Enfield Town 3 - 1 Corinthian-Casuals
Isthmian League Premier Division
Saturday 14th September 2019
Report: Cameron Smith. Photos: Stuart Tree (pics here)
An eventful first-half that included Shaun Okojie’s first goal since his return and a Danny Bracken penalty save was not enough for Corinthian-Casuals, who were defeated 3-1 by the efficient Enfield Town.
The FA Cup First Qualifying Round brought smiles back onto the faces of all at Corinthians last week; a 4-0 demolition of Sevenoaks Town was the first competitive win of the season. Perhaps the momentum from the brilliant victory would be brought to North London on a warm Saturday afternoon as Casuals were visitors to Enfield Town in the seventh match-day of the BetVictor Isthmian Premier season. Despite being drawn against National League South side Chelmsford City in the next round of the cup, James Bracken’s head would be firmly focused on the task in hand.
The white and blue of Enfield were searching for their fourth win so far, whilst Casuals wanted their first. Fond memories from last season’s dramatic 2-0 victory at the Queen Elizabeth Stadium were remembered by the Casuals contingent as the pink and brown army walked out onto the pitch.
The opening twenty minutes’ main opportunities were distributed between the two sides, mostly dominated by the pink and brown however. Bakare, Okojie, Pinney and Serbony as an attacking force threatened the white shirts early on and emulated the attacking football from the previous week with half-chances and good passing. But as the Bracken Brothers know, football is cruel. Particularly when Billy Bricknell hit a twenty yard effort in the centre of the goal, but managed to evade the palms of Danny Bracken, who either saw it too late or was thrown off by a deflection. Enfield celebrated as they went 1-0 up, even if they did not completely deserve it.
Unable to break the defence proved costly when Muhammadu Faal netted the second after Blackman’s long ball in a baffling moment for the Casuals back four. But, Okojie was on hand to start a potential comeback as the no.9 scored to make it 2-1 after thirty-two minutes. Bakare’s pace and intelligence to burst onto the fearful Enfield through the middle was vital for Okojie to smartly peel away from a defender and offer himself up on the left hand side. The counter attack was great to watch as the striker took a single touch before simply slotting the ball into the bottom corner, which finally gave Casuals fans behind the goal something to shout about. Nathan McDonald was forced into another fine stop shortly after, to prevent Casuals equalising.
Edging towards half-time, centre-back Robert Jamison lunged into an unnecessary challenge in the Enfield area, which caused the referee to point to the spot. Three goals to one at half-time would have been detrimental to morale, so it was fortunate that Bracken stood in-between the sticks. Having already tipped an effort onto the bar previously in the half, Bracken confidently guessed Bricknell’s penalty and saved his spot-kick superbly. The ball bounced back into in the striker’s direction for a rebound that should have rippled the net… but did not! On the floor, Bracken jumped into action to save another Bricknell shot before the ball was cleared. It was two moments of genius from Bracken who kept Casuals in the game.
Unfortunately, the second-half never matched the energy of the first. Half-chances and set-piece opportunities occurred for the away side, with Bakare’s insane run after good work from Pinney nearly causing an own goal for Enfield and an equaliser for Casuals. The following corner was over-hit by Ekim, and started an attack for the Town, who managed to capitalise as Hatton’s chipped pass set up Faal to lob Bracken. From then on, it was mediocrity from both sides with Bracken avoiding the embarrassment of a fourth goal with a solid save late on. Overall, it was a frustrating afternoon for Casuals who recorded their fifth loss of the season against a strong Enfield team - it was 3-1 at full-time.
We wish Enfield Town the best of luck for the rest of the season as they rise to 4th. The ‘onwards and upwards’ attitude was adopted by Casuals supporters as a second qualifying round match in the magical FA Cup is next before Potters Bar at home in the league. The bottom of the league status for Corinth is deceptive- gutsy performances especially from Tucker, Pinney, Bracken, Serbony and Okojie as well as chances that would have easily been scored on another day gave the contingent hope.
