Kingstonian 1 - 1 Corinthian-Casuals
Isthmian League Premier Division
Wednesday 9th February 2022
Report: Stuart Tree. Photo: Andy Nunn

Corinthian-Casuals and Kingstonian played out a scrappy 1-1 draw on Wednesday night in a result that ultimately benefitted neither club.

An opening first half goal from Daniel Ajakayie was cancelled out nine minutes later by a Peter Ojemen header – his first goal for the Casuals.

Casuals came into the match with squad selection issues having Elliott Bolton missing through Covid and the loss of Ola Williams in defence and Mo Diallo, through a strain, up top. Most notably was Captain Danny Bracken who’s injury continues to keep him out with the returning Manny Agboola back between the sticks.

As typical in so many derby encounters, the exchanges between the sides was nervy and players on both sides took time to settle into the game. It was on 21 minutes before anything of real note happened when Ajakayie pounced on a defensive mistake and slotted home from a neat angle leaving Agboola stranded after he’d attempted to come claim the ball.

But Casuals were level on the half hour mark when Peter Ojemen rose highest of the players to nod home Kieron Cadogan’s cross, with Sanneh unable to keep the ball out of the net.

The second half saw Casuals come out the blocks the better side with the best chance falling to Ricardo Thompson, who looked as though he was caught in two minds when the ball came to him 15 yards out without pressure – the midfielder shanking wide. Ojemen also had another good chance to add to his first half header, this time nodding the ball over.

Though on the front foot, Casuals had lost a key component in their engine with Mani Mensah being replaced at half time with a dead leg and Corinth tired as the half progressed. K’s grew in ascendancy and forced Agboola into action on several occasions. Not least with a fine near-post stop following a Kingston breakaway.

But the match played out without hitting any major high points and both sides will undoubtedly feel that a point is a justified result.

“We’re relatively happy with the point at the end of the game,” said Manager James Bracken after the match. We had boys across our back line who until Saturday, hadn’t played football for three or four weeks. So we knew we might get tired and we lacked a few options, what with injuries and Covid cases.

“However, I thought we played well. I thought we were the better side for the first half. We were on the front foot and had a real idea on how to go about winning the game. But we didn’t find that final ball anywhere near enough, especially from wide areas. I thought that our crossing tonight was poor. Too many were scuffed in across the floor or headed away by the first man. We didn’t have the quality on those like I’d expect us to have. The lads know that though. I don’t need to tell them. I did say to them afterwards that you don’t always get the quality you want to achieve but you then need to show a higher level of work-rate in order not to be beaten. Had we found a bit more quality in those areas, we’d be coming away with a win.

“But it’s another game unbeaten. You look at our results in the match programme and there’s not many ‘red’ losses in there. We’re a match for anyone in this league. Tonight, we we’re perhaps one or two players light from winning that game.

“Bowers and Pitsea on Saturday will be an incredibly difficult game. They were pegged back very late on at Folkestone this week. If a team are capable of being 2-1 up away at Folkestone up until the last kick of the game, then what do we expect other than a hard game?

“I’m sure it’ll be a different style of football from tonight. We expect them to be direct. We’ll expect long throws to come in on us. But we’ll make sure we prepare.”

“We achieved a draw here against Worthing, we lost at Bognor with a disallowed goal that would’ve put us 3-1 up after half time and score three away on Saturday at Stortford to get a positive result. We’ve got another positive result tonight against a side that’s vying for the playoffs. So what we don’t want to do now is have a dip in levels. And to be fair to the boys, they’ve kept the levels up. But I maintain, Saturday will be an incredibly difficult game.”

Kingstonian 3 - 1 Corinthian-Casuals
Isthmian League Premier Division
Wednesday 26th February 2020

Two injury-time goals for hosts Kingstonian cruelly condemned Corinthian-Casuals to defeat on Wednesday evening in the Isthmian League Premier Division.

Casuals had led in the first half but were pegged back before the break. With the game entering stoppage time and the scores still level, referee James Simpson awarded a hotly contested penalty to Kingstonian, turning the game on its head. A third was added with Casuals urgently pushing for an equaliser.

