Billericay Town 3 - 1 Corinthian-Casuals
Velocity Trophy Semi Final
Monday 19th February 2018
Match report and photos: Stuart Tree (full set of photos here)
More photos from Andy Nunn here
Corinthian-Casuals came close to causing a major upset taking the lead against Billericay Town – a side that’s only lost three times in all competitions all season. The Blues eventually running out 3-1 winners in the Velocity Trophy semi-final.
Gabriel Odunaike’s 20th minute strike was eventually cancelled out on the stroke of half time before two quick fire goals from the high-flying Bostik Premier leaders finally ended James Bracken’s quest for bringing a trophy back to Tolworth.
Played on a quagmire of a pitch that hadn’t held up to the day’s rain, it was surprising that the late call by the match official saw the contest go ahead. And an intriguing contest it was. Billericay, managed and funded by the exuberant headline maker, Glenn Tamplin has reputedly the highest budget in non-league. They were pitted against the amateurs of Corinthian-Casuals, who despite having a zero playing budget are pushing for promotion this season under James Bracken.
Fresh from playing on a heavy pitch at Chipstead on Saturday, the conditions once again wouldn’t suit Casuals’ quick, free-flowing style of football. Max Oldham was the first to suffer having to be substituted for what appeared to be a hamstring strain. Hamilton Antonio took his place in an unfamiliar wide position.
The middle areas of the pitch were almost unplayable and it was the Blues who came unstuck – or rather stuck at first. Danny Waldren attempted a routine pass back to Jack Giddens. However, the ball stopped dead in its tracks and first to react was Odunaike who didn’t hesitate on capitalising, striking low and hard into the bottom corner to send the travelling faithful into raptures.
Ricay found more success in the slightly less bog-like wings, getting to the byline and crossing. A couple of attempts were thwarted, not least by Danny Bracken who made an outstanding stop to keep Casuals in front. But just before half-time, the Blues had their equaliser when new signing Liam Hughes powered home a header at the far post to what sounded like relief more than anything. Jordan Clarke had a good opportunity to once again take the lead when he danced in and around the box but with the ex-Palace winger about to shoot, the ball once again stuck firm and the chance had gone.
Tamplin made three changes at half time, admitting after that Casuals had given them a scare and felt forced into making the substitutions. It paid off; Casuals failed to clear a corner and Billy Bricknell, who scored a hat-trick in last year’s final turned his marker and looped a shot into the far corner leaving Bracken stranded.
Two minutes later and Casuals were left hanging. The instruction was clear at half-time; no back passes. So when a back pass was sold short, once again at the mercy of the pitch, Bricknell latched onto the free ball. Bracken made a fine save but could only parry to Adam Cunnington who dispatched with ease.
Despite conceding two goals in quick succession, heads never dropped and Casuals looked to get something from the game. Clarke had two chances near the end which both had to be cleared off the line. Nathan Daly could also have been an unlikely scorer when he found himself with just Giddens to beat but couldn’t quite connect well enough and Town’s keeper collected with ease.
With the full time whistle blown, the 100 plus Casuals fans showed their appreciation for the effort their team had put in against their hosts and a long cup run that’s taken them to Whyteleafe, Margate, Thamesmead and Hendon finally came to an end in Essex. We wish Billericay the best of luck in the final and a speedy recovery to their defender, Josh Urquhart who sustained a nasty concussion and was rushed to hospital.
“I’m immensely proud,” said James Bracken after the match. “We’ve run them all the way. Even when they’ve gone 3-1 up, through an error of our own, we continued to push them to the end. We’ve made them play every minute of the game. I believe we’ve earned their respect and in defeat that’s all we can do.
“To be honest, it doesn’t feel like a loss. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not a good loser. But they’re beating teams in their league by five or six goals most weeks and not lost many games. Tonight, we could’ve won that game of football.
“It was difficult conditions where we had to show a lot of character and a lot of spirit to go out there and dig in. Even after going behind, we’re still on the front foot taking the game to them. With a bit of luck, on another day, one or two of those that were cleared off the line go in and it’s game on.
