Godalming Town 1 - 2 Corinthian-Casuals
Ryman League Division One South
Saturday 27th August 2016
Wey Court
Attendance: 161
Match report by Cameron Smith. Photos: Stuart Tree (full set of pics here)
James Bracken’s pink and brown army marched onto a terrific ten consecutive wins in ten competitive games with a convincing 2-1 away win over league newbies Godalming Town, thanks to Shaun Okojie and new winger Jordan Clarke scoring a superb free-kick.
After a 3-2 win over Crawley Down Gatwick in the FA Cup, Corinth had a seven day rest before they took a trip down the A3 towards Guildford where they would face fellow Surrey side Godalming Town. The G’s have an intriguing history in which they have been forced to change leagues on multiple occasions, including last season where they moved from Southern League Central Division to the Ryman Division One South.
The team were adjusting to life in this league as they lost the opening two games this season. However, Godalming did progress to the next round of the FA Cup as they impressively beat fellow league side Molesey 2-0 away from home. Meanwhile, Casuals were looking to make it three out of three in the league and four out of four in all competitions this season. As both teams made their way out onto the pitch, it was clear that Bracken had decided to try a new formation- the 4-3-3. As the normal back four took their positions, the trio of Brandon Johnson, Kevant Serbony and Josh Gallagher were in the centre of the park. The attack consisted of new recruit Jordan Clarke, talisman Shaun Okojie and the hard-working Juevan Spencer.
The patchy surface of Wey Court was already affecting play early on as unexpected bumps in the ground challenged Casuals’ style of play. Clarke, who netted in the FA Cup win last week, was threatening the hosts full-backs with agility and fantastic movement bundled with skill. Nevertheless, the superior side from the off was Godalming as Danny Bracken saved a point blank header before a rebound flew over. Captain Bracken was certainly on his toes early on as an unexpected long-shot didn’t catch him off guard as he miraculously tipped the ball onto the crossbar. G’s no.9 Matt Anton decided enough was enough with a powerful run into the box, shrugging off Casuals defence to head past Bracken and into the net after fourteen minutes.
Corinth slowly got back into the game. The marauding Kev Serbony was denied by the strong fists of the Godalming no.1 after being allowed through on goal by Gallagher. The following corner was met by Okojie but the effort eluded the back of the net. As Jordan Clarke stepped up five minutes from the break to take a free-kick, the dark cloud above the ground turned into sunlight, which hopefully was a symbol of better things to come. Clarke hit a twenty-five yard set-piece with power and curve as it swerved around and over the wall, into the roof of the net. The remarkably clean strike left everyone in shock as Godalming were pegged back level. A free-kick that the like of David Beckham would be proud of.
The second 45 was dominated by Casuals. The visitor’s short passing between eachother seemed like they were telepathically linked as Gallagher, Hodges, Johnson and Clarke combined to produce a fantastic move in which ‘Ginger Ninja’ Johnson intelligently dummied for Hodges to shoot. The shot was blocked but Casuals were determined to score a second. A trademark sprint down the left flank, Hodges delivered a perfect low cross for Okojie, who controlled fantastically but fired just over the bar. Head in hands, Okojie looked gutted. The 6ft 2in striker picked himself up with even more desire to score the winner.
A few moments later, Super Shaun, from the half-way line, out-paced the defence and dispatched the one on one opportunity to put Casuals 2-1 up. Relief for the away side, grief for the home side. The inspired Oneal Garnes in the Godalming net was on top of his game, saving chances from Clarke, Murray and Okojie. Despite the domination, the G’s still looked like they could counter attack and level the game at any moment. Tension until the final whistle blew; Corinth maintained their 100% account in the league. Currently second behind cruising Carshalton, Casuals move onto the Bank Holiday home fixture against Tooting while Godalming sit in the relegation zone with zero points.
“We're looking very sharp.” said Manager Bracken after the 2-1 win at Wey Court.
“We're continuing to win games yet no-one has performed beyond 70% of their potential.
“Today, we've edged closer to our best. We're still not quite there but to be fair to their goalkeeper, he's made five or six top quality saves. On top of that, we've blared a couple of great chances over the bar and taking all that into consideration, it's emphatic today. We could easily have won by five or six goals.
“Three wins in three league games and into the next round of the FA Cup is a great start. The lads are doing what I'm asking of them. Obviously, the scorelines have been tight and ideally we'd want to kill off games, but I can't be too frustrated as we've created so many opportunities today, which in the past few games, hasn't been the case.
“Aside from their goal, which is one long kick from the keeper ending in a bit of a fluke, we limited Godalming to virtually nothing – Dan (Bracken) had to make a couple of early saves but nothing major. We were in control today and we're looking good.
“Ten league wins in a row is a nice achievement. It's something to put in the record books for this group of lads – I doubt that's been done in a long time here, if ever. We're definitely pleased about that.”