Captain Danny Bracken made an enforced return between the sticks despite suffering from illness which kept him out against Potters Bar at the weekend. However, with Ibby Ugradar also injured, there was no alternative backup. Nat Pinney and Gabriel Odunaike were preferred to Ollie Sitch and Kev Serbony, with Matt Parsons making his full debut.

If ever there was a game of two halves, this would’ve been it. Casuals should’ve been out of sight in the first 45 minutes. Odunaike raced through only for Rob Tolfrey to make a smart stop. Ben Cheklit also tested the reflexes of the K’s veteran before Pinney found the net, only for the Assistant to raise his flag for offside.

But the pressure told just after the half hour mark; Brad Wilson flashed a shot across Tolfrey who could only parry it out to Cheklit who had no hesitation in burying it from close range.

Casuals looked to turn the screw and once again, Pinney broke the K’s back line and found the target, with a similar result – offside, though this one was close!

Kingstonian dusted themselves down and began to assert themselves. New recruit Eddie Dsane shot low past Bracken from 18 yards to restore parity between the two sides.

Casuals started the second half brightly with Cheklit once again hitting the target but the referee’s whistle pulling back play with a foul in the build-up. Then a pivotal turning point. Matty Bakare steamed through the K’s midfield and bearing down on goal, was upended on the edge of the box with a goalscoring opportunity denied… yellow card. Sadly, that was the end of Bakare’s participation for the evening, having been injured in the challenge. His presence in the middle would be missed.

Corinth sat deeper, looking to contain K’s. Whilst pressured, it appeared to be effective, with little to threaten Bracken in goal. But in stoppage time, despite the ball being won clean, the referee deemed the tackle to be stern enough to award a penalty. Tom Kavanagh smashed the resulting kick down the middle leaving Bracken no chance.

There was time for K’s to add a third with Casuals pushing up the pitch. Coskun Ekim was caught in possession at the back and Dan Bennett had the simple task to race free and lift the ball over Bracken to make it 3-1. Casuals hit the post late on, with the ball running along the goal-line, but it would’ve been pure consolation with the full-time whistle blowing after.

A fine first half performance from the Amateurs wasn’t matched in the second which allowed the home side more possession and more territory. It’ll feel like at least a point dropped but had Casuals taken their chances in the first half, it could’ve easily been three.

“Hayden [Bird] said to me after the match that we deserved to win, as did half of their players, so maybe we believe them,” said James Bracken after the match.

“We had chances in the first half. We had the ball in the net three times. One was offside but the other was so tight, I’d like to see it again.

“But we played well. First half, we set about things differently. We changed our shape and decided to have an open game of football. Because if you put them under a bit of pressure, they don’t like it. That first 45 minutes, we didn’t allow them any period of control.

“Second half, we dug in, worked hard. We didn’t have as much of the ball as we’d have liked. There were moments but we probably weren’t good enough after the break. It’s disappointing, because we were relatively comfortable. You don’t always have to have possession to be in control of a game. For all their possession and play around the box, they never looked like they’d score.

“The penalty is a good tackle and he won the ball. So, we’re disappointed that we haven’t got more. Anyone would’ve seen that there isn’t a gulf between the teams that some may expect, with us the amateur club we are. Anyone watching will see we’re nobody’s mugs. We’re a decent side and when we apply ourselves, we’re more than a match for anyone in this division. Unfortunately, with the last few minutes, the referee’s decisions have gone against us. It’s not unusual; It’s the same old story.

“We said before the game, even if we won a point, and then win against Stortford on Saturday, we could’ve feasibly gone above Lewes in 17th. All those sides down there, including Stortford are in the mix. We need to ensure that come Saturday, three points come our way. We’re in okay form – coming into tonight, we’d taken a point more than K’s in the last ten games. You can’t say that we’ve fallen off. We’re still out there, battling.   

“It’s a pack of seven sides we’re competing with to avoid the drop. It’s not like we’re in a bottom three that’s adrift and we can’t catch anyone else. We need to do better than three of them. Finish mid-table in that mini-league at the bottom, then we’ll be fine.

