EARLY DAYS

Fleet Town 1-0 Corinthian-Casuals
Combined Counties League Premier South
Saturday 1st August 2026
Report: Dominic Bliss
​Photos: Harvey Abbott & Dom Bull

The general feeling after pre-season was that it was difficult to benchmark this new-look Casuals side, given we had mainly played opposition from the leagues above us or professional academies.

The picture is not much clearer following the first competitive game of the season, which ended in a 1-0 defeat to Fleet Town. After all, it was a big ask for us to go away to one of the best-supported teams in the division, not to mention one of the promotion favourites, on opening day.

Warren Burton has kept things stable since taking over as Casuals manager during the close season. He has retained a number of reliable heads and players with the club at heart, while also promoting some of the promising talent from our Suburban League Division One-winning development squad. He has added a few new faces too, and one thing we all took away from those pre-season friendlies was that Warren’s team will have a go, whoever the opponent.

We went to Fleet with one of the more experienced of our new signings, Theo Crawford, serving a suspension, as was Cameron Baptiste. Meanwhile, Jordan Brooks and Marcos dos Santos were both unavailable due to personal reasons, leaving Warren with a decision to make about the spine of his team as he returned to his old stomping ground.

He opted to play two wise heads – club captain Clayton Afonso and Hakeem Adelakun – at centre-back, with young legs in front of them in central midfield, in the form of Zack Ejeta and Connor Everitt. Up front in his 4-4-2 system, Burton plumped for a large-and-large combo, with the broad-shouldered Scott Day and Zak Jakubowski resembling the doormen at an Eastern Bloc night spot.

However, Fleet seem determined to make a statement of intent in the early stages of this season. They too have made several new signings following Burton’s departure to join Casuals at the end of a campaign that saw them reach the play-off final. The attendance of 552 tells the story of a growing club, although the impressive Casuals away following contributed plenty to that number.

Fleet were keen and energetic from the start, looking to find a way in behind our defence, keeping full-backs, Matt Kellett-Smith and Tobi Falodi – both of whom played for Fleet last season – constantly occupied. But we kept their chances to a minimum, while David Wloch dealt well with the few shots that did get through.

Our own opportunities were limited to breakaways. Jack Butler made an excellent run through the middle of the Fleet half before seeing a shot blocked, then pulled up shortly afterwards clutching his hamstring – a major blow 16 minutes into his competitive debut for Casuals, after scoring three times in pre-season.

Twenty minutes later, we lost our other winger when Azeez Elegushi indicated that he had felt a twinge in his quad – after the game, he estimated two to three weeks on the sidelines. The pitches are hard this summer, with no rain for weeks, and injuries are to be expected but Burton must have felt unfortunate having to make two enforced changes before half-time.

A goalless first half wasn’t without merit, though, and the Casuals fans basking in the sunshine behind the goal kept the atmosphere lively.

Unfortunately, Fleet came out for the second half with renewed vigour and took the lead on 53 minutes after a defensive mix-up left Alex MacAllister through on goal, and he finished smartly, leaving the Casuals defenders conducting an inquest into what had gone wrong.

In punishing heat, against confident opposition, on their own ground, it was a big ask for Casuals to come roaring back. Substitute George Hockey looked to have been brought down in the penalty area after bursting through the inside-right channel, only to be booked for diving, and for the next 20 minutes or so it was more about being vigilant to prevent the hosts doubling their advantage.

Then Burton urged his men on in the dying moments, at one point rushing over to retrieve the ball for a long throw-in. However, on the couple of occasions when the ball broke loose in the Fleet penalty area, we were unable to get a clean shot off.

And so we ended the opening game with a defeat, but a narrow one, against strong opposition. Our home opener against Tooting & Mitcham on Tuesday night should make for another good atmosphere as we go in search of our first points of the season.

Corinthian-Casuals: Wloch, Kellett-Smith, Afonso (c), Adelakun, Falodi, Elegushi (Hockey 35), Everitt, Ejeta, Butler (Zapata 16),  Jakubowski (Whittaker 82), Day (Osunkoya 64)
Sub not used: Bland