Winless at Wingate

Wingate & Finchley 4 - 1 Corinthian-Casuals
Isthmian League Premier Division
Tuesday 20th October 2020
Report and Photo: Stuart Tree
​Photos from Andy Nunn can be seen here.

Corinthian-Casuals continued their points drought at Wingate & Finchley in the Pitching In Isthmian League Premier Division, succumbing to a 4-1 defeat.
 
The Maurice Rebak Stadium has been a fruitless place to pick up points for the Casuals and a second-half capitulation ensured that run continued.
 
It bucked the trend for James Bracken’s side who’d performed so excellently in their last four matches. Worrying was the lack of fight in the second half where usually, Corinth excel – even more so this season as every single one of their thirteen goals scored have been after half time.
 
It wasn’t always that way. Casting memories back to the beginning of the match and it could’ve been so different. If it hadn’t have been for stand-in Wingate keeper Dante Baptiste, Casuals would’ve certainly taken the lead. Best of the lot was a vital touch to steer Jerson Dos Santos’ close range effort off the post. Baptiste, praised by the Wingate Twitter feed was certainly the busier of the keepers, not to say that Wingate didn’t threaten themselves.
 
Corinth fell behind in the 39th minute courtesy of a penalty when a handball was adjudged to have occurred in the box. Ahmet Rifat coolly placed his spot-kick into the left corner and the home side took the lead into the second half.
 
They should’ve made it two when a defensive lapse allowed Ofori-Acheampong through on goal but inexplicably lofted the ball too high and over the bar when it looked easier to score. It was a vital let-off. Minutes later, Jack Strange powered home a header for the Casuals from a corner and Bracken’s side were well in the contest.
 
But the play broke down, the game became fragmented and the momentum was lost. Wingate began to probe again and the second goal became inevitable. A lack of closing down forwards led to Wingate taking the lead as Rifat grabbed his second.
 
A third was added by Rifat, almost direct from a corner and that was the game effectively sealed. Ofori-Acheampong added a late fourth to pile on the misery and ensure that Wingate moved above Casuals on goal difference in the league table. It was certainly an evening to forget.