Men's football news
With few of the teams at the top of the table in action, the Rooks go into Wednesday night’s game against Corinthian Casuals looking to extend their league at the summit of the Bostik League. However, it will be one of the toughest tests we have faced so far this season as the visitors will be hoping it is third time lucky this term after two consecutive close-run promotion campaigns.
After missing the trip to VCD Athletic, Lloyd Cotton is back in Darren’s squad which is likely to be relatively unchanged from that which recorded the excellent win on Saturday.
How has this season been for Corinthian Casuals?
Casuals are once again looking dangerous, sitting in the final play-off spot coming into the game although they have lost their last two Bostik League South games, including a 4-2 defeat at Cray Wanderers on Saturday. Prior to those games their form had been good, winning five and drawing one in September which led to manager James Bracken being awarded the Manager of the Month award. After losing top scorer Shaun Okojie in the summer, there was a fear that they may struggle for goals but they’ve scored 22 in the league, the same as the Rooks with the danger men being Daniel Cunningham with seven goals and Josh Uzon with five. Their away form so far this season has been mixed, winning four and conceding three so far,
How was last season?
After missing out controversially on a play-off spot in 2015/16 (a last day
3-point deduction for fielding an illegible player), they managed to make the
final cut last season but lost in the most cruel circumstances in the Play-Off
Final, 5-4 on penalties to Dorking Wanderers. Casuals strengthened their
defence and improved their attacking options, with hot-shot Shaun Okojie once
again stealing the headlines. However,
boss James Bracken will have to do without Okojie this season as he has joined
Aldershot Town. Another player who has
left is Danny Dudley who has joined Carshalton Athletic.
Isthmian League South Division – 4th – P 46 W 29 D 6 L 1 GS 99 GA 59 GD +40 PTS 93
·
FA Cup – First Qualifying Round – lost at home
to North Leigh 3-2
·
FA Trophy –
First Qualifying Round – lost away at Chalfont St Peter 3-2
·
Surrey Senior Cup – Second Round – Lost away at
Egham Town 3-0
·
Isthmian League Cup – Third Round – Lost at home
to Merstham 5-2
When
did we last meet Corinthian Casuals?
It was a case of what could have been last
season against Casuals. One of our best
team performances of the season saw us come away from King George’s Fields with
a 2-0 in January thanks to goals from Charlie Coppola and Stephen Okoh but in
the reverse fixture at The Pan in April, Casuals ran out 3-2 winners in a
thrilling game. Ronnie Conlon brought us
back into the game after the visitors had taken a 2-0 lead, then a blatant
handball on the line by Casuals Jack Strange was missed by the officials. Hot-shot Shaun Okojie then went up the other
end of the pitch in injury time to make it 3-1 only for Jonte Smith headed a
late, late goal to make it 3-2.
Kick off on Wednesday at The Pan is 7:45pm. Admission is £11 for Adults, £6 for Concessions and Under16s admitted free when accompanied by an adult.