Walton and Hersham 0 - 3 Corinthian-Casuals
Ryman League Division One South
Saturday 9th April 2016
Attendance: 112
Match report: Cameron Smith. Photos: Stuart Tree (full set here)

A slick Corinthian Casuals side cruised past relegation-stricken Walton & Hersham with a 3-0 victory at sunny Stompound Lane, their fifth win in five games.
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After the vital midweek win at home to Carshalton Athletic, Casuals marched to the Sports Ground, home to third-from-bottom Walton & Hersham. Five points from safety, Walton were on the edge of relegation after nine consecutive games without a point; their last win being in early January. Meanwhile, Casuals were on the hunt for promotion. Play-offs in sight, James Bracken had piled pressure onto fellow promotion-seeking clubs. Bracken made one change to his Carshalton-conquering starting XI, with Josh Uzun replacing Brandon Johnson in midfield.

A first-half which was dominated by random bounces, misjudged passes and embarrassing falls, it seemed like both sides were attempting to get used to the rough surface of the Sports Ground. Liam Beech, the Hersham goalkeeper, was put through his paces and constantly had his eye on the action as Casuals controlled the right-flank with the speedy Warren Morgan and trickster Emil Salama linking up multiple times.

The hosts’ defence kept strong and combatted the aerial ability of Jamie Byatt and Shaun Okojie. The ball was in the back of the net after Okojie leapt high into the air from a pinpoint Ben King cross and beat keeper Beech to head home for Casuals. Jubilance was drowned out as the linesman’s flag was silently raised; the score-line remained goal-less.

Entering the second-half, goals were imminent as Shaun Okojie scored his fifteenth of the season with a conversion into the left-hand corner after intelligent passing play from Salama and Byatt. Okojie has now netted a stunning eight goals in five matches.

A minute later, Emil Salama took advantage of Walton & Hersham’s fallen confidence, dancing in and out of players before selflessly laying the ball off to Sekou Kaba, who slotted home.

The two-goal cushion let Casuals relax as substitute James Cottee took his time to beautifully place the ball into the net after a slip from the previously-solid centre-back Van Sullivan. The score was 3-0 and Walton had lost all hope. They were lucky to keep it at three when Cottee plucked the ball from the air brilliantly before unleashing a fire-cracker which nearly broke the crossbar.

Fellow substitute Juevan Spencer was somehow not awarded a penalty as the winger charged into the area before being upended. However, the Corinthian spirit showed as Spencer picked himself up and continued with the game. The dying embers of the match sparked a free-kick on the edge of the area as Uzun stood over it. The midfielder curled a delightful effort into the top corner before being denied by a spectacular Beech save. Casuals fans punched the air at full-time, celebrating a well-deserved three points.

Corinth leave the Swans on the verge of relegation, with a home fixture against second-placed Dorking Wanderers deciding their fate. Bracken’s side will be disappointed to see that play-off neighbours Faversham Town thrashed Walton Casuals 7-0, Hastings Utd beat Molesey 4-2 and Hythe Town won 2-0 away at Sittingbourne. After a week’s rest, Casuals travel to Merstham to face the other Walton - Walton Casuals are the next opponents and it is another must-win game.

Manager James Bracken spoke of how ‘unlucky’ it would be to not make the playoff stages with the points total accumulated this season by the Amateurs.

Casuals sit on 79 points, one point off the crucial fifth spot with two games left. Last season, 81 points was good enough to make the playoffs and the season before, just 78 points.

However, a competitive season sees Faversham Town (80 points), Hastings (80 points) and Casuals effectively vying for the final place.

“We’d be extremely unlucky if we were to get 85 points and not make the playoffs,” said Bracken.

“We still believe. All we can do is approach the seven games positively and win all of them. We’ve won five in a row with four clean sheets and two games left. If we achieve the seven wins but don’t get into the playoffs, then clearly it’s still not been good enough. But it’d be very unlucky not to be good enough.

“You couldn’t foresee that in the position we’re in, if we won all seven, we wouldn’t make it. Realistically, if we won all seven games, we’d get there. I still think we will after the last two games. We’re reliant on other results and when you look at how they went today – a 7-0 and a 5-1, teams are obviously under performing at this stage of the season that shouldn’t be.”

