Corinthian-Casuals 0 - 3 Merstham
Isthmian League Premier Division
Saturday 9th October 2021
Report and photos: Stuart Tree (set of pics here)
Corinthian-Casuals slumped to their worst defeat of the season so far courtesy of a low-intensity performance that saw the visitors Merstham deservedly take the three points.
Whilst the scoreline reads 3-0, with two goals deep in stoppage time, the game was closer than the record books will suggest. Merstham led for the majority of the game with a slender one goal lead courtesy of a third minute Dylan Adjei-Hersey goal which remained the case for a further 89 minutes.
Casuals, with enforced changes from the 3-0 win at Wingate and Finchley on Tuesday night never even touched those levels as Merstham caused problems in the very early stages. Frank Wilson’s side capitalised on the fact that Casuals’ heads still appeared to be in the changing rooms with a 3rd minute strike from close range.
Merstham were easily the better side for the majority of the first half though Casuals slowly grew into the match. Though the only time they troubled the youthful 18 year-old stopper Toby Bull was a well struck shot from Warren Mfula.
Casuals were better in the second half but increasingly could tell it would be ‘one of those days’. The hoodoo that Merstham hold over Corinth appearing to continue once again. The best chance fell to Mfula who couldn’t quite convert a brilliant cross from Kieron Cadogan at the back post.
Merstham, who were pinned in their own half for large parts of the half did have a couple of moments to finish the tie off, but it would be in stoppage time before they did. Breaking from a corner up the other end, substitute Ufuah finished off to seal the deal. And to add salt to the wounds, just a minute later, ex-Casual Reyon Dillon added a third.
With eyes on the FA Cup 4th Qualifying Round next, there was always the feeling that full attention may not be paid towards this important Isthmian League fixture. Merstham capitalised and deservedly came away with three points and Casuals will need to re-find those higher levels seen in recent performances if they’re to progress in the Cup next week.
“It was nowhere near the levels that we’ve been at recently”, said Manager James Bracken after the match. “It was frustrating. We’ve spoken about this before; we play the teams that we know will be in the top five and we more than compete with them. We very often pick up results against these teams, as we have this season. When we play the sides that are perceived to be in the bottom half, we seem to do something different.
“Unfortunately, the level of performance required across the pitch just wasn’t there today. I felt that every player could’ve carried on playing at that same level of intensity for another hour. In every other game that we’ve played, the boys have come off at full time, sat on those benches in the changing room and couldn’t have given another yard. They’d left everything on the pitch. Today, we didn’t leave it all out there. That’s so frustrating.
“It's for no other reason than the fact was they felt they didn’t have to give 100% to beat them. And unfortunately, we didn’t. I’ve said time and time again, if we don’t reach those levels, we’ll be beaten by anyone in this division and even the division below
“I’m not going to beat them up over it - the lads are human, but we made so many poor decisions in every aspect of our play. Everything just seemed to be wrong. We just have to hope that’s an anomaly, because looking back at the previous eight games, we’ve not been anything like that.
“It was a mess of a game. Fair play to Merstham – they got their noses in front early, which was poor from us. It was too easy a goal to gift. We should’ve defended better. Especially the second goal. We’ve let their guy run from the half way line and we never got a defender between the player and the goal until he was about eight yards out.
“We had a couple of good chances to equalise but that’s football for you. Another day, one of those goes for you. On a day like today, where chances seemed few and far between, that’s massive. When it’s not going for you, taking those chances is vital.
“But overall, we didn’t pressurise their keeper enough. I don’t remember him having to do too much in the game. That’s crazy considering the chances we created in the Wingate game midweek. We’ve gone from looking like we could score ten goals to a game four days later, creating just one or two chances.
And looking forward to the Emirates FA Cup 4th Qualifying Round tie against St Albans City, Bracken said “It's a big game and a fantastic opportunity to get out there and pit ourselves against a good team. Hopefully, we can put in a much better performance that warrants the occasion.
“We’ve had six games against teams in our league to get to this point and not one of them could beat us. That’s a testament to where we’ve been at, performance wise. We need to ensure we get back to those levels and beyond. But we’ve done that before. I don’t get nervous about these games – there’s no pressure on us.
“I relish these games because they’re proper games of football. We’ll be coming up against better players, who know the game. We know they’ll be organised, and it’ll be a good game of football.
“But we need to reach those levels again. We want to give St Albans a game and we’ve proved already this season that we’re more than a match for good sides.”
