportunities that would have been dispatched on another day resulted in the first loss of the year, but Bracken looks onto two tough away fixtures next. Hornchuch and Folkestone are pencilled in next week- can Corinth get back on track?

Read James Bracken’s post-match thoughts here.