Five Star Casuals Cruise Past East Grinstead
- Cameron Smith
- Aug 29, 2017
- 4 min read
On a fine summer afternoon at the picturesque East Court, Corinthian-Casuals netted five goals to comfortably defeat East Grinstead Town, with the help of hat-trick hero Jerson Dos Santos as James Bracken’s army marched onto three more points in the Bostik League Division One South.
The away strip of white and dark blue was used by Casuals whilst East Grinstead wore their yellow and black home kit. As soon as the referee began proceedings, it was clear to see that Corinthians were up for causing havoc amongst the Wasps’ back four. With six minutes on the clock, attacking ace Josh Uzun perfectly weighted a through ball for striker Reyon Dillon, who did very well to keep onside, but the no.11’s shot on goal was saved by keeper Oshane Brown. It was parried away for a corner kick, and the following set-piece resulted in a chance for Jack Strange as he peeled away from his marker, but couldn’t steer his header into the back of the net as it flew wide. Set-pieces and corners were a plenty for the visitors as Strange had another stray header edge just past of the post.
Then in the 28th minute, Casuals finally broke the deadlock. Jerson Dos Santos’ drive towards goal was initially blocked by the stern gloves of keeper Brown, but the East Grinstead no.1 was unable to keep hold of the ball and Dillon was there to poke the ball home from a few yards out. The 1-0 score-line didn’t reflect Casuals’ brilliant start to the game… it should have been more! Ten minutes later, nothing much had changed as the Wasps grew more agitated with each-other, failing to end Corinth’s dominance. Uzun was the main troublemaker as he twisted and turned in the penalty area attempting to find a crevice to slot the ball through before Andrew Cooney lost his patience and slid in on Uzun. Whilst gaining the ball, Cooney was found guilty of fouling the Casuals player during the tackle, which saw the referee point to the spot. Angry complaints from both the East Grinstead supporters and players was drowned out by the Casuals contingent singing the Josh Uzun’s name. He won it, and he would take it. Just like his conversion on Tuesday, Uzun looked relaxed as he sent Brown the wrong way to score. It was 2-0 Casuals. The remainder of the half was played out and half-time was signalled.
It only took two minutes for Casuals to nick a third goal, with many supporters still enjoying the break and missing the eagerness of Jerson Dos Santos. It has been an unlucky spell so far for the no.10, who had started all four Casuals games this season but has been elusive to his first goal despite a few promising performances. Dos Santos burst onto the left flank- nudging off defenders with ease- and hammered a simple yet accurate effort past the oncoming keeper. It was 3-0 to the Casuals, and three points seemed to be heading back to Tolworth.
A terrific display from the midfield, Corinthian’s men in the middle did not give East Grinstead any time to rest as the constant attacking movement gave Mu Maan a creative license to occasionally roam forwards, but it wasn’t from the no.8 that saw Casuals score again, it was from the fatigue of the hosts. An extremely risky backpass from a yellow shirt left keeper Brown in a dilemma as the alert Dillon pounced onto the opportunity, but was stalked by the intimidating East Grinstead shot-stopper before he cut the ball back to Dos Santos, who was in the right place at the right time to fire the ball into the top corner. The score was four goals to nil with a brace from Dos Santos.
East Grinstead did have the ball in the back of the net at one point, which prompted cheers from the quiet cluster of fans around the ground. However, it was short-lived and it was time for Casuals fans to cheer as the linesman adjudged the goal offside. A clean-sheet for Bracken was still very much on the cards as Casuals pressed for a fifth. With three goals in all competitions to his name so far, Maan was searching for his fourth of the campaign when he collected the ball thirty yards out and rocketed a ferocious effort that was coasting towards the top right corner. The giant in the net stood completely still and just watched Maan’s mighty effort slam onto the crossbar and ricochet away from goal. It was fortunate for East Grinstead, but very unfortunate for Mu and the Casuals.
Chances came and went for Corinthians, but it was the 90th minute where the inevitable no.5 arrived. Again under pressure from full-backs, beast Jerson Dos Santos was a lion as he hunted ruthlessly for his hat-trick, pacing past yellow shirts before expertly curling the ball into the bottom corner with security and skill. An incredible goal-scoring feat for Casuals was brought to an end, with Dos Santos cradling the match ball at the final whistle. East Grinstead had conceded five, to give Corinth three points.
Photo credit: Stuart Tree