Bracken reflected on the 3-0 win, which virtually condemns Walton and Hersham to the final relegation spot.
“The pitch was impossible today. As long as Walton were in the game, we knew it’d be tight because the pitch dictated that we couldn’t play the kind of football that we’d like. We tried to bring the ball down but it bobbled around so much, we got caught and control was bad because of it.

“It became a case of putting the ball forward with as much quality as we can, putting pressure on a side that’s shipped a fair few goals. We knew we’d get a breakthrough and once we had, we knew they’d lose a bit of desire to hang on into a game and we’ve been able to finish off the job.”

Corinthian-Casuals 5 – 1 Walton and Hersham
Ryman League Division One South
Tuesday 15th December 2015
Match Report: Stuart Tree (photos to follow)
 
Matt Reece notched a brace as Corinthian-Casuals racked up their biggest win of the season against Walton and Hersham in the Ryman League Division One South fixture at King George’s Arena.

Adding to Reece’s tally were strikes from defender Terry Murray, top scorer Juevan Spencer and Josh Uzun, with only Aaron Watson replying for the Swans in a 5-1 win to Corinth.
 
And with the win came a statement from Boss James Bracken, “We’re on a mission now.”
 
Casuals came into the game on the back of an historic FA Trophy run, finally succumbing to Hungerford Town on Saturday. The performance and spirit shown in the encounter clearly left the Amateurs full of confidence. Their opponents, struggling Walton and Hersham who have recently made a managerial change with Mark Hams coming in to steer the ship -  the Swans having not won in five league matches coming into the evening.
 
Despite two losses on the spin for Casuals, the much-changed side in the Alan Turvey Trophy and the narrow FA Trophy loss to higher league opposition had not left Manager James Bracken with any concerns. In fact, prior to these results, Casuals had only lost once in nine matches.
 
A different looking strike force took to the field with Emmanuel Akokhia and Cherno Mendy rested. Matt Reece came into the line-up and Josh Uzun was pushed further up field. Ben King was recalled to take up a holding midfield role.
 
Conditions weren’t easy and on a pitch which had coped well with the large quantity of rain, the standard of football was surprisingly high. From the outset, it was clear there was always going to be goals in this encounter. Play flowed from end-to-end with ease and players from both sides found large areas of space with aplomb.
 
 It didn’t take long for the first goal to come. On 11 minutes, Terry Murray converted a corner which appeared to take forever to cross the line, but did so, much to the jubilation of the home crowd.
 
The Swans had two good chances to level, first when a vicious cross was fired past Danny Bracken and found Ryan Marklew unguarded at the back post, but failed to convert. Minutes later Gianfranco Mici found enough time and space in the box to place a shot either side of Bracken but ended up gifting it straight into the arms of the keeper.
 
In truly end-to-end fashion, chances were created at by Casuals with numerous efforts falling to Matt Reece, Kevant Serbony, Ben King, Josh Uzun and Danny Dudley - all who couldn’t quite find the perfect final touch. Was this to be a case of missed opportunities?
 
Not quite; Warren Morgan’s whipped in cross from the by-line found 6’2” Matt Reece free in the box and the striker had no hesitation in placing his header past Swan’s stopper Borja Loeches Teixeira.
Before you could blink, it was three-nil. Matt Reece grabbing a delightfully easy goal after a mix up left the Walton Keeper on the floor, stranded and Reece strolling past to tap home into an empty net.
 
Any thoughts of the game being done and dusted were soon quashed; a deflected shot from Aaron Watson steered the ball past Bracken’s near post and the deficit was reduced to two, though with hardly a murmur around the ground, many wondered if it had counted.
 
Walton looked to have scored again and had the ball in the back of the net. However, the Assistant Referee’s flag raised was sight well received by the home crowd.
 
Despite a few lapses in concentration, discussions amongst supporters at half time concluded that Casuals had too much firepower for Walton to contain. This was confirmed on 56 minutes as Juevan Spencer, latching onto a pinpoint Dave Hodges ball, had no hesitation in dispatching his 13th goal of the season.
 
More and more chances fell to Casuals and Uzun continued to look a threat. He finally got his reward for perseverance into stoppage time. Finding vast amounts of space on the right flank, Uzun took aim from 20 yards out to fire past Teixeira into the bottom corner - a class finish.
 
The night was ended with a chorus of ‘Happy Birthday to You’ from the supporters to substitute Brandon Johnson and though the evening air was filled with rain, no spirits were dampened from a Corinth point of view.
 
