Scholars fight back to see off Corinthian Casuals

O’Leary’s side were victorious in their opening game of the 2021/22 season courtesy of a brace from Ward-Cochrane and a debut goal from Arasibia.

Bar nearly got themselves off to the perfect start, as Budden played a through ball into Ward-Cochrane, who placed his shot just wide.

Another chance presented itself for the Scholars, as debutant Sharman raced in on goal, only to be brought down in the box yet no penalty was given by the referee.

Shulton also found himself on the end of a through ball, but couldn’t direct his shot goal-ward. By the 13th minute O’Leary’s side were well in control of the game but did not have a goal to show for it.

Ward-Cochrane also saw his effort saved in the 19th minute, as Sassi managed to slide the ball into him, however his shot was parried away by Bracken.

From there, the momentum of the tie changed slightly, as Corinthian Casuals had their best chances of the game so far with a ball played into the back post that Mills couldn’t quite direct towards goal in the 26th minute.

As the game edged closer to half time, Tajbakhsh was booked for a high and late challenge, who was also making his debut for the Scholars, in his third stint at the club.

Half time ended a half that had started with plenty of promise from O’Leary’s side, however the failure to take their chances had led to a slight switch of momentum before the break, as there was evident frustration for the Scholars at the break.

To make matters worse, Corinthian Casuals took the lead through Checklit early on in the second half. He was able to latch onto the end of a through ball and calmly slot past Al Droubi in the 47th minute to give the visitors the lead against the run of play.

This did seem to motivate Bar and spur on a comeback however, as they had found an equaliser by the 63rd minute through Arasibia on his debut. The midfielder picked the ball up from Ibie, shifted it to his left and curled his shot behind Bracken to level the tie.

Corinthian almost had an instant response, as they had the ball in the net through a headed tap in, however the flag was raised to keep the score at 1-1.

Abnett was then booked for the visitors for a late challenge on Tingey a minute later. Tempers were beginning to flare in the game, which became more evident as the game went on.

With 20 minutes to go Bracken was forced into making another save to deny Ward-Cochrane. He ran through on goal, but his angle was tight when he took the shot on allowing Bracken to stop Ward-Cochrane’s effort.

O’Leary then made two changes in quick succession, bringing off Tajbakhsh and Pascal for Livings and Young in an attempt to get fresh legs on the pitch for the Scholars.

This paid off almost instantly, as in the 73rd minute Sydney Ibie was brought down in the box and Bar were awarded a penalty. Ward-Cochrane stepped up to take the spot kick, sending Bracken the wrong way and ensuring that the Scholars had come from behind to lead on the opening day of the season!

O’Leary then gave a debut to Chinua Cole, bringing him on for the final 12 minutes of the game for Sharman, who had also impressed on his debut.

Corinthian attempted to get an equaliser with no success, whilst they fashioned some openings occasionally they were unable to have any real shots on goal in the closing stages of the game.

Bar were able to wrap up the victory in the final minute of normal time, as Ibie won another penalty. The awarding of the penalty led to a scuffle on the edge of the penalty area, which appeared to start out of nowhere, hence why the referee took no action towards it due to having a lack of understanding of how the coming together started.

Ward-Cochrane was able to put this past him and get his brace however, this time slotting his penalty into the bottom left hand corner to seal the win on the opening day of the season.

Full time confirmed an impressive comeback for O’Leary’s side, who had been frustrated until the final third of the game, only to make their chances pay towards the end of the game to give them all 3 points!

You can listen to O’Leary’s interview following the game here!