An entertaining game at a very wet and windy Imperial Fields was shaded by Tooting, although either team could have taken the points with the number of chances they created. Casuals started the match without Chris Malik, who failed to recover from a shoulder injury sustained last week and Joe Frimpong, who had picked up a back injury. Gavin Cartwright, still not 100% fit, sat on the bench and never left it.

Casuals kicked off with a strong wind in their favour but near farcical conditions saw several high Tooting through balls get caught in the wind and come back from whence they came. Tooting's best player on the day, John Hastings, had their first opportunity in the 9th minute. He turned past Chris Horwood and set up Matt Howard for a shot, fortunately Gareth Williams produced a very smart save. Tommy Cass had an early one on one chance for Casuals but his touch was just too strong and gave Jonty Ventor time to dive at his feet and gather.

It was Iain Waghorn who first mastered the conditions and played a fine defence splitting pass for Mark Simmons to latch on to. With the Tooting defence looking for an off-side flag Simmons continued, rounded Ventor and picked his spot in the far corner past the recovering Justin Bowen. Simmons had a chance for a second moments later but another clever Waghorn ball bounced 20 yards off his kryptonite lined chest instead of two and the moment was lost.

The game swung irretrievably in Tootings favour in a five minute spell either side of half time. A long ball upfield from Alex Rodrigues fell for Tommy Cass and the youngster muscled his way past Michael Brady to set up a one on one chance. Ventor raced out to meet him and the with ball running away a little in the wind Cass tried a lob but Ventor remained tall and blocked the effort perilously close to the edge of his area. Casuals were having much the better of things and were swarming into the Tooting half in search of a second. They lost the ball in one such move two minutes from the break and conceded an equaliser at a sucker time. Hastings picked up the ball and ran from deep, he weaved between Chris Horwood and Alex Rodrigues and as he reached the edge of the Casuals area, shot low past Gareth Williams right hand.

If that wasn't bad enough, the black and white striped home team scored again 17 seconds into the second half. James Husband, who was behind most of Tooting's best moves, found himself unmarked wide on the right and drove speculatively from 25 yards. The wind help carry the ball into the far corner of Williams' net but the goal demonstrated how little Casuals had tried to use the wind by shooting from distance in the first 45 minutes. Tommy Cass limped off soon after to leave an unusual looking forward line of Simmons and Kevin Broad.

Chris Horwood, so often a threat from set pieces, finally got off the mark for the season with a deserved equaliser on the hour. Jay Gasson intelligently drove in a free kick, low and hard across the face of Vantor's goal, and in a far post pile-up Horwood threw himself goalwards. His first attempt was saved but the rebound struck him unwittingly on the shin and rolled over the line.

The Tooting winner came in the 70th minute when Wayne Cort, cousin of Carl, flicked a near post header past Gareth Williams from deep left wing cross.

Casuals threw the kitchen sink, sundry domestic appliances and most of the outhouse into their search for an equaliser. There were goal line clearances, scrambles in the six yard box and players clattering into each other in a frenetic finale as temperatures rose. Simon Shergold even hit the base of a post with a free kick but the final equaliser would not materialise and Casuals ended the game pointless but with pride intact .

Casuals : Gareth Williams, Alex Rodrigues, Jay Gasson, Jamie Keith, Chris Horwood, Tony Blunt, Simon Shergold, Iain Waghorn (Jamie White 80), Tommy Cass (Kevin Broad 50), Jamie Byatt, Mark Simmons.

Subs Not Used : Nick Brown, Justin Georgiou, Gavin Cartwright Attendance : 282