“It’s a real season of frustration. I’ve never known anything like it. To be in every game, all so tight and then losing in circumstances like tonight, resting on a referee’s decision. There’s thirteen games left and they’ll fly by. We need to get a decent return from at least six of those games at a minimum. Let’s upset the apple cart. We’ve proved that we can get points from anyone in this league so that’s what we’ll be looking to achieve.”

Corinthian-Casuals 1 - 2 Kingstonian
Bostik League Premier Division
Saturday 22nd December 2018
Match report and photos: Stuart Tree (full set here)

Corinthian-Casuals succumbed to defeat in the Borough derby against tenants Kingstonian going down 2-1 in a day full of Christmas fundraising and festivities.

A bumper crowd of 631 saw James Daly and an unfortunate own goal give K’s the three points putting the visitors 2nd in the league table.

Casuals were without two attacking threats in Jordan Clarke and Bradley Woods-Garness, both through injury and at times, it told with the home side lacking spark in the final third.

Much like the reverse fixture in August, play was cagey with neither side wanting to give up local bragging rights. Casuals had a couple of half chances before the first breakthrough. A cross from wide found James Daly who pounced from just yards out to give K’s the lead. Questions were asked on if the build-up was an offside infringement and reviewing video post-match, it was verified.

Ironically, K’s would go on to have two other very well-taken chances rubbed off by the opposite side assistant referee.  

Casuals almost got back to square-pegging immediately after when Max Oldham raced through on goal, but Rob Tolfrey steered the winger wide and away from danger.

K’s looked like they might have added a second but for Danny Bracken making a brilliant double save to deny Leigh Dynan’s side.

Despite having two efforts scrubbed off by the linesman’s flag, one of which was brilliantly volleyed by Daly, K’s looked to have put the game to bed when Jack Strange inadvertently steered the ball into his own net.

Casuals went ‘route one’ and Gabriel Odunaike pounced on mistakes by the centre halves to reduce the arrears. But the final ten minutes ticked away with no real threat and K’s held on for the win.

Thanks go to everyone for their generosity to two great charitable causes (Kingston Churches Action on Homelessness and Kingston Carers Network) and we wish both sets of supporters a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.

Assistant Manager Dan Pringle had these comments following the match.

“From our point of view, it’s a slightly harsh score-line on us. The first goal, video playback has shown the build-up was offside and obviously the second is an unfortunate own-goal. Saying that, we didn’t do enough to win it and a draw would’ve been a fair result in my eyes.

“Considering the different ‘resources’ of the two sides, you certainly couldn’t see that massive gulf in class by watching today.

“If you’d have said to me at the start of the season that by Christmas, we’d have 29 points and 12th in the league, we’d have taken that.

“The first few games of the season saw us take a while to adjust to this level but since then, we know what we need to do to be successful. If we can get back on a run like we had in November, then who knows what we can achieve.

“There’s belief in the squad and we’re looking up rather than over our shoulder. Get ourselves back on a good run and we’ll surprise a few people as we have done every season since James and I have been here.

"We’ve taken a side that finished 5th in the Bostik South and currently sit in 12th in the Bostik Premier, and that’s after losing key personnel too. It’s a minor miracle where we are. By rights, we shouldn’t be where we are.” 

​Read James Bracken's post-match comments following the 1-0 loss to Kingstonian

​I’ve said plenty of times that you have to win or learn and we have to learn from this. But we have to learn quickly. We can’t keep coming away from games with a loss.
 
We played fantastic today. The boys have done everything I’ve asked. We were compact, organised and mobile. We were a threat and everything you’d want from a football team to be. I can’t level any kind of blame across the board but you get one moment of absolute pure naivety and it cost us a goal and lost us the game.
 
It’s a tough one to swallow. If you get beaten by a side that’s better than you and are clearly second best across the pitch, you can take that collectively. But when it’s an individual error, it’s very hard to get your head round it.
 
That said, we have to stick by each other. It might be another player on another day. It is what it is. We need to ensure that individually and collectively, we are better from that experience that we’ve had today.
 
