Substitute Michael Salako's debut brace left Corinthian Casuals boss Matt Howard purring as his side moved up to seventh in the Ryman Division One South table, writes Stuart Tree.

Salako, prolific in the reserves this term, came off the bench at half time to add to goals from Michael Fahm and a Simon Huckle own goal as Casuals crushed Walton Casuals 4-1 in the second half at King George’s Field on Monday after going in at the break with the scores level at 0-0.

It followed up Saturday’s creditable 1-1 draw at Hythe Town and a midweek 2-0 win over Walton & Hersham and has the amateurs chasing the top five as opposed to concerning themselves with those at the bottom.

But for Howard there remained room to improve.

“We were poor to start off with andcould’ve found ourselves 3-0 down, but we didn’t – we stayed in the game and the rest is history,” he said.

“Conditions were tough. I actually turned round to their manager 20 minutes in and said I don’t think the game will finish, such was the rain. But it shows how good our pitch is.

“Considering the rain, Danny Bracken in goal was top class and I felt for him as he deserved a clean sheet.

“To concede in the 90th minute, we weren’t happy.

“We’re slowly gettng where we need to be. We’re unbeaten in three now, so I’m pleased.”

Casuals will be confident of reaching the FA Cup first qualifying round when they travel to struggling Horsham in the preliminary round on Saturday.