Croydon Athletic 0 Corinthian Casuals 4

Casuals heaped misery on local rivals Croydon Athletic romping to a 4-0 away victory thanks to a devastating second- half performance.

It was made all the more remarkable by Casuals stalwart Dave Roberts notching his first goal in his 231st game for the club!

The first half saw Croydon look dangerous and do most of the early attacking without testing John Hotchkiss.

It was not until Elliott Lyward's 22nd-minute strike that Casuals hit the target.

This pre-empted Casuals' best period of the first half, with Iain Waghorn firing across goal and keeper Rob Frankland blocking from Lyward.

Smashed

Casuals took the lead five minutes after the break.

Waghorn's corner was flicked on by Danny Arkwright to Lyward, who smashed his volley home.

The unthinkable happened three minutes later when Dave Roberts played a one-two with Lyward before rolling the ball past the helpless Frankland.

Casuals were dominating and running Athletic ragged.

Lyward headed over Waghorn's free-kick after 59 minutes.

Five minutes later Frankland failed to collect the ball after going in with Justin Georgiou, but the loose ball was scuffed wide by Lyward.

Croydon's best chance came after 68 minutes when Nicky Greene fired a cross-shot wide of the far post.

This was followed soon after by Andy Gibbons releasing Chris Watney down the left, but Georgiou fired the cross wide.

The third goal came after 74 minutes when Leon Raishbrook brought the ball out of defence magnificently before releasing Georgiou, who fired past Frankland for his 13th goal of the season.

The scoring was completed when the substitutes combined and Chris Watney whipped a ball across field, which gave Jamie Goodwin time to steady himself before beating Frankland again.

Casuals: Hotchkiss, Roberts, Gibbons, Raishbrook, Russell-Smith, Arkwright, Shergold, Jupp (Goodwin), Lyward (Watney), Waghorn, Georgiou (White).

January 31, 2003 11:31