Corinthian-Casuals 1 - 1 Lewes
Isthmian League Premier Division
Saturday 27th August 2022
Report and Pics: Stuart Tree (full set of photos here)
Additional photos from Andy Nunn here.
Corinthian-Casuals and Lewes played out a gritty one-all draw with both sides believing they could’ve had all three points.
Lewes pinned Casuals back in their own half for large parts of the game with Sami Nabbad being the busier of the keepers. But conversely, Corinth will feel they missed a vital chance at 1-0 when Tayo Oyebola only needed to beat Rooks stopper Lewis Carey to seal the win.
Casuals boss Tony Reid rotated his squad in anticipation for two games in 48 hours, with Aveley away on the Monday. First starts for Ayuub Ali, Charlie Edwards and Eli Simpson saw a shuffling of the pack across the park.
Lewes came into the match unbeaten and with a squad brimming with talent and an eagerness to better their campaign last season. It won’t be a surprise to anyone to see Tony Russell’s side at the business end of the league table come April.
They started the brighter of the sides with fluid passing and movement, keeping the Casuals back line on their toes. It was a pattern that continued for the ninety minutes, yet it was the home side who struck first, with their only real chance of the half. A counter saw the ball fed out wide and the cross found Ben Cheklit in the box who swivelled and shot low into the bottom corner, leaving Carey flat-footed.
Nabbad was called into action on a number of occasions, not least in the second half, working a number of fine stops. When he was beaten, the crossbar came to his rescue on two occasions, one crashing off the underside but clear of the goal-line. Chances such as those often indicate that it’ll be your day. It almost was, when Tayo Oyebola dispossessed a Rooks defender to leave himself with just Carey to beat, but was unable to convert the golden chance to kill the game.
Alas, with minutes to go and under relentless pressure, Casuals cracked when Joe Taylor, from the byline, smashed in a cross which Jack Tucker could only divert into his own net. Lewes went for the kill with Michael Abnett heading their best chance clear off the line.
And so it remained a draw, with both Managers believing they should’ve had more. Casuals will be pleased to have taken a point from one of the pre-season favourites and maintain their good start to this Isthmian League Premier Division campaign.
“We really should’ve taken the game to them when we went 1-0 up”, said Reid after the match. “We should’ve stopped worrying about what they were doing and concentrate on our own play. We showed that a little more in the second half when we pressed from the front and robbed the ball from them in defensive areas on a couple of occasions.
“We’d let their Centre Halves have too much time on the ball, allowing them the space to play to the centre. We weren’t engaging. They were able to easily find Razz Coleman-De-Graft too often, who is clearly their danger man. We cancelled that out and started to play our own game. Take nothing away from Lewes, they are a good side. We got rolled too easily for our own goal and we got too cute against a very well established striker.
“But we’re learning about ourselves a lot. We’ve been together for a couple of months. I said to the boys, keep believing in yourselves, the formula, the system and stop worrying about other teams.
“We’re scoring goals and creating opportunities. It could’ve been very different had Tayo taken his chance. We do this in training, we do this in the warm-ups, but it can be different in the game. He just needs to compose himself and we go 2-0 up.
“I went with some experience in the side today. The older heads showed good composure and they helped the younger lads out. They’re starting to communicate a lot better. They pushed their line higher up the pitch and we condensed it better in the final third.
“But we competed against a very good side. When you can bring players on that have scored 30 plus goals and those who’ve played for Brighton, it asks tough questions of you. But we need to show that we can ask questions of the opposition too.
“I gave credit to the boys for getting that point against Lewes who have high expectations and exceptional resources.
“The only game I look back on is the draw at Haringey where we threw away a two goal lead. We should’ve had three points there and suddenly, we’re in the mix at the top of the table. We’ll look to get three points at Aveley and then it’s into the FA Cup. I’m pleased we were able to rotate the side with confidence. They didn’t shy away from the challenge either. They all want to play and have been knocking on the door. Some of them got their opportunity and they didn’t disappoint. It’s a competition between themselves. We’ll likely need to rotate again for Monday as that was a tough game out there. But we’ll look to keep momentum too.”
