Corinthian-Casuals 2-1 Three Bridges
FA Trophy Preliminary Round
Saturday 3rd October 2015
Attendance: 102
Match report and pics: Stuart Tree (photos here)
Corinthian-Casuals pocketed a cool £2,500 in FA Trophy prize money after Josh Uzun struck twice from the penalty spot in a 2-1 win over Ryman League rivals Three Bridges.
Uzun’s first half brace was enough to seal the Tolworth-based side’s place in the next round where they’ll take on either Arlesey Town or Redbridge at home on October 31st.
The win ended a barren run in the FA Competitions for Corinthian-Casuals after they exited both the Cup and Trophy at the first stage last season and again in the Cup back in August. But Casuals’ Manager James Bracken wasn’t letting the past play on his mind.
“I’m used to winning cup games in my career” said Bracken. “I’ve only lost one in my time at Casuals so I’m not going to get hung up on past results.”
“I know the club hasn’t done great in these FA Competitions in the past few years but I said to the lads today ‘this one ends at Wembley’ and if you can’t get yourself up for that, what are you doing playing football?”
Casuals named an unchanged line-up to that which beat Sittingbourne on Tuesday night whereas Bridges were struggling with injuries in key positions.
It only took six minutes for the first goal to be registered; Emmanuel Akokhia was tripped in the box and Referee Mr Bhupinder Gill had no hesitation in pointing to the penalty spot. Up stepped Uzun who bagged his sixth goal of the season from the 12 yard mark.
Bridges’ defence had barely woken up to the fact that they were in a cup tie and Akokhia almost made it two but for a fine stop by keeper Kieran Thorp. Uzun was also in on the act with a couple of half chances following some slick interchanges between himself, a lively Sekou Kaba and Kevant Serbony.
On the half hour mark, Corinth doubled the lead; this time Serbony was the recipient of a foul in the box and once again, Uzun neatly converted his penalty much to the delight of the home crowd.
At this point, Bridges were on the ropes and Serbony was closest to putting the game to bed when he beat Thorp to the ball, leaving the keeper stranded but his shot was cleared off the goal-line by a defender.
But the Crawley-based side almost snuck a goal back on the stroke of half time – Ben Godfrey connected with a well-placed cross but struck the bar in a chance that’s often described as ‘harder to miss’.
Although the first half had been mostly one-way traffic, Casuals’ lead was halved just six minutes after the break. Ben Godfrey struck past Danny Bracken in goal to end a neat move which showed that Bridges weren’t just here to make up the numbers.
In fact, Casuals had to ride out some pressure from the visitors as they pressed for an equaliser. However, with Paul Faili’s side pushing up, this gave opportunities for Casuals to seal the win. Akokhia’s shot rebounded over from ten yards and Cherno Mendy’s pacey runs caused numerous problems. For all the efforts on goal, the game wasn’t graced by any more goals and it’s Casuals who progress to the next round of the competition.
After the match, boss James Bracken spoke of his side’s resolve.
“We came out in the second half a little lackadaisical and to be honest it was the same old story where we should’ve killed the game off 3-0 in the first half but we haven’t. But then again, we’ve got a young team and if you look back on those times when we’ve lost the lead, we’ve lost our way. But today was different.
“Three Bridges pulled a goal back but everyone’s kept their composure, doing the basics and keeping us in it. As a result, we’ve ended up having a few chances ourselves to increase the lead.”
FA Trophy Preliminary Round
Saturday 3rd October 2015
Attendance: 102
Match report and pics: Stuart Tree (photos here)
Corinthian-Casuals pocketed a cool £2,500 in FA Trophy prize money after Josh Uzun struck twice from the penalty spot in a 2-1 win over Ryman League rivals Three Bridges.
Uzun’s first half brace was enough to seal the Tolworth-based side’s place in the next round where they’ll take on either Arlesey Town or Redbridge at home on October 31st.
The win ended a barren run in the FA Competitions for Corinthian-Casuals after they exited both the Cup and Trophy at the first stage last season and again in the Cup back in August. But Casuals’ Manager James Bracken wasn’t letting the past play on his mind.
“I’m used to winning cup games in my career” said Bracken. “I’ve only lost one in my time at Casuals so I’m not going to get hung up on past results.”
“I know the club hasn’t done great in these FA Competitions in the past few years but I said to the lads today ‘this one ends at Wembley’ and if you can’t get yourself up for that, what are you doing playing football?”
Casuals named an unchanged line-up to that which beat Sittingbourne on Tuesday night whereas Bridges were struggling with injuries in key positions.
It only took six minutes for the first goal to be registered; Emmanuel Akokhia was tripped in the box and Referee Mr Bhupinder Gill had no hesitation in pointing to the penalty spot. Up stepped Uzun who bagged his sixth goal of the season from the 12 yard mark.
Bridges’ defence had barely woken up to the fact that they were in a cup tie and Akokhia almost made it two but for a fine stop by keeper Kieran Thorp. Uzun was also in on the act with a couple of half chances following some slick interchanges between himself, a lively Sekou Kaba and Kevant Serbony.
On the half hour mark, Corinth doubled the lead; this time Serbony was the recipient of a foul in the box and once again, Uzun neatly converted his penalty much to the delight of the home crowd.
At this point, Bridges were on the ropes and Serbony was closest to putting the game to bed when he beat Thorp to the ball, leaving the keeper stranded but his shot was cleared off the goal-line by a defender.
But the Crawley-based side almost snuck a goal back on the stroke of half time – Ben Godfrey connected with a well-placed cross but struck the bar in a chance that’s often described as ‘harder to miss’.
Although the first half had been mostly one-way traffic, Casuals’ lead was halved just six minutes after the break. Ben Godfrey struck past Danny Bracken in goal to end a neat move which showed that Bridges weren’t just here to make up the numbers.
In fact, Casuals had to ride out some pressure from the visitors as they pressed for an equaliser. However, with Paul Faili’s side pushing up, this gave opportunities for Casuals to seal the win. Akokhia’s shot rebounded over from ten yards and Cherno Mendy’s pacey runs caused numerous problems. For all the efforts on goal, the game wasn’t graced by any more goals and it’s Casuals who progress to the next round of the competition.
After the match, boss James Bracken spoke of his side’s resolve.
“We came out in the second half a little lackadaisical and to be honest it was the same old story where we should’ve killed the game off 3-0 in the first half but we haven’t. But then again, we’ve got a young team and if you look back on those times when we’ve lost the lead, we’ve lost our way. But today was different.
“Three Bridges pulled a goal back but everyone’s kept their composure, doing the basics and keeping us in it. As a result, we’ve ended up having a few chances ourselves to increase the lead.”
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