“I said after the Chipstead game that we’ll have 100 to 150 behind the goal and you’ll tell after the final whistle whether we’ve done what we’re supposed to do. You could tell that we did from the reaction of the fans. 100% we done what we had to do. That speaks louder than any words I can give. If we had gone out there and not shown up, we’d never have got that reaction. I’m immensely proud of their effort.
“A great man once said ‘I don’t lose. I either win or I learn.’ We learned all we needed to learn about ourselves in terms of our character, spirit and desire. Not least our quality too. One criticism some might have is we don’t switch onto the conditions quick enough. We try and do things that shouldn’t be done on certain pitches, whether it be muddy, slick, windy. Tonight, as a group of young men, everyone switched onto the game plan.
“We’ve learned that we can mix it with teams in a higher league, with all the away ties we’ve had in this competition. To beat Hendon away, Margate away and run Billericay through the whole ninety we now know we can mix it and we can step up a gear. We need to now. Tail end of the season, we need to keep stepping up. If we do, we’ll keep winning and if we do that, we’ll be very hard to stop.
“The fans were fantastic. We’ve taken some stick recently for one or two incidents but when you look at our group as a whole we have an absolutely first-class set of fans. We lost 3-1 tonight and they’ve cheered us off the pitch like we won. That’s not a one-off. They do that every time. That’s what makes them unique. It’s another little facet to our club that should be applauded, pushed and encouraged. We put on what was a performance that warranted their level of support and we all support each other. As a club, you want to be as one and we very much are that. We have been for the last three years with everyone in the club. We all want the same thing.
“I already know we can mix it in the Premier. The Margate game, Hendon… they all tell you that. I’ve watched plenty at that level and I’m 100% confident we finish above 15 of the teams in that league. Because we’re better than them. I wouldn’t want to rebuild going up but I wouldn’t have to. Why? Because I’ll give the boys here an opportunity and a platform to go and play higher which is what we need to do now. Now is the time and we need to make sure we embrace it. If we do go up, we can touch playoffs. Top eight and if we can put a run together, we could touch the playoffs. I’ve seen the teams in and around the playoffs and with respect to them, I believe we can cause a lot of sides a lot of problems.”
Velocity Trophy Semi Final
Monday 19th February 2018
Match report and photos: Stuart Tree (full set of photos here)
More photos from Andy Nunn here
Corinthian-Casuals came close to causing a major upset taking the lead against Billericay Town – a side that’s only lost three times in all competitions all season. The Blues eventually running out 3-1 winners in the Velocity Trophy semi-final.
Gabriel Odunaike’s 20th minute strike was eventually cancelled out on the stroke of half time before two quick fire goals from the high-flying Bostik Premier leaders finally ended James Bracken’s quest for bringing a trophy back to Tolworth.
Played on a quagmire of a pitch that hadn’t held up to the day’s rain, it was surprising that the late call by the match official saw the contest go ahead. And an intriguing contest it was. Billericay, managed and funded by the exuberant headline maker, Glenn Tamplin has reputedly the highest budget in non-league. They were pitted against the amateurs of Corinthian-Casuals, who despite having a zero playing budget are pushing for promotion this season under James Bracken.
Fresh from playing on a heavy pitch at Chipstead on Saturday, the conditions once again wouldn’t suit Casuals’ quick, free-flowing style of football. Max Oldham was the first to suffer having to be substituted for what appeared to be a hamstring strain. Hamilton Antonio took his place in an unfamiliar wide position.
The middle areas of the pitch were almost unplayable and it was the Blues who came unstuck – or rather stuck at first. Danny Waldren attempted a routine pass back to Jack Giddens. However, the ball stopped dead in its tracks and first to react was Odunaike who didn’t hesitate on capitalising, striking low and hard into the bottom corner to send the travelling faithful into raptures.
Ricay found more success in the slightly less bog-like wings, getting to the byline and crossing. A couple of attempts were thwarted, not least by Danny Bracken who made an outstanding stop to keep Casuals in front. But just before half-time, the Blues had their equaliser when new signing Liam Hughes powered home a header at the far post to what sounded like relief more than anything. Jordan Clarke had a good opportunity to once again take the lead when he danced in and around the box but with the ex-Palace winger about to shoot, the ball once again stuck firm and the chance had gone.
