Article and photo by Stuart Tree
Corinthian-Casuals suffered a major blow to their promotion
chances when Goalkeeper and Captain Danny Bracken suffered a nasty injury which
could rule him out for the rest of the season.
With just twenty minutes gone at Walton Casuals, Bracken
looked to have made a routine save but instantly looked distressed as he seeked
medical attention.
“It doesn’t look good for my brother,” said Manager and
elder of the two James Bracken. “Hopefully it isn’t too bad. He’s distraught.
He prides himself on being available every week and the levels of performance
he puts in is unreal.
James Bracken also took to Twitter after the match to say
“To see any player suffer an injury like today is hard. When it's your brother
it makes it wrenching. Everyone at Corinthian-Casuals needs to keep stepping
up. Me included. You don't replace a Danny Bracken. You can't. But he'll be
back soon just like we'll be ready 3pm Saturday.”
Casuals already had the tough task of trying to prise three
points from their Walton namesakes who’d only lost once at their new Elmbridge
Sports Hub ground. Anthony Gale’s side are also in contention for at least a
playoff berth with just six games of the regular season left.
Corinth had snuck a last gasp 1-0 win over Walton back on
New Year’s Day but this time, they’d face former Captain Joe Hicks – commanding
as ever in defence. Casuals were without Walton’s ex-hitman Gabriel Odunaike
through suspension and Harry Ottaway took a place on the bench after suffering
from illness over the weekend.
However, plans were thrown into chaos with the injury to
Danny Bracken. With no replacement keeper on the bench, eyes turned to Josh
Uzun – possibly the smallest player on the field to act as the last line of
defence.
What occurred was an astounding display of shot stopping
from the young striker. Uzun made a string of excellent saves to prevent a
counter-attacking Walton from taking the lead. Corinth had to ride their luck
at times with the crossbar and post coming to their rescue. Taking nothing away
from the substitute keeper’s performance, Uzun made saves that Danny Bracken
himself would’ve been proud to have made. The back four of Walker, Murray,
Strange and Morgan were excellent in protecting their teammate and Coskun Ekim
was imperious before a knee injury ended his afternoon.
For the most part, Walton were able to keep Corinth’s
sustained pressure. Max Oldham had the best chance of the afternoon when
breaking free on the right, lashed a vicious shot which was expertly matched by
Denzel Gerrar in the Walton goal.
Walton will feel aggrieved that they didn’t capitalise on
Corinth’s bad luck and both sides failed to gain ground on their promotion
rivals. However, this very much felt like a win for Casuals supporters who gave
a rapturous applause for their new goalkeeping hero.
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