Sutton Apathetic

Sutton Athletic 2 – 1 Corinthian-Casuals
Isuzu FA Vase 2nd Qualifying Round
Saturday 20th September 2025
Report and Photos: Stuart Tree (full set here)
Additional photos from Andy Nunn
 
Corinthian-Casuals Manager Mu Maan believes his side deserved what they got as they bowed out of the FA Vase at the first hurdle, following a 2-1 defeat to Kent side Sutton Athletic.

An injury time winner for the hosts condemned Casuals to defeat despite the Tolworth outfit taking the lead early on in the match.

Sutton Athletic looked a tough draw on paper; five wins from their last six matches and second in the Southern Counties East table proved this would be no easy feat. To make matters worse for Maan, he was without former Vase winner Quincy Rowe, captain Arsenii Protsyshyn and Wilgnner Ewerthon. A makeshift back four was cobbled together with Cameron Baptiste moving on up from the Under 23s for his debut.

In fact, Rowe, in attendance had spoken about the joy of an FA Vase win at Wembley, not least having scored in the final itself. Had his wistful narrative found the ears of his teammates? Or was this just another pesky cup competition to detract from the league campaign, in which Casuals sit two points from the top of the table? The excitement hadn’t reached the supporters with only a fraction of what Corinth usually take away, making the journey.

Despite the challenges, Casuals found the early exchanges easy going. It only took four minutes for the opener. Andre Coker dispossessed his marker and squared a ball for Diogo Da Silva to slot home. An encouraging start.

But Corinth never got out of first gear for the rest of the half. It was Sutton who came closest to grabbing the next when a back-post effort hit the crossbar before the follow up could only find the side netting. It was a fragile lead and it wouldn’t be long before it cracked.

As is the case in this sport, fine margins are the difference between victory and defeat. Casuals had two great chances to extend their lead after the break. A good save from Jack Glassborrow denied Kieran Scantlebury and Da Silva crashed an effort off the bar, all before Athletic went down the other end and Namory Kane found the final touch following 18 yard box pinball.

And as a penalty shoot-out loomed, Casuals earned a corner which was duly wasted and allowed Athletic to break, two-on-one with devastating effect, Taylor Fisher neatly finishing the move in the 91st minute. There was no applause at the end. Just apathy. The concern for Maan is in the performance, or therein the lack of one. Casuals looked disjointed. A far cry from the 5-1 drubbing of Alton or even the recent draw at Abbey. That fabled ‘bouncebackability’ needs to come into effect quickly as league action returns on Tuesday night.

“We have to take a defeat like this like men and we have to be honest with ourselves,” said Maan after the match. “That’s the takeaway from today. We haven’t taken anything else home with us because that’s all we deserved… nothing.

“Myself and the management team had a long chat with the boys in the changing room afterwards as we all knew that wasn’t good enough or anywhere near the standards we can achieve.

“It felt like the Badshot Lea game repeated itself. We went 1-0 up in the first ten minutes and we took our foot off the gas. We should’ve been on the front foot but we never got going after scoring. And when that happened, there was only one team that was going to win the tie.
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“We all know this game is about fine margins. We had golden opportunities before they equalised. Kieran has a great chance saved and Diogo smashes the bar. Either one would’ve killed the game off and we’d be in the hat for the next round. But a number of collective sloppy mistakes have cost us and we were rightly punished.”