The win puts Casuals up to tenth in the table just four points from the playoffs with two games in hand over most sides. After the match, Manager James Bracken spoke to Stuart Tree.
 
“Mani (Akokhia) was honest with me and said he hadn’t recovered from Saturday as well as he’d have hoped. It’s the first time he’s said that all season and if someone tells you they’re feeling a bit jaded, it helps me do my job. You don’t end up fielding a player and then wonder why he isn’t at his best.
 
“Matt Reece has come into the team today and scored two, led the line well and is a player we’ve been trying to get fully fit since the start of the season. Now he’s starting to look like the player that I know he is.
 
“We’ve come into the game full of confidence; the opposition set up a certain way which we counter-acted what they were trying to do and arguably played the conditions better than they have.
 
“We’re on a mission now. We’ve had a great cup run but the league is now our priority. All of our eyes are on this.
 
“I’ve made it clear to the lads this week that we need to pick up two wins and send us into Christmas on the back of a decent bit of form. We’ll attack these games. We’re confident.
 
“We held our own on Saturday and were better than two decent Ryman Premier sides. So when you play against Walton and Hersham… and no disrespect to them, knowing you can reach the level that we have, you’re going to be in with a very good chance of winning.”

Walton & Hersham 2-0 Corinthian Casuals
Ryman League Division One South
Saturday 6th December 2014
Attendance: 120
Report: Darren Pasley
Pics: Stuart Tree



Corinthian Casuals endured a poor afternoon as a lame performance resulted in a 2-0 loss at Walton and Hersham.

In truth a classic was never on the cards as a result of the dire Stompond Lane surface but on the day the home side showed more desire and a solidarity that earned them a deserved 3 points.

With Joe Hicks still serving his 4 match suspension a familiar face ex Ugandan international Meddie Nsubuga made his first appearance of the season alongside Danny Dudley.

The early morning sunshine had thawed out most of the pitch but both sides struggled early on with misplaced passes and mis-control being a feature.

It wasn’t until the 10th minute that the games first effort at goal came. Andrew Mensah on the right crossing for Tyrone Hemmings who held the ball well before teeing up Anthony Oaks who sidefooted wide when well placed.

Mensah the home sides leading scorer was to have a shot himself but saw a right footed effort from 25 yards curl just past Brackens left hand post.

Casuals offering nothing going forward in the early exchanges were working hard to restrict their opponents any clear sights of goal. Harry Mills however saw a long distance effort following a free kick creep through to Bracken who handled well.

With the Swans on top it came as no real surprise when the deadlock was broken in the 28th minute. Full back Nathan Daly was allowed to cross from the right and Mensah nipped ahead of Ben Bowra to control and fire past Bracken for the opening goal.

The visitor’s first effort on goal arrived on 34 minutes when Reece Placid fired tamely across goal into the hands of Gary Ross after being well found by Jamie Byatt.

This sparked what turned out to be Casuals best period of the match in the final 10 minutes of the half. With the interval approaching Carl Wilson-Denis out-muscled his man but after electing to pass to Placid saw the young strikers goal-bound shot deflected for a corner by Dominic Ogun.

From the resulting corner Ross dropped the ball but the ball was scrambled off the line and cleared to safety.

With the sun now gone the cold December wind descended around the athletics track as the second half begun.

In keeping with the first the home side made the early running and Casuals survived an early penalty appeal, as Nsubuga appeared to pull down Mensah after being caught on the ball. Thankfully the referee waved play on to the surprise of most in the ground.

A wake up call for the visitors who went close on 58 minutes when Nial Wright fired an effort from 25 yards just wide

On 63 minutes the hosts nearly doubled their lead when Bracken was lucky to recover and grab the ball after misjudging a long punt upfield.

The game was wrapped up with 10 minutes remaining when substitute Dylan Cascoe raced onto Harry Miles long bass before lofting the ball over the advancing Bracken.

Casuals nearly grabbed a consolation in injury time but Jake Gill’ effort was wide and the whistle sounded shortly afterwards to conclude a poor afternoon.