We had a few opportunities to score. Warren Mfula’s forced a good save from Tolfrey in the first half, another that he didn’t quite get a hold of. Reece Hannigan’s header that hit the post. It could’ve been very different. We opened them up in the second half. There were a few cynical fouls when we looked to break but the referee’s never stamped on it once. I thought the level of officiating was poor. On the lead up to the goal, there’s the most blatant handball I’ve seen this season – where he sticks his hand up above his head and pats it down, yet standing five yards away, he’s not seen it. Some of the decisions are beyond me.
 
Despite playing on Saturday, the team selection was fine, the performance levels were good and I never felt we had run out of steam. If anything, we were on top of them until the last minute. There’s no problem with the energy levels. That said, we’ve had 48 hours following an FA Cup tie and these lads are amateurs. It’s a scientific fact that it takes 72 hours to fully recover from a match. To ask anyone to do two games in 48 hours is a joke. From an FA Cup tie we can’t take lightly to a local derby and you want to perform for your fans. To put those two games together with one day’s rest is ridiculous.
 
100% I’ve seen enough to know we’ll be fine though. We’re at the level. Let’s get this right; we’re three points behind K’s. If you’d have said after four games that we’ll be three points behind them, I’d have snapped your hand off. K’s are no mugs. They’re an okay side. They’ve got some big name players and they’ll score goals. Remember, the other sides we’ve played were Folkestone, who you’ll expect to be up there as well as Margate. Merstham, we were far better than them.
 
We’re yet to play all of the sides that will be in the lower echelons of the league. If we play with the intensity as we did today, and Merstham in the second half and Folkestone for large parts of the game, then we’re there. We’re embracing it. We’re enjoying it even though the results aren’t there yet. It’s pushing us though and boys are having to step up and deliver to a better level than they were last year.
 
If we keep the belief, keep the workrate up and stick together, results will come. And when they come, they’ll come in threes and fours, like we’re used to.

Kingstonian 1 - 0 Corinthian-Casuals
Bostik League Premier Division
Monday 27th August 2018
Match report: Cameron Smith. Photos: Stuart Tree (full set here)

On a sour Bank Holiday afternoon, Kingstonian edged Corinthian-Casuals thanks to an unfortunate goalkeeping error that lost the “away side” three vital points at King George’s Arena.

When rumours were put to bed regarding the promotion to the Bostik Premier Division a few weeks after the play-off final loss, there was a fantastic buzz in the Casuals camp. Scanning the list of fixtures and planning all the cracking away days, there was one particular game that jumped out to many. Kingstonian away… at King George’s! With the local side ground-sharing with Tolworth-based Corinthians for the 18/19 season, the 27th August promised the easiest-to-get-to away match the Casuals contingent have ever had.

Hammering Croydon 6-0 on the Saturday and playing again on the Monday meant four changes to the starting XI, including two at the back- Juevan Spencer and Warren Morgan started in full-back positions. Gil Carvalho sat out ahead of Fraser Walker, who donned the no.7 shirt and Hamilton Antonio was introduced for Callum McAllister in midfield. Like Casuals, opponents Kingstonian only had one point to their name after five league games.

Corinth were in their white away strip whilst K’s wore the white and red stripes of their home kit. An opening thirty minutes that almost summed up the game as a whole saw both sides have chances but lack the cutting edge. Bursts of creativity from Antonio and Oldham worried the Kingston defenders early on, but despite quite a few dubious offside decisions it was the hosts that troubled the most. Set-pieces from K’s had the Casuals back line scrambling for a clearance many a time, which was after Buchanan’s narrow miss following a keeper mishap from a cross.

In the 30th minute, the golden opportunity of the half arrived in the form of Warren Mfula drive following a tricky run on the wing. The powerful effort forced a good save from K’s no.1 Rob Tolfrey as it rebounded for a corner kick. Possession shifting from one side to the other was what occurred in the remaining minutes of the half as the vocal Casuals supporters switched ends with the Kingstonian fans for the second slice.

A second half that saw more of the same… until a set-piece where Corinth support were nearly thrust into delirium behind the goal. Reece Hannigan was free at the back post and even though the centre-back was in a glorious position, his great header was nodded onto the post by K’s defender Josh Webb before it was cleared. A brilliant chance created by a brilliant header was only lacking one element- luck.

