Corinthian Casuals might have seen Tuesday’s big friendly with Crystal Palace U21 side cancelled, but boss James Bracken’s men will not be undercooked when it comes to the Ryman Division South kick-off.
Three second half goals, courtesy of man-of-the-match Josh Uzun, James Cottee and Josh Gallagher gave Casuals a 3-2 triumph over Ryman Premier Division neighbours Kingstonian on Saturday.
Forty-eight hours later, Casuals received the news the visit of Premier League Eagles had been shelved with boss Alan Pardew preferring his youngsters to fulfil a first team visit to Farnborough on Monday night.
It left the King George’s Field club hoping Palace would do the honourable thing and foot the bill for the cost of programmes already printed for the Tuesday friendly.
Double time: Shelton Gooden celebrates scoring his second goal to put Ks 2-1 up at Corinthian Casuals on Saturday
“Unfortunately, Crystal Palace have pulled out of tomorrow’s pre season friendly at Casuals. Suffice to say, we’re very disappointed. Programmes printed and advertising gone to waste,” Casuals official Twitter account stated.
Bracken’s team might have had one game less than intended ahead of Saturday’s league opener at Whyteleafe, but they still go into the clash in flying form – winning six of their seven friendlies and scoring 24 goals in the process.
Warren Morgan is expected to be fit for the weekend, despite being taken off midway through Saturday’s win with heat exhaustion.
And the manager believes his men are more than prepared for the opening day.
“The weather didn’t help in terms of the intensity that you want them to show,” he added.
Buried: Casuals substitute James Cottee fires past Rob Tolfrey to level the scores at King George's Field on Saturday
“When you have one of the lads come off from being sick on the pitch because it’s so hot, it tells you how difficult it was out there.
“We got better as the game progressed and ultimately, we have to be happy with the overall performance and the victory.
“I’m never too concerned about what other teams are doing as we’ll concentrate on our own game.
“We’ll make sure we’re doing things right and then as the season progresses, we’ll look at how others are shaping up and address anything from there.”
Meanwhile, Selachii LLP have been confirmed as the club’s new shirt sponsors.
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