Corinthian-Casuals 0 - 0 Hythe Town
Bostik League South
Saturday 13th January 2018
Report: Cameron Smith. Photos: Stuart Tree (full set here).
Additional photos from Andy Nunn here.
A goalless draw versus a resilient ten-man Hythe Town side left Corinthian-Casuals with a bittersweet aftertaste as a point and a clean sheet was weighed up against dropping to fifth place in the Bostik Division One South on a scrappy Saturday afternoon.
Max Oldham’s brace aided James Bracken’s pink and brown army to a 3-1 victory in a tough Velocity Trophy quarter-final fixture at Hendon FC on a drizzly Tuesday evening. Progressing into the semi-finals, Casuals were in high spirits when the play-off outsiders Hythe Town travelled to Tolworth all the way from the south coast of Kent for an interesting encounter on a biting Saturday 3pm kick off. There was also a new signing for the South London side, not for the team, but for King George’s groundsmen as the friendly face of Stan Collymore jumped on the mower and helped prepare the pitch ahead of the match! The former-Liverpool and England footballer was presenting a short film on Corinthian-Casuals and the people behind our historic club for RT’s The Stan Collymore Show.
As the referee started proceedings, the Bracken Brothers hoped that the pacey combination of Oldham, Dillon and Odunaike would provide the edge they needed to beat the visitors whilst Callum McAllister looked to boss the midfield once again and the return of Jack Strange to the starting eleven added assurance at the back. Cagey, the first fifteen minutes brought only changes in possession, until Hythe’s Ryan Palmer fired a pinpoint yet mightily powerful shot onto the underside of the crossbar, which bounced on the line before being cleared. The blue shirts of The Cannons were up in arms when the ball bounced on the line as they felt Palmer’s effort might’ve edged over the line, but the referee continued with play.
Chances were rare for Corinth as Hythe seemed to block the hosts’ trio of attackers with ease. Just before half-time, the referee had another tough decision to make when Hythe’s Jordan Johnson-Palmer and Casuals’ Reyon Dillon were involved in a collision on the right flank in which the opposition’s no.6 engaged in a gruesome studs-up challenge that may have taken the ball, but took Dillon too. Rolling in pain on the floor, the Casuals winger was lucky not to receive any lasting damage as both sides surrounded the referee. Hythe’s blue shirts were arguing that the tackle resulted in them winning the ball, whilst Casuals players wanted Johnson-Palmer off. It was Corinthians who got their way, and deservedly as the challenge saw Hythe go down to ten, which swiftly brought the game to half-time.
A second-half that was as frustrating as the first, Casuals and Hythe were both involved in a compelling 45 minutes of football, despite the lack of goals. With no.11 Kieron Campbell keeping full-backs Walker and Daly on their toes throughout, Hythe kept their composure, professionalism and strategy within check at all times despite the disadvantage. Defending with utter urgency, they prevented Casuals on multiple occasions from scoring the opener as corners and set-pieces were guided away from the bustling penalty area. Josh Uzun’s whipped corner agonisingly avoided the pink and brown shirts in the box as well as the blue as his trademark kick flashed past everyone in one of Casuals’ best opportunities. Gabriel Odunaike slammed an one-on-one well wide of the goal in a disappointing outcome to an initially promising move with ten minutes to go. Following an inexplicable decision to not add on any extra minutes for Hythe’s time-wasting late on, the referee blew for full-time; it had ended 0-0.
The fourth goalless draw of the 17/18 season so far, Corinthians would take the positives from an irritating result as a clean sheet and the extension to their eight-game unbeaten run in all competitions. We wish visitors Hythe Town the best of luck for the rest of the season. James Bracken would take the point and focus his squad on Whyteleafe away next Saturday.
“Really frustrating today,” said Assistant Manager Dan Pringle after the match. “In the first half, we weren’t at the races.
“Through our poor start, we allowed them to get a foothold in the game. We allowed them to get some belief and from there-on, it was difficult for us to assert ourselves back into the game.
“For sure that was a definite red card. In fact, there could’ve been another one issued for the tackle on Max Oldham. They were fortunate to go in at the break with ten men still on the field. It should've been nine.
“Playing against ten men can be a poisoned chalice. Teams change their mindset. They sit in and are happy to take a point at that stage. It’s a great result for them.
“We’ve not pressurised them enough. Not enough shots at goal in the second half. Not enough sustained penetration. The final ball was lacking or someone not being in the right area at the right time.
“In all honesty, we could’ve played for another 90 minutes and not scored today.
“When we’re at our best, as we saw on Tuesday at Hendon, we can beat anyone. We dominated that game, passed them off the pitch and should’ve scored more than the three we did.
“It’s just a shame we go from that to this performance today.
“We’ll believe we can still win this league until it’s mathematically impossible for us not to do so.
“In our three years here, we’ve never come across another side who we feel like we’ve been outplayed or feel like we should’ve lost to. We’ve had poor halves of football now and again but I don’t think we’ve ever had a full 90 where we believe we should’ve been beaten.
“We can take confidence from how we ended the last two seasons. Last year, we won 10 on the bounce to get to the playoff final. That’s fantastic but we have to be mindful that other teams respect us much more now.
“The first season, it was unheard of here and we were a complete surprise. The second season, people expected us to fall away and not sustain our challenge. Therefore, this year it’s harder than ever because there’s far more respect towards us.
“We’ve got so much talent in our changing room though that there is no reason why we can’t win every single game, even against the big boys. I believe if we achieve that, we will finish as champions.
“If not, we’ve been in the playoffs last year so we know what to expect. It was a good experience, though hard to take defeat at the time, so we take great confidence from what we learned in that and the last two years as a whole.”
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