“We’re always disappointed when we don’t win,” said James Bracken after the final whistle. “With our limited resources and what we have, there is such a thing as a good draw, which we’ve had a couple but we can never be happy with a loss.
“There’s been moments in all our games this season where we’ve been within a shout. Even today, in the first ten minutes we had two key moments which if we got right, we’re two-nil up and playing well.
“We’ve had other moments. We came back into it at 2-1 and had periods where we were in the ascendency. But the biggest disappointment was the last twenty minutes, where it petered out. The first goal after half time was always going to be massive and it went their way. You go 3-1 down here on a hot day, against a decent side – we had a mountain to climb.
“That said, the last twenty minutes from us isn’t good enough. I’ll back our players all the time, if they get out there and fight for the shirt. Today, either they quit trying or they weren’t fit enough. We allowed Enfield far too much time on the ball. They were able to get into dangerous positions under no pressure. That can’t happen. We do need to take stock that Enfield are a good side. They beat Bishop’s Stortford 5-0 recently and they’ll finish in the top four.
“We didn’t have enough ‘attitude’ about us throughout the match. The only one that comes out with credit in the last 20 minutes is Ollie Sitch. It looked like he gave a damn about winning the ball back.
“I truly believe we should have around 8 points by now. That would be a fair reflection on the first six games. Not today – we didn’t do enough to get anything. But 7-8 points would be around our ability level. When you look at the table and see Merstham have 10 points, I’m telling you now, we’re a better side than them. But they’ve gone away and won 4-0 today so we must look at what we’re doing and make sure we start getting some points of our own.
“But it’s that cumulative effect of game on game. We’re only human and it’s tough. The boys will have to show fight. If they don’t, then it’ll be time for changes. But we’ll go again next week against Chelmsford City, though that’s no easy game for sure! However, you wouldn’t put it past us to cause an upset. We’re capable. Another day, we could’ve scored three or four here at Enfield. Sharpen up a little and we’ll be close.”
Isthmian League Premier Division
Saturday 14th September 2019
Report: Cameron Smith. Photos: Stuart Tree (pics here)
An eventful first-half that included Shaun Okojie’s first goal since his return and a Danny Bracken penalty save was not enough for Corinthian-Casuals, who were defeated 3-1 by the efficient Enfield Town.
The FA Cup First Qualifying Round brought smiles back onto the faces of all at Corinthians last week; a 4-0 demolition of Sevenoaks Town was the first competitive win of the season. Perhaps the momentum from the brilliant victory would be brought to North London on a warm Saturday afternoon as Casuals were visitors to Enfield Town in the seventh match-day of the BetVictor Isthmian Premier season. Despite being drawn against National League South side Chelmsford City in the next round of the cup, James Bracken’s head would be firmly focused on the task in hand.
The white and blue of Enfield were searching for their fourth win so far, whilst Casuals wanted their first. Fond memories from last season’s dramatic 2-0 victory at the Queen Elizabeth Stadium were remembered by the Casuals contingent as the pink and brown army walked out onto the pitch.
The opening twenty minutes’ main opportunities were distributed between the two sides, mostly dominated by the pink and brown however. Bakare, Okojie, Pinney and Serbony as an attacking force threatened the white shirts early on and emulated the attacking football from the previous week with half-chances and good passing. But as the Bracken Brothers know, football is cruel. Particularly when Billy Bricknell hit a twenty yard effort in the centre of the goal, but managed to evade the palms of Danny Bracken, who either saw it too late or was thrown off by a deflection. Enfield celebrated as they went 1-0 up, even if they did not completely deserve it.