Isthmian League Premier Division
Saturday 27th August 2022
Report and Pics: Stuart Tree (full set of photos here)
Additional photos from Andy Nunn here.
Corinthian-Casuals and Lewes played out a gritty one-all draw with both sides believing they could’ve had all three points.
Lewes pinned Casuals back in their own half for large parts of the game with Sami Nabbad being the busier of the keepers. But conversely, Corinth will feel they missed a vital chance at 1-0 when Tayo Oyebola only needed to beat Rooks stopper Lewis Carey to seal the win.
Casuals boss Tony Reid rotated his squad in anticipation for two games in 48 hours, with Aveley away on the Monday. First starts for Ayuub Ali, Charlie Edwards and Eli Simpson saw a shuffling of the pack across the park.
Lewes came into the match unbeaten and with a squad brimming with talent and an eagerness to better their campaign last season. It won’t be a surprise to anyone to see Tony Russell’s side at the business end of the league table come April.
They started the brighter of the sides with fluid passing and movement, keeping the Casuals back line on their toes. It was a pattern that continued for the ninety minutes, yet it was the home side who struck first, with their only real chance of the half. A counter saw the ball fed out wide and the cross found Ben Cheklit in the box who swivelled and shot low into the bottom corner, leaving Carey flat-footed.
Nabbad was called into action on a number of occasions, not least in the second half, working a number of fine stops. When he was beaten, the crossbar came to his rescue on two occasions, one crashing off the underside but clear of the goal-line. Chances such as those often indicate that it’ll be your day. It almost was, when Tayo Oyebola dispossessed a Rooks defender to leave himself with just Carey to beat, but was unable to convert the golden chance to kill the game.
Alas, with minutes to go and under relentless pressure, Casuals cracked when Joe Taylor, from the byline, smashed in a cross which Jack Tucker could only divert into his own net. Lewes went for the kill with Michael Abnett heading their best chance clear off the line.
And so it remained a draw, with both Managers believing they should’ve had more. Casuals will be pleased to have taken a point from one of the pre-season favourites and maintain their good start to this Isthmian League Premier Division campaign.
“We really should’ve taken the game to them when we went 1-0 up”, said Reid after the match. “We should’ve stopped worrying about what they were doing and concentrate on our own play. We showed that a little more in the second half when we pressed from the front and robbed the ball from them in defensive areas on a couple of occasions.
“We’d let their Centre Halves have too much time on the ball, allowing them the space to play to the centre. We weren’t engaging. They were able to easily find Razz Coleman-De-Graft too often, who is clearly their danger man. We cancelled that out and started to play our own game. Take nothing away from Lewes, they are a good side. We got rolled too easily for our own goal and we got too cute against a very well established striker.
“But we’re learning about ourselves a lot. We’ve been together for a couple of months. I said to the boys, keep believing in yourselves, the formula, the system and stop worrying about other teams.
“We’re scoring goals and creating opportunities. It could’ve been very different had Tayo taken his chance. We do this in training, we do this in the warm-ups, but it can be different in the game. He just needs to compose himself and we go 2-0 up.
“I went with some experience in the side today. The older heads showed good composure and they helped the younger lads out. They’re starting to communicate a lot better. They pushed their line higher up the pitch and we condensed it better in the final third.
“But we competed against a very good side. When you can bring players on that have scored 30 plus goals and those who’ve played for Brighton, it asks tough questions of you. But we need to show that we can ask questions of the opposition too.
“I gave credit to the boys for getting that point against Lewes who have high expectations and exceptional resources.
“The only game I look back on is the draw at Haringey where we threw away a two goal lead. We should’ve had three points there and suddenly, we’re in the mix at the top of the table. We’ll look to get three points at Aveley and then it’s into the FA Cup. I’m pleased we were able to rotate the side with confidence. They didn’t shy away from the challenge either. They all want to play and have been knocking on the door. Some of them got their opportunity and they didn’t disappoint. It’s a competition between themselves. We’ll likely need to rotate again for Monday as that was a tough game out there. But we’ll look to keep momentum too.”
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