Kick-off changed - details

Our home game against Guernsey has been subject to an amended kick-off time.


To take into account the long journey made by our visitors, the match is now set to begin at 1pm on Saturday 10th September.

Next up for the first-team is a home friendly against Met Police on Saturday 30th July (KO 3pm).

Match summary - Slough Town (a)

We finished third overall in the Hendon Invitational Cup after beating Slough Town on Sunday, writes John Kistner.

With just two of the starting eleven from the match against Hendon the previous afternoon, we opened brightly with Reiss Franklyn slotting in a fine shot in as early as the third minute to open the scoring. The conditions for this match were far better than the previous day being a lot cooler, although referee Lior Koskas allowed many water breaks throughout the match.

We'd started where we left-off against Hendon by keeping possession with some neat and intricate short passing and quick movement. Jarrell Gray had a solid and calm performance controlling the back four well throughout the course of the whole match, and was accordingly voted Vice Presidents Player of the Match, although it must be said that the whole team played their part throughout the 90 minutes.

Charlie Losasso equalised for Slough Town on 10 minutes after capitalising on a poor clearance, but we bounced back just six minutes later through a powerful shot by Richard Ismail that rocketed low into the corner of the net with Slough's goalkeeper soundly beaten.

Both sides played attacking football, with hard fought battles being acted out all over the pitch, with a fair degree of leniency being shown by the referee.

HALF-TIME: 2 – 1

We started brightly again in the second half, and Ismail scored an exquisite second from 35 yards out, timing his curved run to perfection from just inside the half-way line in order to avoid the offside trap before latching on to a superbly played through ball and racing past Slough's left-back and lobbing their advancing goalkeeper Sam Bunting.

Kalvin Morath-Gibbs came on for the injured Ryan Healy on 49 minutes and Losasso reduced the deficit on 77 minutes with his second of the afternoon, but we held on for an overall second win of our pre-season schedule.

Overall, this was a pleasing performance all round and a deserved victory which saw us finish in third within the tournament - but most importantly the squad played well as a unit across both day's play.

Next up: We face Metropolitan Police at home on Saturday 30th July (kick-off 3pm), then Dulwich Hamlet visit Colston Avenue on Tuesday 2nd August (kick-off 7.45pm).

Carshalton Athletic: Minchin; Panton, Ayah, Okuguni, Gray, Del Alcasal, Franklyn, Healy (c) (Morath-Gibbs - 49), Ismail, Salgado; Kaiser (Adeniyi - 81).
Unused subs: None
Goals: Franklyn (3), Ismail (16 & 49).
VP's Player of the Match: Gray.

Slough Town: : Bunting, Fraser (c), Jacobs (New - 29), Hollis (James - 46), Hicks, Stockill (Jackman - 46), Putman (Sear - 46), Cook (Jacobs - 46), Barney (Allam - 70), Losasso, Gormen (Gilkes - 70).
Unused sub: Stonehouse.
Goals: Losasso (10 & 77).

Match report - Hendon (a)

The Hendon Invitational Cup kicked off with a high tempo opener as we, despite eventually losing, held our own against a strong Hendon side, writes James Barrett.

Boss Peter Adeniyi gave himself, Femi, Kingsley Aikhionbare, Mickel Miller and Sean O’Toole a first full start of pre-season, with the latter also given the opportunity to lead the team out.

The game swung for end-to-end from the very beginning as our hosts broke from a Femi cross, following good approach work by Adeniyi and Aikhionbare, and Karl Oliyide bore down on our goal until Kalvin Morath-Gibbs slid in to deny him a shot inside our box.

Oliyide then read a poor pass from Jamahl King out of our defence to rob Adeniyi but the striker took his shot early and it flew wide of Jack Minchin’s right-hand post.

We then began to dominate possession thanks to the work rate of both Aikhionbare and Sekou Kaba through the middle and the pace of Ricky Korkoa, Ricardo Panton and Miller whom had a fair case for a penalty waved away on 18 minutes.

Hendon almost opened the scoring four minutes later as Oliyide found himself through on our goal yet again. Minchin did enough to deny him space for a shot so he squared the ball to Mayo Balogun whom then saw Femi block his shot in front of an empty net.

The next real goalmouth opportunity came on 27 minutes as we won a corner. Kaba rose highest to head the ball past goalkeeper Tyler McCarthy but a body in green diverted the ball’s flight and the midfielder was denied a cert goal.

The deadlock was broken six minutes later as a poor clearance by Minchin was knocked into the path of Spencer McCall and the midfielder coolly slotted past our advancing keeper.