Isthmian League Premier Division
Saturday 9th October 2021
Report and photos: Stuart Tree (set of pics here)
Corinthian-Casuals slumped to their worst defeat of the season so far courtesy of a low-intensity performance that saw the visitors Merstham deservedly take the three points.
Whilst the scoreline reads 3-0, with two goals deep in stoppage time, the game was closer than the record books will suggest. Merstham led for the majority of the game with a slender one goal lead courtesy of a third minute Dylan Adjei-Hersey goal which remained the case for a further 89 minutes.
Casuals, with enforced changes from the 3-0 win at Wingate and Finchley on Tuesday night never even touched those levels as Merstham caused problems in the very early stages. Frank Wilson’s side capitalised on the fact that Casuals’ heads still appeared to be in the changing rooms with a 3rd minute strike from close range.
Merstham were easily the better side for the majority of the first half though Casuals slowly grew into the match. Though the only time they troubled the youthful 18 year-old stopper Toby Bull was a well struck shot from Warren Mfula.
Casuals were better in the second half but increasingly could tell it would be ‘one of those days’. The hoodoo that Merstham hold over Corinth appearing to continue once again. The best chance fell to Mfula who couldn’t quite convert a brilliant cross from Kieron Cadogan at the back post.
Merstham, who were pinned in their own half for large parts of the half did have a couple of moments to finish the tie off, but it would be in stoppage time before they did. Breaking from a corner up the other end, substitute Ufuah finished off to seal the deal. And to add salt to the wounds, just a minute later, ex-Casual Reyon Dillon added a third.
With eyes on the FA Cup 4th Qualifying Round next, there was always the feeling that full attention may not be paid towards this important Isthmian League fixture. Merstham capitalised and deservedly came away with three points and Casuals will need to re-find those higher levels seen in recent performances if they’re to progress in the Cup next week.
“It was nowhere near the levels that we’ve been at recently”, said Manager James Bracken after the match. “It was frustrating. We’ve spoken about this before; we play the teams that we know will be in the top five and we more than compete with them. We very often pick up results against these teams, as we have this season. When we play the sides that are perceived to be in the bottom half, we seem to do something different.
“Unfortunately, the level of performance required across the pitch just wasn’t there today. I felt that every player could’ve carried on playing at that same level of intensity for another hour. In every other game that we’ve played, the boys have come off at full time, sat on those benches in the changing room and couldn’t have given another yard. They’d left everything on the pitch. Today, we didn’t leave it all out there. That’s so frustrating.
“It's for no other reason than the fact was they felt they didn’t have to give 100% to beat them. And unfortunately, we didn’t. I’ve said time and time again, if we don’t reach those levels, we’ll be beaten by anyone in this division and even the division below
“I’m not going to beat them up over it - the lads are human, but we made so many poor decisions in every aspect of our play. Everything just seemed to be wrong. We just have to hope that’s an anomaly, because looking back at the previous eight games, we’ve not been anything like that.
“It was a mess of a game. Fair play to Merstham – they got their noses in front early, which was poor from us. It was too easy a goal to gift. We should’ve defended better. Especially the second goal. We’ve let their guy run from the half way line and we never got a defender between the player and the goal until he was about eight yards out.
“We had a couple of good chances to equalise but that’s football for you. Another day, one of those goes for you. On a day like today, where chances seemed few and far between, that’s massive. When it’s not going for you, taking those chances is vital.
“But overall, we didn’t pressurise their keeper enough. I don’t remember him having to do too much in the game. That’s crazy considering the chances we created in the Wingate game midweek. We’ve gone from looking like we could score ten goals to a game four days later, creating just one or two chances.
And looking forward to the Emirates FA Cup 4th Qualifying Round tie against St Albans City, Bracken said “It's a big game and a fantastic opportunity to get out there and pit ourselves against a good team. Hopefully, we can put in a much better performance that warrants the occasion.
“We’ve had six games against teams in our league to get to this point and not one of them could beat us. That’s a testament to where we’ve been at, performance wise. We need to ensure we get back to those levels and beyond. But we’ve done that before. I don’t get nervous about these games – there’s no pressure on us.
“I relish these games because they’re proper games of football. We’ll be coming up against better players, who know the game. We know they’ll be organised, and it’ll be a good game of football.
“But we need to reach those levels again. We want to give St Albans a game and we’ve proved already this season that we’re more than a match for good sides.”
RSS Feed