Ryman League Division One South
Saturday 27th August 2016
Wey Court
Attendance: 161
Match report by Cameron Smith. Photos: Stuart Tree (full set of pics here)
James Bracken’s pink and brown army marched onto a terrific ten consecutive wins in ten competitive games with a convincing 2-1 away win over league newbies Godalming Town, thanks to Shaun Okojie and new winger Jordan Clarke scoring a superb free-kick.
After a 3-2 win over Crawley Down Gatwick in the FA Cup, Corinth had a seven day rest before they took a trip down the A3 towards Guildford where they would face fellow Surrey side Godalming Town. The G’s have an intriguing history in which they have been forced to change leagues on multiple occasions, including last season where they moved from Southern League Central Division to the Ryman Division One South.
The team were adjusting to life in this league as they lost the opening two games this season. However, Godalming did progress to the next round of the FA Cup as they impressively beat fellow league side Molesey 2-0 away from home. Meanwhile, Casuals were looking to make it three out of three in the league and four out of four in all competitions this season. As both teams made their way out onto the pitch, it was clear that Bracken had decided to try a new formation- the 4-3-3. As the normal back four took their positions, the trio of Brandon Johnson, Kevant Serbony and Josh Gallagher were in the centre of the park. The attack consisted of new recruit Jordan Clarke, talisman Shaun Okojie and the hard-working Juevan Spencer.
The patchy surface of Wey Court was already affecting play early on as unexpected bumps in the ground challenged Casuals’ style of play. Clarke, who netted in the FA Cup win last week, was threatening the hosts full-backs with agility and fantastic movement bundled with skill. Nevertheless, the superior side from the off was Godalming as Danny Bracken saved a point blank header before a rebound flew over. Captain Bracken was certainly on his toes early on as an unexpected long-shot didn’t catch him off guard as he miraculously tipped the ball onto the crossbar. G’s no.9 Matt Anton decided enough was enough with a powerful run into the box, shrugging off Casuals defence to head past Bracken and into the net after fourteen minutes.
Corinth slowly got back into the game. The marauding Kev Serbony was denied by the strong fists of the Godalming no.1 after being allowed through on goal by Gallagher. The following corner was met by Okojie but the effort eluded the back of the net. As Jordan Clarke stepped up five minutes from the break to take a free-kick, the dark cloud above the ground turned into sunlight, which hopefully was a symbol of better things to come. Clarke hit a twenty-five yard set-piece with power and curve as it swerved around and over the wall, into the roof of the net. The remarkably clean strike left everyone in shock as Godalming were pegged back level. A free-kick that the like of David Beckham would be proud of.
The second 45 was dominated by Casuals. The visitor’s short passing between eachother seemed like they were telepathically linked as Gallagher, Hodges, Johnson and Clarke combined to produce a fantastic move in which ‘Ginger Ninja’ Johnson intelligently dummied for Hodges to shoot. The shot was blocked but Casuals were determined to score a second. A trademark sprint down the left flank, Hodges delivered a perfect low cross for Okojie, who controlled fantastically but fired just over the bar. Head in hands, Okojie looked gutted. The 6ft 2in striker picked himself up with even more desire to score the winner.
A few moments later, Super Shaun, from the half-way line, out-paced the defence and dispatched the one on one opportunity to put Casuals 2-1 up. Relief for the away side, grief for the home side. The inspired Oneal Garnes in the Godalming net was on top of his game, saving chances from Clarke, Murray and Okojie. Despite the domination, the G’s still looked like they could counter attack and level the game at any moment. Tension until the final whistle blew; Corinth maintained their 100% account in the league. Currently second behind cruising Carshalton, Casuals move onto the Bank Holiday home fixture against Tooting while Godalming sit in the relegation zone with zero points.
“We're looking very sharp.” said Manager Bracken after the 2-1 win at Wey Court.
“We're continuing to win games yet no-one has performed beyond 70% of their potential.
“Today, we've edged closer to our best. We're still not quite there but to be fair to their goalkeeper, he's made five or six top quality saves. On top of that, we've blared a couple of great chances over the bar and taking all that into consideration, it's emphatic today. We could easily have won by five or six goals.
“Three wins in three league games and into the next round of the FA Cup is a great start. The lads are doing what I'm asking of them. Obviously, the scorelines have been tight and ideally we'd want to kill off games, but I can't be too frustrated as we've created so many opportunities today, which in the past few games, hasn't been the case.
“Aside from their goal, which is one long kick from the keeper ending in a bit of a fluke, we limited Godalming to virtually nothing – Dan (Bracken) had to make a couple of early saves but nothing major. We were in control today and we're looking good.
“Ten league wins in a row is a nice achievement. It's something to put in the record books for this group of lads – I doubt that's been done in a long time here, if ever. We're definitely pleased about that.”
RSS Feed