Unable to break the defence proved costly when Muhammadu Faal netted the second after Blackman’s long ball in a baffling moment for the Casuals back four. But, Okojie was on hand to start a potential comeback as the no.9 scored to make it 2-1 after thirty-two minutes. Bakare’s pace and intelligence to burst onto the fearful Enfield through the middle was vital for Okojie to smartly peel away from a defender and offer himself up on the left hand side. The counter attack was great to watch as the striker took a single touch before simply slotting the ball into the bottom corner, which finally gave Casuals fans behind the goal something to shout about. Nathan McDonald was forced into another fine stop shortly after, to prevent Casuals equalising.
Edging towards half-time, centre-back Robert Jamison lunged into an unnecessary challenge in the Enfield area, which caused the referee to point to the spot. Three goals to one at half-time would have been detrimental to morale, so it was fortunate that Bracken stood in-between the sticks. Having already tipped an effort onto the bar previously in the half, Bracken confidently guessed Bricknell’s penalty and saved his spot-kick superbly. The ball bounced back into in the striker’s direction for a rebound that should have rippled the net… but did not! On the floor, Bracken jumped into action to save another Bricknell shot before the ball was cleared. It was two moments of genius from Bracken who kept Casuals in the game.
Unfortunately, the second-half never matched the energy of the first. Half-chances and set-piece opportunities occurred for the away side, with Bakare’s insane run after good work from Pinney nearly causing an own goal for Enfield and an equaliser for Casuals. The following corner was over-hit by Ekim, and started an attack for the Town, who managed to capitalise as Hatton’s chipped pass set up Faal to lob Bracken. From then on, it was mediocrity from both sides with Bracken avoiding the embarrassment of a fourth goal with a solid save late on. Overall, it was a frustrating afternoon for Casuals who recorded their fifth loss of the season against a strong Enfield team - it was 3-1 at full-time.
We wish Enfield Town the best of luck for the rest of the season as they rise to 4th. The ‘onwards and upwards’ attitude was adopted by Casuals supporters as a second qualifying round match in the magical FA Cup is next before Potters Bar at home in the league. The bottom of the league status for Corinth is deceptive- gutsy performances especially from Tucker, Pinney, Bracken, Serbony and Okojie as well as chances that would have easily been scored on another day gave the contingent hope.
“We’re always disappointed when we don’t win,” said James Bracken after the final whistle. “With our limited resources and what we have, there is such a thing as a good draw, which we’ve had a couple but we can never be happy with a loss.
“There’s been moments in all our games this season where we’ve been within a shout. Even today, in the first ten minutes we had two key moments which if we got right, we’re two-nil up and playing well.
“We’ve had other moments. We came back into it at 2-1 and had periods where we were in the ascendency. But the biggest disappointment was the last twenty minutes, where it petered out. The first goal after half time was always going to be massive and it went their way. You go 3-1 down here on a hot day, against a decent side – we had a mountain to climb.
“That said, the last twenty minutes from us isn’t good enough. I’ll back our players all the time, if they get out there and fight for the shirt. Today, either they quit trying or they weren’t fit enough. We allowed Enfield far too much time on the ball. They were able to get into dangerous positions under no pressure. That can’t happen. We do need to take stock that Enfield are a good side. They beat Bishop’s Stortford 5-0 recently and they’ll finish in the top four.
“We didn’t have enough ‘attitude’ about us throughout the match. The only one that comes out with credit in the last 20 minutes is Ollie Sitch. It looked like he gave a damn about winning the ball back.
“I truly believe we should have around 8 points by now. That would be a fair reflection on the first six games. Not today – we didn’t do enough to get anything. But 7-8 points would be around our ability level. When you look at the table and see Merstham have 10 points, I’m telling you now, we’re a better side than them. But they’ve gone away and won 4-0 today so we must look at what we’re doing and make sure we start getting some points of our own.
“But it’s that cumulative effect of game on game. We’re only human and it’s tough. The boys will have to show fight. If they don’t, then it’ll be time for changes. But we’ll go again next week against Chelmsford City, though that’s no easy game for sure! However, you wouldn’t put it past us to cause an upset. We’re capable. Another day, we could’ve scored three or four here at Enfield. Sharpen up a little and we’ll be close.”
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