Leatherhead 0 - 0 Corinthian-Casuals
Emirates FA Cup 2nd Qualifying Round Replay
Saturday 18th September 2021
Report and photo: Stuart Tree
When Corinthian-Casuals last played Leatherhead back in October 2020, it ended in a goalless stalemate which Manager James Bracken described as ‘one of the worst football matches he’d ever been involved with.’ Eleven months later and lightning struck twice in a tepid affair which never got going.
Therefore, the two sides must do it again on Tuesday evening, as per with the Worthing tie in the previous round. Casuals will be confident in finishing the job off but truth told, this was the type of performance that would’ve seen us dumped out of the Cup in previous years.
It’s not all doom and gloom though. Casuals fans had been treated to some wonderful football in recent matches, not least in the 4-0 win over Cray Wanderers in the week. Conversely, Leatherhead were losing 4-0 to Worthing on the same evening, with the score kept down thanks to newly acquired stopper Manny Agboola – who we know very well, from his time here.
As so often happens, Leatherhead tightened their defence up and Casuals were probably a little too… err, Casual. Never getting out of first gear, Corinth laboured for large parts of the game, yet never really looked threatened themselves. Ben Cheklit fired one over the bar and Keiron Cadogan saw his shot blocked at one end, whilst Leatherhead’s Jack Skinner forced a fine save from Danny Bracken.
Would the second half provide a spark that was most needed? Not really. Again, the sides toiled away in the heat. If this game was to be decided, it’d likely be by a solitary goal. The Tanners went close from a corner, hitting the post and at the other end, Bobby Mills forced a very fine stop from Agboola on a chance worthy of winning a match.
Casuals grew into the last fifteen minutes looking for a winner and wide play looked to be the route to take but as the clock ticked down, it was ever more clear we were destined for a replay (and a disgruntled programme editor to thrash out a last minute edition).
The two sides will meet again at the United Business Group Stadium at Tolworth on Tuesday evening to decide who progresses in this most famous competition.
"It wasn’t a classic today," said James Bracken after the match. "The game lacked quality from both teams. We failed to reach the levels that we’ve achieved recently. But we’re not going to go out and blitz teams every week. Sometimes, you’re away in the FA Cup to a side at the same level, get a 0-0 draw and bring them back to ours on a Tuesday night and beat them in a replay. That’s now our goal.
"We defended well. We didn’t give them too much and I don’t remember any sustained spells of pressure. We kept giving away sloppy free kicks which was another little learning curve for some of the young boys we have. But in open play, you couldn’t see where they were going to get a goal from.
"We started really well and perhaps it’s that age old human reaction. We’ve started off too well and the boys think that this’ll be an easy win. That creeps in and the levels of pace and intensity drop. We lacked a final ball ourselves – except for that one great save. Against another keeper on another day, that’s your winning goal. It wasn’t to be, but we’re in the hat for the next round.
"We have to be careful though. This was a game we could’ve slipped in and lost and it’s a game that we could lose on Tuesday. We could win 5-0 too – it’s football. Anything can happen. But with the players that we have, we’ll be ready to do far better than we have today. We’ll ensure we create far more chances and if we take those, I fully expect us to progress in the competition.
"That’s taking nothing away from Leatherhead. They’ll be thinking the same. They’ll think ‘we could’ve nicked a goal today and they’ll be thinking they can nick this tie on Tuesday. So we need to make sure we more than match them and put pressure on for sustained periods. That’s something we lacked. If we get that, then the win will hopefully come."
Emirates FA Cup 2nd Qualifying Round Replay
Saturday 18th September 2021
Report and photo: Stuart Tree
When Corinthian-Casuals last played Leatherhead back in October 2020, it ended in a goalless stalemate which Manager James Bracken described as ‘one of the worst football matches he’d ever been involved with.’ Eleven months later and lightning struck twice in a tepid affair which never got going.
Therefore, the two sides must do it again on Tuesday evening, as per with the Worthing tie in the previous round. Casuals will be confident in finishing the job off but truth told, this was the type of performance that would’ve seen us dumped out of the Cup in previous years.
It’s not all doom and gloom though. Casuals fans had been treated to some wonderful football in recent matches, not least in the 4-0 win over Cray Wanderers in the week. Conversely, Leatherhead were losing 4-0 to Worthing on the same evening, with the score kept down thanks to newly acquired stopper Manny Agboola – who we know very well, from his time here.
As so often happens, Leatherhead tightened their defence up and Casuals were probably a little too… err, Casual. Never getting out of first gear, Corinth laboured for large parts of the game, yet never really looked threatened themselves. Ben Cheklit fired one over the bar and Keiron Cadogan saw his shot blocked at one end, whilst Leatherhead’s Jack Skinner forced a fine save from Danny Bracken.
Would the second half provide a spark that was most needed? Not really. Again, the sides toiled away in the heat. If this game was to be decided, it’d likely be by a solitary goal. The Tanners went close from a corner, hitting the post and at the other end, Bobby Mills forced a very fine stop from Agboola on a chance worthy of winning a match.
Casuals grew into the last fifteen minutes looking for a winner and wide play looked to be the route to take but as the clock ticked down, it was ever more clear we were destined for a replay (and a disgruntled programme editor to thrash out a last minute edition).
The two sides will meet again at the United Business Group Stadium at Tolworth on Tuesday evening to decide who progresses in this most famous competition.
"It wasn’t a classic today," said James Bracken after the match. "The game lacked quality from both teams. We failed to reach the levels that we’ve achieved recently. But we’re not going to go out and blitz teams every week. Sometimes, you’re away in the FA Cup to a side at the same level, get a 0-0 draw and bring them back to ours on a Tuesday night and beat them in a replay. That’s now our goal.
"We defended well. We didn’t give them too much and I don’t remember any sustained spells of pressure. We kept giving away sloppy free kicks which was another little learning curve for some of the young boys we have. But in open play, you couldn’t see where they were going to get a goal from.
"We started really well and perhaps it’s that age old human reaction. We’ve started off too well and the boys think that this’ll be an easy win. That creeps in and the levels of pace and intensity drop. We lacked a final ball ourselves – except for that one great save. Against another keeper on another day, that’s your winning goal. It wasn’t to be, but we’re in the hat for the next round.
"We have to be careful though. This was a game we could’ve slipped in and lost and it’s a game that we could lose on Tuesday. We could win 5-0 too – it’s football. Anything can happen. But with the players that we have, we’ll be ready to do far better than we have today. We’ll ensure we create far more chances and if we take those, I fully expect us to progress in the competition.
"That’s taking nothing away from Leatherhead. They’ll be thinking the same. They’ll think ‘we could’ve nicked a goal today and they’ll be thinking they can nick this tie on Tuesday. So we need to make sure we more than match them and put pressure on for sustained periods. That’s something we lacked. If we get that, then the win will hopefully come."
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