Folkestone Invicta 3-2 Corinthian-Casuals
Gayle 38 Lovatt 90
Olutade 70, 89 Pinney 90
Pitching In Isthmian Premier League
Saturday 18th February 2022
Attendance: 778
Match Report by Finlay Stubbs
A late fightback from Corinthian-Casuals wasn’t enough to take anything away from the south coast as they fell to a 3-2 defeat to Folkestone Invicta in a frantic encounter.
After the dramatic late equaliser against promotion chasing Hornchurch on Tuesday, Casuals came into the game with the belief that they can compete with the strongest teams in the league. Justin Fevrier made two changes to the starting XI with a return for Hakeem Adelakun and Malakai Hyman coming in for Zack Chislett and the injured Ricardo Thompson.
The first half was a closely fought affair with both teams not allowing space in the midfield, forcing the game to mostly be played out wide, where Jared Myers looked lively for Casuals, seeing an early effort deflected over for a corner.
Folkestone started to grow into the game with a flurry of corners and had the ball in the back of the net, only for it to be ruled out for offside, before Callum Coulter was forced to make a save to deny Ian Gayle at the back post from a free kick. Shortly afterwards, Casuals were caught on the ball and Ira Jackson drove forward and saw his effort clip the outside of the near post.
At the other end, Sahid Kamara got in behind the Invicta backline after an intricate through ball from Mack Reilly, but a last ditch challenge from Gayle prevented him from getting a shot away.
At the other end, Casuals defender Jola Lahan was forced to concede a corner to prevent Ian Draycott getting in for Folkestone, looping a header over his own crossbar. However, the hosts took advantage of the set-piece, playing short to Scott Heard, whose cross wasn’t cleared by Casuals allowing Gayle to pounce and fire his side ahead.
At the start of the second half, Casuals began proceedings on the front foot with Morgan Williams testing Patrick Ohman with a strike from the edge of the area after some tricky footwork from Kamara.
Reilly then felt he should have won his side a penalty after he was brought down in the area but the referee waved play on to Casuals’ disappointment.
The game then became an end-to-end affair, with Casuals trying to break down the Folkestone defensive shape, while the hosts were looking to strike on the counter-attack. This plan worked for the hosts as they doubled their lead in the 70th minute when Ibrahim Olutade latched onto a direct ball from Ohman, looping his effort over the onrushing Coulter.
Despite the goal, Casuals continued to attack and try to find their way back into the game with Reilly heading an effort straight at Ohman. Finlay Lovatt then worked his way through the Folkestone backline with his attacking endeavour and trickery, before his effort was pushed wide by the goalkeeper.
Unfortunately for Casuals, Folkestone grabbed a third with a minute of normal time remaining when Jackson picked up a short corner, dribbled past his marker and squared to Olutade, who couldn't miss from close range to claim his second and seal the victory for his side.
Undeterred, Casuals kept probing in added time and got a consolation through Lovatt, who drove into the box and slotted his effort home to give the travelling supporters something to cheer about.
They weren’t done there either, grabbing a second through substitute Nathaniel Pinney, who curled an effort with the outside of his boot into the top corner after hard work from youngster Will McDonald.
But it was a difficult afternoon for Casuals as they lost out in an even contest that featured chances for both teams. In the end, it was a matter of producing quality and impetus in both boxes, where the hosts claimed the victory. Nonetheless, Casuals can go into the next Saturday’s game at home to Canvey Island confident in their ability to find the net after a promising end to the game.
Corinthian Casuals: Coulter; Hyman (Dowridge 45), Kudyiwa, Lahan, Halsey; (Pinney 59), Williams, Adelakun; Myers, Kamara, Lovatt; Reilly (McDonald 77)
RSS Feed