Corinthian Casuals vs Cray Wanderers – Isthmian Premier – Tuesday 14th September, 7.45pm – Match Preview and Directions

Corinthian Casuals vs Cray Wanderers – Isthmian Premier – Tuesday 14th September, 7.45 pm – Match Preview

Pics: Jon Hilliger/www.hilligerpix.com

Cray Wanderers aim to bounce back from Sunday’s home league defeat to Potters Bar Town with a trip to Corinthian Casuals on Tuesday night, kick off at King George’s Field is 7.45pm.

The Wands in 12^th place will be looking to get back to winning ways after four straight defeats in league and cup but certainly if Sunday’s performance was anything to go by, Danny Kedwell’s side are playing well in the league and perhaps not quite having the rub of the green in front of goal while for the opposition things are running for them. Against the Scholars on Sunday, Anthony Cook hit the woodwork twice in five minutes, saw the Potters Bar keeper make a fine save from a penalty and the Wands had an Adam Coombes goal chalked off for a debatable offside.

Injuries have blighted the club since the opening two wins against Lewes and Hornchurch and absentees on Sunday included Andy Drury, Sadik Balarabe, Jack Hanson, Charlie Allen, Joey Taylor and Jamie Yila and certainly any side would suffer for the loss of those players. Cameron Brodie has had a good season but was sent off on Sunday so will serve a suspension.

Danny has brought in a couple of loan players in Archie Burnett and Bailey Akehurst  due to injuries and both played well in the match on Sunday and look like players with stellar careers ahead of them. Nicky Bailey was a sub on Sunday and brings a wealth of experience to the midfield while Tariq Turay who also came off the bench looked lively and won the penalty shortly after coming on.  There was some reassurance with Ejiro Okosieme returning to the defence after missing two matches and ran keeper Jack Turner close for the man of the match award.

Corinthian Casuals have hit a good patch of form after a slow start to the season and James Bracken’s side are 19^th with four points from their five games played. They began the season with a 1-3 defeat at Potters Bar Town with Ben Cheklit scoring for the Casuals. This was followed by a 0-1 home loss to Folkestone Invicta and then drew 2-2 at Wingate & Finchley with Warren Mfula scoring twice. A Bank Holiday Monday home defeat to Kingstonian (0-1) was then followed by the FA Cup and a tremendous performance to draw 1-1 at Worthing (Cheklit) and then win 3-1 at home in the replay with goals from Mfula and two from Bobby Mills. Corinthian Casuals face a local derby at Leatherhead in the 2^nd Qualifying Round.  On Saturday, Corinthian Casuals picked up their first league win of the season, 1-0 at Haringey Borough with the winner coming from teenager Alfie Bendle nine minutes from time.

Like all clubs in the Isthmian League the Casuals will be looking for a completed season after the travails of the last two years and in 2019-20 were lying 19th when the season ended in March 2020 and 17^th last season after nine league matches played. The last time the two sides met was on 17^th August 2019 when the sides played out rather a dour 0-0 draw at Hayes Lane. The last away game was on 24^th March 2018 in the Isthmian South-East when Junior Dadson’s early goal won the match for Cray 1-0.

Corinthian Casuals were formed in 1939 following the merger of two amateur clubs, Corinthians and Casuals and were placed in the Isthmian League after the end of the Second World War when football resumed.  The original Corinthians club were a massive influence on railway workers in Sao Paulo and after being influenced by watching them play in London, the famous Brazilian club Corinthians were formed through the railway workers.  Through their links to the Brazilian club Casuals have toured Brazil three times including in 1988-89 when the legendary midfielder Socrates played a half for both sides and most recently in 2015.

They reached the FA Amateur Cup Final in 1956 losing to Bishop Auckland after a replay and spent many years in the Isthmian League up to 1984-85 when they were demoted to the Spartan League.  In 1995-96 they were promoted to the Combined Counties League and within a couple of years returned to the Isthmian League.   They met the Wands for the first time in league competition   in Division One South in 2004-05 and although some years were a struggle they remained in the South Division up to when Cray Wanderers returned in 2016-17 and reached the playoff final two seasons in a row each time beating Greenwich Borough in the Semi-Finals before losing to Dorking Wanderers in 2017 and to Walton Casuals in 2018 both on penalties after goalless draws but gained promotion on a better points per game average.  In 2018-19 in their first season back in the Isthmian Premier since the 1970’s they finished in a creditable 17th place with one of the leagues smaller budgets.

