Corinthian-Casuals 3 - 1 Margate
Isthmian League Premier Division
Tuesday 2nd November 2021
Report: Stuart Tree. Pics: Andy Nunn (pics here)
Corinthian-Casuals kicked off November with a bang as they put in an impressive display to defeat Margate on Tuesday night.
A storming first half saw Casuals race into a three-nil lead before Margate pegged one back in the second period.
It was the first win over the Kent seasiders for James Bracken’s Casuals in five attempts, and arguably one of their best performances of the season to date.
There were a number of changes from the 1-0 defeat to Cheshunt at the weekend both in personnel and shape. Intensity was stepped up and a good press maintained throughout the ninety minutes.
It didn’t take long for Casuals to take the lead. Just twelve minutes were on the clock when Bobby Mills took down an exacting pass ‘Bergkamp-esque’ as one supporter described, before calmly slotting into the opposite bottom corner.
Casuals continued to apply pressure and Kieron Cadogan came closest to adding another when his shot from an acute angle was turned off the line. Margate weren’t so lucky the second time as Emmanuel Mensah did the same on the opposite side. His cross on the byline was hit hard and low and Margate’s Lewis Knight had no time to react, bouncing off the defender into the net.
Bracken’s side sniffed blood and went for the kill; Warren Mfula looked to add his name to the scoresheet with a stinger of a shot that was well saved by Pat Ohman. He was also close to scoring from an outrageous scissor kick effort before eventually getting in on the act by rounding an oncoming Ohman and running the ball into an empty net.
If the game hadn’t already been put to bed, perhaps it should’ve been in the second half. Casuals looked for a fourth and the closest chance fell to Mfula who struck the base of the post with one effort.
The game wasn’t quite done when Ben Greenhalgh put in a cross-come-shot that looped over Danny Bracken into the far corner to give the visitors hope. But they had been second best to a lively Casuals all night and rarely threatened for the rest of the match. It was down to Casuals to see out a fine performance and a victory well worthy of the three points.
“It was a good performance,” said James Bracken after the match. “We got out of the blocks quicker than we had in the las couple of games. We all expected a little hangover from the Cup run and finally bowing out of that on penalties. However, we got a good result against Hornchurch immediately after which was great. But realistically, in the games before Margate, we got a few things wrong and it told.
“But we showed a new impetus against Margate. We changed things around. I’d actually had a couple of days off work and allowed me time to really look at the stats – the combinations that work between the boys and when we’ve done things right. I’d also watched the last three games back in their entirety, so we were able to better prepare us.
“For me, it was one of the better performances of the season. We were three-nil up at half time and created more chances in the second half than we had in the first. We didn’t panic even when they’ve scored nor have we had to soak up any sustained periods of pressure.
"Tuesday was back to a good atmosphere. How it should be. It helps when the team are playing as well as they are. The boys on the pitch have to take credit for that. But there’ll be games where we need those in the stands to lift the boys. It works both ways. We done our bit on Tuesday but I’m sure there’ll be instances over the coming weeks where we’re going to need them to be at their very best vocal support. Because that might just be enough for us to drag out a result on the pitch."
Isthmian League Premier Division
Tuesday 2nd November 2021
Report: Stuart Tree. Pics: Andy Nunn (pics here)
Corinthian-Casuals kicked off November with a bang as they put in an impressive display to defeat Margate on Tuesday night.
A storming first half saw Casuals race into a three-nil lead before Margate pegged one back in the second period.
It was the first win over the Kent seasiders for James Bracken’s Casuals in five attempts, and arguably one of their best performances of the season to date.
There were a number of changes from the 1-0 defeat to Cheshunt at the weekend both in personnel and shape. Intensity was stepped up and a good press maintained throughout the ninety minutes.
It didn’t take long for Casuals to take the lead. Just twelve minutes were on the clock when Bobby Mills took down an exacting pass ‘Bergkamp-esque’ as one supporter described, before calmly slotting into the opposite bottom corner.
Casuals continued to apply pressure and Kieron Cadogan came closest to adding another when his shot from an acute angle was turned off the line. Margate weren’t so lucky the second time as Emmanuel Mensah did the same on the opposite side. His cross on the byline was hit hard and low and Margate’s Lewis Knight had no time to react, bouncing off the defender into the net.
Bracken’s side sniffed blood and went for the kill; Warren Mfula looked to add his name to the scoresheet with a stinger of a shot that was well saved by Pat Ohman. He was also close to scoring from an outrageous scissor kick effort before eventually getting in on the act by rounding an oncoming Ohman and running the ball into an empty net.
If the game hadn’t already been put to bed, perhaps it should’ve been in the second half. Casuals looked for a fourth and the closest chance fell to Mfula who struck the base of the post with one effort.
The game wasn’t quite done when Ben Greenhalgh put in a cross-come-shot that looped over Danny Bracken into the far corner to give the visitors hope. But they had been second best to a lively Casuals all night and rarely threatened for the rest of the match. It was down to Casuals to see out a fine performance and a victory well worthy of the three points.
“It was a good performance,” said James Bracken after the match. “We got out of the blocks quicker than we had in the las couple of games. We all expected a little hangover from the Cup run and finally bowing out of that on penalties. However, we got a good result against Hornchurch immediately after which was great. But realistically, in the games before Margate, we got a few things wrong and it told.
“But we showed a new impetus against Margate. We changed things around. I’d actually had a couple of days off work and allowed me time to really look at the stats – the combinations that work between the boys and when we’ve done things right. I’d also watched the last three games back in their entirety, so we were able to better prepare us.
“For me, it was one of the better performances of the season. We were three-nil up at half time and created more chances in the second half than we had in the first. We didn’t panic even when they’ve scored nor have we had to soak up any sustained periods of pressure.
"Tuesday was back to a good atmosphere. How it should be. It helps when the team are playing as well as they are. The boys on the pitch have to take credit for that. But there’ll be games where we need those in the stands to lift the boys. It works both ways. We done our bit on Tuesday but I’m sure there’ll be instances over the coming weeks where we’re going to need them to be at their very best vocal support. Because that might just be enough for us to drag out a result on the pitch."
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