And unfortunately, that luck evaded Casuals keeper Bradley Comins too. In the 76th minute, the no.1 controlled the ball just inside the penalty area and instead of kicking it out of danger he attempted to fool the oncoming Elliott Buchanan, but failed and was dispossessed. Easily tapping into the open net, the no.9 wheeled away in jubilant celebration whilst Comins was the complete opposite. Minutes after, Jordan Clarke entered the fray for Corinthians in an attempt to rattle the K’s defence. It was a smart tactic from Bracken; Clarke ran Kingstonian ragged for the last eleven minutes with terrific moments of skill, pace and passion but he couldn’t find an equaliser, like the rest of the eleven. Full-time saw Kingstonian walk away from King George’s Arena with a big three points and a narrow 1-0 victory.

Onwards and upwards was the main message from the Casuals contingent to the players after the 90 minutes as Brightlingsea Regent visit on Saturday.

​Read James Bracken's post match thoughts here >>

Corinthian-Casuals 3 -2 Kingstonian
Pre-season Friendly
Saturday 6th August 2016
Report and pics: Stuart Tree (full set of photos here)

Corinthian-Casuals came from behind twice to win by three goals to two over their Ryman Premier neighbours Kingstonian in the penultimate pre-season friendly before the season starts next week.

Three second half goals, courtesy of Man-of-the-Match Josh Uzun, James Cottee and Josh Gallagher gave James Bracken's side the victory over Tommy Williams' strong K's line-up.

In stifling heat, the first half never really took off and Warren Morgan had to be removed from play after falling ill through heat exhaustion. Although Casuals created a few chances through Shaun Okojie and Jamie Byatt, it was Kingstonian who took the lead via a well taken header.

In the second half, Casuals struck back early through neat play seeing Uzun finishing well.

Kingstonian regained the lead through Shelton Gooden before James Cottee placed his 15 yard shot into K's keeper Rob Tolfrey's left hand corner. Josh Gallagher completed the victory in fine style and Casuals finished the game the stronger of the two teams.

Bracken commented on the win after the match.

“We're pleased to get the win. First half, we weren't at our best by any means but we kept in the game. We had three chances to their clear cut one so it was an even half which I wasn't too dissapointed with.

“The weather didn't help today in term of the intensity that you want them to show. When you have one of the lads come off from being sick on the pitch because it's so hot, it tells you how difficult it was out there.

“We got better as the game progressed and ultimately, we have to be happy with the overall performance and the victory.

“Crystal Palace on Tuesday night will be a very good test. I believe it's their full under-21 side that's coming along. They want a game together before their season starts as they've not had that so far seeing as they've featured in XI matches. The pitch here is fantastic which will suit not only them but it'll suit us too. I expect a good night, hopefully full of entertainment for everyone.

I won't put too much emphasis on the result; you can't gauge too much from playing a strong Under 21 side from a Premier League club but I am sure it'll be a good game of football where we'll try and play exciting football and be an enjoyable occasion for everyone who comes and watches.

“We start the season next week with Whyteleafe and I've been looking at their results and teamsheets. They've had a couple leave and a few come in. But I'm never too concerned about what other teams are doing as we'll concentrate on our own game. We'll make sure we're doing things right and then as the season progresses, we'll look at how others are shaping up and address anything from there.”

Casuals face a Crystal Palace XI side at King George's Arena on Tuesday night.

Corinthian-Casuals 0-3 Kingstonian
Robert Dyas League Cup 1st Round
Tuesday 7th October 2014
Attendance 151
Match report by Stuart Tree

Casuals suffered their second defeat in three matches as Kingstonian ran out comfortable winners in this Robert Dyas League Cup first round fixture.

Matt Howard made wholesale changes from the side that drew with Faversham Town in order to give game time to his whole squad. In came Danny Green, Ben Bowra, Bammousa Cisse, Michael Fahm and Jordan Vidal whilst resting a host of first XI regulars including Dave Hodges, Jamie Byatt (injured), Carl Wilson-Denis, Maz Bettache, Danny Dudley and Juevan Spencer.