Two clubs rich with of history and tradition, the amber and black of Cray and the pink and chocolate shirts of Casuals coupled with a sharing of how the game should be played promises to be a cracking game.

DIRECTIONS TO CORINTHIAN CASUALS FC

Corinthian Casuals FC
King Georges Field
Queen Marys Close
Hook Rise South
TOLWORTH
SURREY KT6 7NA

Admission Prices: Adults: £12.00
Concessions: £7.00 (OAP’s, disabled, emergency services)

U18s: £1

Travelling By Car

The ground is situated just off the A3 not far from the Tolworth roundabout. If you are travelling from the M25 you can join the A3 at junction 10 towards London. Stay on the A3 until you reach the 50mph speed limit, continue under the Hook roundabout and move into the left hand lane for about 174 yards. Bear LEFT onto Hook Rise North for 0.2 mile (Tolworth Junction). At roundabout, take the FOURTH exit (as if you were going to rejoin the A3 going towards Portsmouth) then almost immediately take slip road on left onto Hook Rise South for 0.5 mile.

If you are travelling from London on the A3 take the Tolworth Junction exit. At roundabout, take the SECOND exit (as if you were going to rejoin the A3 going towards Portsmouth) then almost immediately take slip road on left onto Hook Rise South for 0.5 mile.

In both cases please be careful as you may miss the slip road into Hook Rise South.

Turn LEFT into Queen Mary Close. Ground and car park under railway bridge on right hand side. Youth Section pitches and changing rooms are in the park on the left.

Travelling By Train to Tolworth

From London Waterloo take the Chessington South train towards Tolworth.
The ground is situated off Hook Rise South just 10-15 minutes walk from Tolworth railway station. Turn left out of the station and walk up to the roundabout where you should turn left again, past where the Toby Jug pub used to be. Walk alongside the slip road into Hook Rise South. Continue down the road until you reach Queen Mary’s Close, where you will see a small sign for the club. Walk under the bridge and the ground is on the right.

Trains from Waterloo run midweek at 17 and 47 past the hour to Chessington South and takes 28 minutes or from Clapham Junction at 25 and 55 past the hour. Returns to Waterloo run at 22:09, 22:43, 23:13 and 23:45pm

Travelling By Bus

The following buses travel to Tolworth:
• K1 from new Malden
• 265 From Putney
• K2 from Hook or Kingston Hospital
• 406 and 408 from Kingston and Epsom
• 418 from Kingston
• 281 from Hounslow

Tolworth lies in the Borough of Kingston upon Thames and is real Surrey suburbia. We’ve visited in recent years when playing Corinthian Casuals or those that remember going to Norbiton to face Kingstonian you may have been through if you’ve been to Chessington Zoo or World of Adventures in the past. Lying so close to places like Kingston-upon-Thames, Surbiton, New Malden and Chessington you could find somewhere fairly close to visit if you have time on your hands. Also there is Kempton Park and Sandown Park racecourses nearby and Hampton Court if you really want to make a day of it and the Surbiton race-way which is a decent race track for youngsters.

Also Tolworth has a massive musical heritage. Both Eric Clapton and Elvis Costello lived there and the now closed Toby Jug pub, played host to David Bowie in one of his earliest Ziggy Stardust live shows as well as Fleetwood Mac, Black Sabbath, Led Zeppelin, Jethro Tull, Genesis and many more of the great names of British rock music.

There are not too many pubs in Tolworth with the Broadway Bar and Café on Tolworth Broadway the nearest to the ground. There is the North Star pub and the Maypole which are in Hook Road, Chessington which isn’t too far and in Surbiton there is the Royal Oak.

For Fish and Chip lovers there is the Superfish restaurant in Tolworth Broadway widely regarded as the best in South-West London or the Tolworth Fish bar which is in Red Lion Road.