Scholars Specialise in Spot Kick Success

Potters Bar Town 3 - 1 Corinthian-Casuals
Isthmian League Premier Division
Saturday 14th August 2021
Match report and Photos - Stuart Tree (full set of pictures here)​

Corinthian-Casuals extended their run of opening day defeats with a 3-1 loss at Potters Bar Town in the Isthmian League Premier Division following two late penalties to gift the points to the Scholars.

Casuals haven’t won a first day fixture since defeating Whyteleafe at home 2-1 back in 2016, though this looked like the best chance to end that run after Birthday Boy Ben Cheklit had given Corinth the lead early in the second half.

However, missed chances, a goal cruelly struck off and two penalties ensured the home side took all three points.

There were competitive debuts galore across the pitch for James Bracken’s side but he would end up missing key strikers Warren Mfula and Kieron Cadogan as Casuals lay waste a host of opportunities to score.

Casuals started brightly and although there wasn’t much to separate the sides, Corinth had the bulk of possession in the first half. Ola Williams had come closest for the visitors but headed narrowly wide.

The deadlock was broken just three minutes into the second half when Jack Tucker played a delightful ball to Captain Cheklit who made no mistake in front of goal to give his side the lead.

Casuals pressed for a second and a number of chances went begging. In an instant, the momentum switched – the Scholars scored from out of the blue. Corinth were sloppy; giving away a free kick in the middle of the park, players defensively switched off allowing a ball to be played into acres of space. Devonte Aransibia made the most of the opportunity and struck a well placed shot past Danny Bracken to equalise.

Arguably, the turning point came shortly after when Casuals were denied the chance to re-take the lead. Another great ball from Tucker saw Michael Abbnett head back across goal for Bobby Mills to finish. However, despite the ball being played back, the Assistant on the far side deemed the striker to be offside and the well worked goal was denied. Mills had another very good chance to score, front and centre but scuffed his shot into the arms of the keeper.

Thirty seconds later, Bar won a penalty when the giant Sydney Ibie was felled in the box. Ben Ward-Cochrane with the conversion from the spot. The game became ugly and chances dried up until the 90th minute when a second spot kick was given after Ibie was once again adjudged to have been fouled in the box. Cue Ward-Cochrane’s second from the spot.

The score line sounds harsh on Casuals who, at times played some delightful football, garnering plenty of positive comments from those in attendance. However, pretty passing is only effective if there’s end product and on this day, that went begging. The game could’ve very been different had the second goal stood. Congratulations to Bar on their victory and the three points won. We thank them for their kind and generous hospitality and, despite a dastardly M25 playing dirty tricks on many of the travelling contingent, a good day was had in glorious sunshine with plenty to refresh the crowd.

“The finishing touch just wasn’t there for us today”, said Manager James Bracken after the match.

“Had we scored three or four, no one would’ve argued that was a fair result. We had one goal ruled out with the ball coming back from the goal-line, so not sure how that’s offside – that’s very frustrating.

“It was a day of missed chances. We had a lot of opportunities with some very good balls put into their box.

“Had we been given the second goal, I don’t see the game unfolding the way it has. Unfortunately, we haven’t scored the goals to allow us the errors that we’ve made. Some of those errors were suicide. The goals we’ve conceded were ridiculous. The first, they were able to pop a ball into space after switching off from a free kick. As I said, it’s suicide.

“When you’re one-nil up away from home on the first day of the season, you don’t give away three goals. And that’s exactly what we’ve done. We have to make sure those errors don’t happen again.

“But we’re playing some good football. There’s no surgery required. It’s just a case of taking those chances that we’ve created. We’ve scored first away from home and we were the better team with the ball. We need to be seeing these games out. We’ve dominated the possession. They’ve not had any control in our half – only the odd counter attack. Dan’s only had to make one save in the whole game.

“The chances we created was encouraging. But not taking our chances is on us. We play well to get it to that point, so now we have to ensure we bury those.

“I’ve seen enough today to know what quality we have. I know exactly what we’re capable of. We’ve got two forwards to come back, both of which have quality and goals in them. We’ve got healthy competition… we’ve got good options. The boys can all see that too. They look at each other in training and they know that everyone is capable.”