Tommy Williams, on his return to King George’s Arena also gave his squad a reshuffle but fielded a side full of talent including Rob Tolfrey, defenders Page and Drage, Dan Sweeney, Elvis Hammond and Nathan Pinney.

Both sides started lively and early signs indicated this was going to be an open game with plenty of chances. Dan Sweeney gave Danny Bracken an early tester as his wicked shot was expertly matched by the Casuals’ keeper.

It didn’t take long for the visitors to open the scoring; Elvis Hammond completed a neat move to deftly lob the ball over an oncoming Bracken who could do nothing about the finesse of the striker’s effort from an acute angle.

Immediately looking for parity, Jordan Vidal, playing in a more forward role fired a shot straight down the throat of Rob Tolfrey, who could only deflect it away. With Steve Goddard looming large, K’s cleared their lines from the resulting rebound.

Casuals then passed up a golden opportunity to level when a neat cross from Vidal on the left found an unmarked Cisse who’s feet entangled with the ball and kindly rolled into the very grateful arms of Tolfrey. Corinth started to pass up other opportunities to score; Steve Goddard went close with a header from a deep cross provided by Michael Fahm.

On 26 minutes, Nathan Pinney made it 2-0 to the K’s in a similarly taken goal to Hammond’s, with another deft lob over Bracken. The quality of the finish left the Casuals’ keeper cursing but in truth, there was nothing the Corinth Number One, nor Mason Welch-Turner who’d retreated to the goalline, could do about it.

The match continued as an open contest with plenty of free flowing football entertaining the 151 in attendance. The only point separating the sides was the quality of finishing. K’s were taking their opportunities where Casuals weren’t.

Skipper Joe Hicks was replaced at half time in order to rest for the important game versus Whyteleafe and with Tom Williams (not Tommy) slotting in at right-back, a reshuffle was required once again. Andre McCollin was also put into action coming off the bench for K’s. McCollin, who began his career at Casuals caused the defence problems with his pace and guile.

The second half didn’t live up to the first in terms of pace or quality but it was still felt that at 2-0, the next goal would be crucial. Casuals, who’ve consistently put in top class performances after the break this season couldn’t match previous efforts. The defensive partnership of Sam Page and Matt Drage were relatively untested and even with the addition of Michael Salako for Casuals, the duo soaked up spells of good pressure from the home side.

Steve Goddard had two efforts go close in the space of a minute; the first, well saved by Tolfrey and the second beat the K’s keeper but flashed just wide of the post. At the other end, Ben Bowra’s goal line clearance kept the Casuals in the match.

But the tie was sealed in the 84th minute when a slip from Danny Green allowed Nathan Pinney to break into the box and smash a shot of forceful power past Bracken. Heads dropped and any hint of a comeback was demolished.

Kingstonian were rightful victors and the difference between the two sides was the finishing firepower that Tommy Williams has at his disposal. Casuals can hold their heads high in the fact that many of the fringe players put in a decent performance against a squad who are tipped for playoff places in the Ryman Premier. Williams will see this as a good warmup to their important FA Cup tie against Eastbourne Borough on Sunday and their reward for winning this Robert Dyas League Cup encounter is a trip to Walton Casuals in the next round.

After the match, Assistant Manager Luke Garrard spoke, “Tonight was an opportunity for the players that haven’t been playing to get game time. It's also a chance for Matt and I to look at those players with the result of them giving us a bit of a headache for who we select on Friday, and for the rest of the season.

“I thought we done reasonably well. We’ve played against a good side tonight and their forwards were outstanding. Their midfield was particularly strong and we’ve come a little unstuck with their movement but all-in-all, the exercise that we’ve set out, we’ve achieved it; to look at players was the main objective for us tonight.

“It was nothing that I didn’t expect from Tommy (Williams) to put out a strong side tonight as they don’t have a reserve side. They have a core squad of 18-20 quality players and you know they have to move them around and fit them in just the same as we have to. Just that they’ve only got a first team squad, whereas we have a first team and a reserves side to look at players, so they’re always going to have a strong side.

“Friday (against Whyteleafe) will be normal service resumed and is a massive game for us.”