Tamplin made three changes at half time, admitting after that Casuals had given them a scare and felt forced into making the substitutions. It paid off; Casuals failed to clear a corner and Billy Bricknell, who scored a hat-trick in last year’s final turned his marker and looped a shot into the far corner leaving Bracken stranded.
Two minutes later and Casuals were left hanging. The instruction was clear at half-time; no back passes. So when a back pass was sold short, once again at the mercy of the pitch, Bricknell latched onto the free ball. Bracken made a fine save but could only parry to Adam Cunnington who dispatched with ease.
Despite conceding two goals in quick succession, heads never dropped and Casuals looked to get something from the game. Clarke had two chances near the end which both had to be cleared off the line. Nathan Daly could also have been an unlikely scorer when he found himself with just Giddens to beat but couldn’t quite connect well enough and Town’s keeper collected with ease.
With the full time whistle blown, the 100 plus Casuals fans showed their appreciation for the effort their team had put in against their hosts and a long cup run that’s taken them to Whyteleafe, Margate, Thamesmead and Hendon finally came to an end in Essex. We wish Billericay the best of luck in the final and a speedy recovery to their defender, Josh Urquhart who sustained a nasty concussion and was rushed to hospital.
“I’m immensely proud,” said James Bracken after the match. “We’ve run them all the way. Even when they’ve gone 3-1 up, through an error of our own, we continued to push them to the end. We’ve made them play every minute of the game. I believe we’ve earned their respect and in defeat that’s all we can do.
“To be honest, it doesn’t feel like a loss. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not a good loser. But they’re beating teams in their league by five or six goals most weeks and not lost many games. Tonight, we could’ve won that game of football.
“It was difficult conditions where we had to show a lot of character and a lot of spirit to go out there and dig in. Even after going behind, we’re still on the front foot taking the game to them. With a bit of luck, on another day, one or two of those that were cleared off the line go in and it’s game on.
“I said after the Chipstead game that we’ll have 100 to 150 behind the goal and you’ll tell after the final whistle whether we’ve done what we’re supposed to do. You could tell that we did from the reaction of the fans. 100% we done what we had to do. That speaks louder than any words I can give. If we had gone out there and not shown up, we’d never have got that reaction. I’m immensely proud of their effort.
“A great man once said ‘I don’t lose. I either win or I learn.’ We learned all we needed to learn about ourselves in terms of our character, spirit and desire. Not least our quality too. One criticism some might have is we don’t switch onto the conditions quick enough. We try and do things that shouldn’t be done on certain pitches, whether it be muddy, slick, windy. Tonight, as a group of young men, everyone switched onto the game plan.
“We’ve learned that we can mix it with teams in a higher league, with all the away ties we’ve had in this competition. To beat Hendon away, Margate away and run Billericay through the whole ninety we now know we can mix it and we can step up a gear. We need to now. Tail end of the season, we need to keep stepping up. If we do, we’ll keep winning and if we do that, we’ll be very hard to stop.
“The fans were fantastic. We’ve taken some stick recently for one or two incidents but when you look at our group as a whole we have an absolutely first-class set of fans. We lost 3-1 tonight and they’ve cheered us off the pitch like we won. That’s not a one-off. They do that every time. That’s what makes them unique. It’s another little facet to our club that should be applauded, pushed and encouraged. We put on what was a performance that warranted their level of support and we all support each other. As a club, you want to be as one and we very much are that. We have been for the last three years with everyone in the club. We all want the same thing.
“I already know we can mix it in the Premier. The Margate game, Hendon… they all tell you that. I’ve watched plenty at that level and I’m 100% confident we finish above 15 of the teams in that league. Because we’re better than them. I wouldn’t want to rebuild going up but I wouldn’t have to. Why? Because I’ll give the boys here an opportunity and a platform to go and play higher which is what we need to do now. Now is the time and we need to make sure we embrace it. If we do go up, we can touch playoffs. Top eight and if we can put a run together, we could touch the playoffs. I’ve seen the teams in and around the playoffs and with respect to them, I believe we can cause a lot of sides a lot of problems.”
RSS Feed