Speaking after the match Matt Howard commented

“ That was poor today and I let the lads know afterwards how disappointed I was”

“Without making any excuses the pitch was a shocker – we changed our line-up as a result but I cant deny they wanted it more than us”

“ We now have a two week break and myself and Luke will be doing our uttermost to ensure we are prepared for our busy Christmas schedule where we face the sides at the bottom of the table”


Stuart Tree's full set of pictures can be viewed by clicking here

Corinthian-Casuals 2-0 Walton & Hersham
Ryman League Division One South
Attendance 221
Tuesday 19th August 2014
By Darren Pasley

Corinthian Casuals produced a solid performance to comfortably ease past Walton and Hersham and in doing so ending a run of 4 consecutive home defeats against the Stompond Lane side.

Manager Matt Howard made three changes to the side that lost to Burgess Hill at the weekend with Niall Wright replacing the unavailable Danny Green whilst Dave Hodges returned and there was a first appearance of the season for striker Steve Goddard.

Tarome Hemmings was the first to test Danny Bracken in the 3rd minute with a long-range effort which was palmed over as the visitors direct approach dictated the early tempo of the match. Casuals tested visiting keeper Garry Ross for the first time when Lee Hall’s free kick was met by Joe Hicks but his effort was well held by the keeper.  The visitors immediately swept upfield and Ogun showed good strength to hold off Niall Wright but his shot was comfortably saved low down by Danny Bracken. The Swans continued to look dangerous with the hosts having to defend well in keeping the lively Jack Battie and Dominic Ogun at bay. After weathering the early pressure Corinthian’s started to build their own attacks and in the 20th minute Dave Hodges showed quick feet to beat Nathan Daly down the left and whipped in a great cross which Steve Goddard headed just over. Hodges, much missed on Saturday was starting to be the home sides main outlet and again after tormenting Daly he looped in a far post cross which met the head of Jamie Byatt. Fortunately for the visitors keeper Ross somehow managed to deflect onto the cross bar and grab the rebound. The pressure continued with Hodges this time having an effort himself but his stabbed shot flew over the bar.  With attentions very much on Hodges space opened up in the middle and Mahrez Bettache found the route to goal after half an hour open up after running from the half way line. Ross once again came to his sides rescue deflecting clear with his legs and when the ball was played back in, Byatt turned and flashed his effort just past the post. Despite the chances from Casuals, Walton came close to opening the scoring themselves on 38 minutes when a free kick from out wide was crashed onto the bar via the head of skipper Louis Clarke.

It seemed inevitable that if Casuals could build on their first half performance the opening goal would soon arrive and Hodges again was pivotal to those plans as he again started the half weaving his magic down the left.  The goal did arrive on 54 minutes and despite the final touch coming off a visiting player it was a superb team move. After playing the ball out of the back Bettache received the ball from Hall and dinked a reverse pass into Hodges which turned the Swans defence. Hodges first time cross was smashed home at the near post by what initially looked like Jamie Byatt however the less than usual emphatic celebration and later video evidence showed Sacha Mbaye had slid in with the final touch. Either way it had given Casuals a much-deserved lead. In truth once the opener went in the visitors heads dropped and Joe Hicks along with Danny Dudley dealt comfortably with the increasing long balls pumped their way. Casuals doubled their lead in the 70th minute when impressive substitute Reece Placid showed a remarkable turn of pace down the right to leave 2 markers in his wake and after playing in Byatt the fans favourite took one touch to steady himself and another to smash the ball past Ross. Two nearly became three just after but Hodges was denied a deserved goal as Ross saved well at the foot of his near post. Ross was on hand once again to stop Casuals in injury time as good play from the two other replacements Fahm and Wilson-Joseph saw the latter have an effort superbly saved and Byatt smashed the rebound against the post. The visitors finally called Danny Bracken into action deep into stoppage time when another substitute Andrew Dalehouse had an effort, which flashed across the goal but also diverted wide with a fine save.

Speaking after the match Matt Howard said

“The result has been coming to be fair. It’s pleasing to keep a clean sheet and again we kept our shape well. We didn’t ever really look under pressure at all. I can’t ask for more than that.

“I thought Lee Hall was immense tonight. I thought he was absolutely outstanding. The entire back four done well. Maz Bettache on the ball was great.

“It’s clicking into place and hopefully we’ll only get better… the more games we get, the better we’ll become.

“It’s frustrating that we haven’t had the same starting eleven out there this season, but what it does show is that we can throw anyone in the mix and they’re capable of doing a job.”