Corinthain-Casuals 1-3 Leighton Town
FA Trophy Preliminary Round Replay
Tuesday 21st October 2014
Attendance 70
Report by: Darren Pasley
Pics: Andy Nunn
Corinthian Casuals woeful recent record in FA competitions continued as they crashed out of the Trophy to Leighton Town.
It was no more than the Southern League side deserved, as they were excellent on the evening.
With a few walking wounded from Saturdays epic match Matt Howard rang the changes with Bowra, Turley and Placid all earning rare starts.
Despite all the recent heavy rain the pitch was in excellent condition and Mahrez Bettache hooked the games first effort over in the 3rd minute after receiving the ball from Hodges.
The visitors followed soon after as Phil Draycott picked the ball up mid-way in the Casuals and smashed an effort straight at Bracken from distance.
Bettache had an even better opportunity in the 10th minute when Byatt, despite slipping managed to find his teammate but despite being well placed on the edge of the box his effort failed to threaten Green in the goal with the ball flying over the stand.
Casuals were threatening to get into their groove and in the 12th minute should have opened the scoring. Reece Placid after winning the ball showed great vision to release Hodges down the left. The wingers first time cross-sat up invitingly for Steve Goddard but from 8 yards he side footed wide.
Leighton Town nearly took the lead themselves in the 14th minute when a 40-yard shot from Michael Lyons nearly caught out Bracken who was forced into action. From the resulting corner skipper Goodman saw his near post header gathered by the keeper and with a quick release the home side broke. The ball was fed out to Reece Placid on the right who skipped past Ridgeway and into the box. His low effort deflected off a covering defender and wrong-footed Green to give Casuals the advantage.
Both sides were guilty of wasteful possession at times, as they seemed to cancel each other out. However Christian Lester nearly equalized after half an hour when he volleyed just over from outside the box. It was a brilliant effort
Casuals were nearly punished two minutes later when Bracken attempting to instigate a move following a back pass saw his kick spin on the surface catching out Bowra. Watson seizing on the loose ball knocked it to the onrushing Draycott but his effort was deflected clear by the legs of Bracken.
It came as no surprise when the leveler arrived 5 minutes before the break. After working the ball well down the right the ball was switched out to the left and Draycott turned neatly deceiving Bowra and Hall before curling an absolute beauty with his right foot into the top corner.(pictured below)
The second period saw Casuals press early for another breakthrough and this time it was the legs of Green who came to the rescue after Goddard and Byatt linked well with the latter getting his shot off inside the box.
Disaster stuck in the 53rd minute however as a poor clearance from Bracken saw Hicks caught on the ball by Tyrone Taylor. The home defence appealed for offside as Watson raced on his strike partners pass and calmly slot past the Casuals keeper.
The home side having what appeared to be an off night was struggling to make any headway in their pursuit of an equaliser. In fact matters got worse in the 73rd minute when substitute Farmer’s low range effort was parried by Bracken into the path of Watson who fired home his second of the evening.
Watson who hit 44 goals last season at step 5 came close to the hat-trick on 79 minutes but after the ball from a corner found its way to his right boot the effort flashed just past the far post.
Almost immediately Casuals launched an attack of their own and after Hodges low cross across the box reached Goddard it seemed inevitable that the home side would be back in the match. Keeper Dan Green had other ideas however and he flung himself to his right to somehow keep out the effort. It was a quite brilliant save but also one that summed the hosts night up.
Casuals continued to huff and puff in the closing stages but despite some good positions the end product was lacking and Leighton confirmed their place at Leiston in the next round.
After the match a club historian rounded off the night by declaring that since 1896 the club have only ever won once on a Tuesday night in a cup replay.
Speaking after the match Matt Howard gave his brief thoughts
“Tonight was a big disappointment. We came into the match after the 3-3 draw on Saturday full of confidence that we could book a place in the next round.
“Unfortunately, we had to shuffle things around as injuries from Saturday forced our hand.
“We started brightly but overall, that was probably the worst performance from us all season. Conversely, I overheard them saying it’s the best that they’ve played in a long time and they relished playing on our decent surface.
"We were guilty of not taking our chances. If we’d had added another after going one-nil up, I’m sure the result would have been very different. Their keeper also made a fantastic save which could easily have turned the game.
“Now we have to concentrate on the League. We travel to Merstham on Saturday and we’re looking to get back on track.”
