Wingate & Finchley 2 - 0 Corinthian-Casuals
Bostik League Premier Division
Saturday 1st December 2018
Match report and photos: Stuart Tree (full set here)
Corinthian-Casuals suffered their first defeat in the league in five matches, but Manager James Bracken insists his side are “still in the mix”.
The 2-0 loss at Wingate & Finchley on Saturday dropped the Tolworth outfit to tenth in the league but are just two points outside the playoff places with at least one game in hand.
“We’ve won five of the last six so losing a game doesn’t put us out of contention,” commented Bracken.
“We’re right in the mix. We’re still four points behind K’s with two games in hand. Had we won, we’d have been in the playoff places because Worthing lost. Leaders Dorking lost with Tonbridge winning their first game in six, so everyone is dropping points.”
Casuals headed into Saturday’s clash in North London on the back of a dramatic 2-1 win at Leatherhead. But they were slow out of the blocks and Sean Cronin gave the hosts the deserved lead after twenty minutes. Prior to that, Wingate had a strong penalty appeal given only as a free kick and a goal disallowed for offside.
Casuals grew into the game and forced a succession of corners. They were having joy on the wings too. Gabriel Odunaike cut his cross back only for Mfula to fire over. Jordan Clarke’s wicked curling shot looked goal-bound too, but whistled wide of the upright.
Despite Corinth enjoying prolonged periods of pressure, Wingate struck again after the interval. Picking up on a loose Casuals pass, they surged on the break and made it 2-0 courtesy of Reece Mitchell.
Casuals continued to get something from the game but were unable to muster a comeback for the second time in a week. Juevan Spencer went closest when his chip clipped the crossbar.
“The first twenty minutes were a write-off,” said Bracken after the match.
“We’ve gifted them two goals. The first was a poor goal to concede on our part. Even the second goal, we’ve given away the ball very sloppily under no pressure. But if you look at the bigger picture, there was plenty to be pleased with. Let’s bear in mind, we’ve come to Wingate – an established club at this level, given them a two-goal lead but been the better team. That’s football for you.
“Their keeper has made a couple of good saves and there have been a couple of deflections which could’ve easily gone in.
“I thought we were a little unlucky at times but too often, we weren’t clinical enough. We got into some great positions. We had three or four one-on-ones coming in on the angle and not hit the target.
“Today could’ve easily been a 3-2 or 4-2 win for us had we taken our chances.”
“We didn’t start with enough fire in our bellies and the first twenty minutes, we were very passive. Tactically, we had errors to correct at half time. To be fair to the lads, they implemented the changes in the second half. That’s why most of play was in their half other than when we sloppily gave the ball away.
“It was like a basketball game in the second half. End-to-end stuff. Sadly, we gifted them a goal by just doing the wrong things. We were playing well but had a lapse where we gave away possession too easily. They’ve scored off the back of a break-away. All we had to do was keep playing the way we were as it was working. Had we equalised, I believe we’d have kicked on and got another.
“But apart from the first twenty minutes, I can’t be too critical of the boys. They put in a good amount of work and especially in the second half, we were worthy of coming away with something.
“I’ve learnt more about myself in these first few months in the Bostik Premier League than I’d learnt about myself in the previous ten years. I always knew I was a winner, but I didn’t quite realise how much I hated losing. You have to come breathing fire every week. You cannot pick and choose what games you’re motivated for. If we do that, with the quality we have, we’ll win most weeks.”
Casuals travel to Lewes on Wednesday night.
Bostik League Premier Division
Saturday 1st December 2018
Match report and photos: Stuart Tree (full set here)
Corinthian-Casuals suffered their first defeat in the league in five matches, but Manager James Bracken insists his side are “still in the mix”.
The 2-0 loss at Wingate & Finchley on Saturday dropped the Tolworth outfit to tenth in the league but are just two points outside the playoff places with at least one game in hand.
“We’ve won five of the last six so losing a game doesn’t put us out of contention,” commented Bracken.
“We’re right in the mix. We’re still four points behind K’s with two games in hand. Had we won, we’d have been in the playoff places because Worthing lost. Leaders Dorking lost with Tonbridge winning their first game in six, so everyone is dropping points.”
Casuals headed into Saturday’s clash in North London on the back of a dramatic 2-1 win at Leatherhead. But they were slow out of the blocks and Sean Cronin gave the hosts the deserved lead after twenty minutes. Prior to that, Wingate had a strong penalty appeal given only as a free kick and a goal disallowed for offside.
Casuals grew into the game and forced a succession of corners. They were having joy on the wings too. Gabriel Odunaike cut his cross back only for Mfula to fire over. Jordan Clarke’s wicked curling shot looked goal-bound too, but whistled wide of the upright.
Despite Corinth enjoying prolonged periods of pressure, Wingate struck again after the interval. Picking up on a loose Casuals pass, they surged on the break and made it 2-0 courtesy of Reece Mitchell.
Casuals continued to get something from the game but were unable to muster a comeback for the second time in a week. Juevan Spencer went closest when his chip clipped the crossbar.
“The first twenty minutes were a write-off,” said Bracken after the match.
“We’ve gifted them two goals. The first was a poor goal to concede on our part. Even the second goal, we’ve given away the ball very sloppily under no pressure. But if you look at the bigger picture, there was plenty to be pleased with. Let’s bear in mind, we’ve come to Wingate – an established club at this level, given them a two-goal lead but been the better team. That’s football for you.
“Their keeper has made a couple of good saves and there have been a couple of deflections which could’ve easily gone in.
“I thought we were a little unlucky at times but too often, we weren’t clinical enough. We got into some great positions. We had three or four one-on-ones coming in on the angle and not hit the target.
“Today could’ve easily been a 3-2 or 4-2 win for us had we taken our chances.”
“We didn’t start with enough fire in our bellies and the first twenty minutes, we were very passive. Tactically, we had errors to correct at half time. To be fair to the lads, they implemented the changes in the second half. That’s why most of play was in their half other than when we sloppily gave the ball away.
“It was like a basketball game in the second half. End-to-end stuff. Sadly, we gifted them a goal by just doing the wrong things. We were playing well but had a lapse where we gave away possession too easily. They’ve scored off the back of a break-away. All we had to do was keep playing the way we were as it was working. Had we equalised, I believe we’d have kicked on and got another.
“But apart from the first twenty minutes, I can’t be too critical of the boys. They put in a good amount of work and especially in the second half, we were worthy of coming away with something.
“I’ve learnt more about myself in these first few months in the Bostik Premier League than I’d learnt about myself in the previous ten years. I always knew I was a winner, but I didn’t quite realise how much I hated losing. You have to come breathing fire every week. You cannot pick and choose what games you’re motivated for. If we do that, with the quality we have, we’ll win most weeks.”
Casuals travel to Lewes on Wednesday night.
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