Andy Nunn's match pictures can be viewed here
FA Trophy Preliminary Round Replay
Tuesday 21st October 2014
Attendance 70
Report by: Darren Pasley
Pics: Andy Nunn
Corinthian Casuals woeful recent record in FA competitions continued as they crashed out of the Trophy to Leighton Town.
It was no more than the Southern League side deserved, as they were excellent on the evening.
With a few walking wounded from Saturdays epic match Matt Howard rang the changes with Bowra, Turley and Placid all earning rare starts.
Despite all the recent heavy rain the pitch was in excellent condition and Mahrez Bettache hooked the games first effort over in the 3rd minute after receiving the ball from Hodges.
The visitors followed soon after as Phil Draycott picked the ball up mid-way in the Casuals and smashed an effort straight at Bracken from distance.
Bettache had an even better opportunity in the 10th minute when Byatt, despite slipping managed to find his teammate but despite being well placed on the edge of the box his effort failed to threaten Green in the goal with the ball flying over the stand.
Casuals were threatening to get into their groove and in the 12th minute should have opened the scoring. Reece Placid after winning the ball showed great vision to release Hodges down the left. The wingers first time cross-sat up invitingly for Steve Goddard but from 8 yards he side footed wide.
Leighton Town nearly took the lead themselves in the 14th minute when a 40-yard shot from Michael Lyons nearly caught out Bracken who was forced into action. From the resulting corner skipper Goodman saw his near post header gathered by the keeper and with a quick release the home side broke. The ball was fed out to Reece Placid on the right who skipped past Ridgeway and into the box. His low effort deflected off a covering defender and wrong-footed Green to give Casuals the advantage.
Both sides were guilty of wasteful possession at times, as they seemed to cancel each other out. However Christian Lester nearly equalized after half an hour when he volleyed just over from outside the box. It was a brilliant effort
Casuals were nearly punished two minutes later when Bracken attempting to instigate a move following a back pass saw his kick spin on the surface catching out Bowra. Watson seizing on the loose ball knocked it to the onrushing Draycott but his effort was deflected clear by the legs of Bracken.
It came as no surprise when the leveler arrived 5 minutes before the break. After working the ball well down the right the ball was switched out to the left and Draycott turned neatly deceiving Bowra and Hall before curling an absolute beauty with his right foot into the top corner.(pictured below)
The second period saw Casuals press early for another breakthrough and this time it was the legs of Green who came to the rescue after Goddard and Byatt linked well with the latter getting his shot off inside the box.
Disaster stuck in the 53rd minute however as a poor clearance from Bracken saw Hicks caught on the ball by Tyrone Taylor. The home defence appealed for offside as Watson raced on his strike partners pass and calmly slot past the Casuals keeper.
The home side having what appeared to be an off night was struggling to make any headway in their pursuit of an equaliser. In fact matters got worse in the 73rd minute when substitute Farmer’s low range effort was parried by Bracken into the path of Watson who fired home his second of the evening.
Watson who hit 44 goals last season at step 5 came close to the hat-trick on 79 minutes but after the ball from a corner found its way to his right boot the effort flashed just past the far post.
Almost immediately Casuals launched an attack of their own and after Hodges low cross across the box reached Goddard it seemed inevitable that the home side would be back in the match. Keeper Dan Green had other ideas however and he flung himself to his right to somehow keep out the effort. It was a quite brilliant save but also one that summed the hosts night up.
Casuals continued to huff and puff in the closing stages but despite some good positions the end product was lacking and Leighton confirmed their place at Leiston in the next round.
After the match a club historian rounded off the night by declaring that since 1896 the club have only ever won once on a Tuesday night in a cup replay.
Speaking after the match Matt Howard gave his brief thoughts
“Tonight was a big disappointment. We came into the match after the 3-3 draw on Saturday full of confidence that we could book a place in the next round.
“Unfortunately, we had to shuffle things around as injuries from Saturday forced our hand.
“We started brightly but overall, that was probably the worst performance from us all season. Conversely, I overheard them saying it’s the best that they’ve played in a long time and they relished playing on our decent surface.
"We were guilty of not taking our chances. If we’d had added another after going one-nil up, I’m sure the result would have been very different. Their keeper also made a fantastic save which could easily have turned the game.
“Now we have to concentrate on the League. We travel to Merstham on Saturday and we’re looking to get back on track.”
Andy Nunn's match pictures can be viewed here
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