We almost hit back straightaway as Miller won a free kick 20 yards from Hendon’s goal but his resultant attempt on goal was a whisker away from dropping inside the top far corner.

Then Korboa displayed quick feet to beat his marker and play Aikhionbare through on goal. The young striker held off Dave Diedhiou but his angled drive was deflected over by the outstretched foot of McCarthy.

The home keeper then kept his side ahead in added time after Miller did well to take a high ball down on the run inside the area, but McCarthy rushed out to block our man’s cross-shot.

HALF-TIME: 1 – 0

Hendon came out looking to extend their lead early but Arthur Lee put a header on a corner just over before Keagan Cole thumped a first-time shot from 18 yards against our crossbar.

Kaba was cruelly denied a goal again on 54 minutes as he met another corner delivery with his head but Dave Diedhiou instinctively deflected the ball away from bulging the net with his own.

And we fell further behind just two minutes later as the lively Oliyide smashed home a right wing cross beyond the despairing dive of Minchin.

Our heads didn’t drop however and we continued to look neat and tidy in possession – we almost reduced the deficit on the hour after Korboa showed great vision to get Adeniyi in on goal from inside his own half. Our player/manager kept his composure as McCarthy came out but unfortunately his measured shot cannoned back off the post.

Following good work between Panton and Miller down the left, Morath-Gibbs managed to knock a deep cross in which O’Toole took down well. His subsequent shot was blocked but Miller kept the pressure on only for Adeyini to head his cross over the crossbar at the back post.

The hot conditions triggered many substitutions by both sides during the last 25 minutes but no-one threatened to add to the scoreline despite both teams getting forward when they could.

Next up: We face Slough Town in the Hendon Invitational Cup runners-up game on Sunday 24th July (kick-off 1pm), then Met Police visit Colston Avenue on Saturday 30th July (kick-off 3pm).

Carshalton Athletic: Minchin; Femi, King, Morath-Gibbs (Franklyn – 86), Panton (Okuguni – 86); Korboa (Healy – 75), Kaba (del Alcasal – 75), Adeniyi (Kaiser – 75), Miller (Salgado – 72), O’Toole (Ayah – 67); Aikhionbare (Thompson – 75)

Hendon starting XI: McCarthy, Tingey, Lee, Maclaren, Diedhiou, Cole, Vassell, McCall, Ibe, Oliyide, Balogun

Subs: A da Costa, Kuehn, Robins, Achille, Cousins, K da Costa, Bettache

Goals: McCall (31), Oliyide (56)

View from the dugout - interview

Player/manger Peter Adeniyi has started to settle into life at Colston Avenue as his evolving squad registered a first pre-season win last Saturday, writes James Barrett.

We beat Kingstonian 2-0 via goals from Daniel Thompson and Ricky Korboa, while 18 year-old goalkeeper Jack Minchin impressed at the other end with a string of excellent saves.

And Adeniyi was in high spirits after watching the whole 90 minutes from the dugout.

“I thought we equipped ourselves well against Kingstonian, we were patient and moved the ball about nicely,” he said.

“But, at this stage, we are simply looking for the players to increase their fitness and begin taking on the philosophies myself and the coaching staff wish to impart.”

Amid recent news the club is actively looking for a new goalkeeper, our head honcho stressed there was “no panic” when asked how the search for new players was going.

“Young Jack did well on Saturday, and should have a bright future in front of him, but we do have one or two more experienced keepers coming down to training this week,” Adeniyi said.

“We are in no rush to bring in players just for the sake of it however. We have a good spirit in the core squad and we don’t need anyone disrupting that.

“The coaching team and I will be assessing as much the character of any new signing as well as their ability.”

Korboa’s goal was a highlight of Saturday’s game – a sweetly hit shot with the outside of his right foot after latching on to Matt Males’ defence splitting ball – and Adeniyi added he is expecting big things from his forward players this coming season.

“I enjoy watching our young forward players out on the pitch, they are all outstanding talents,” he said, “but we need the likes of Ricky, Brendan and Mickel to start adding more goals to their overall games.

“That is one thing we’ll speak to those guys about but, overall, everyone’s attitude and work rate has been superb so far this pre-season and I’m looking forward to the two games arranged for this weekend.”

Our next pre-season action is as part of the four-team Hendon Invitation Cup and we first take on the hosts on Saturday 23^rd July (kick-off 1pm).

Match report - Kingstonian (h)

It was a good workout as we ran out 2-0 winners over local rivals Kingstonian on a warm Saturday afternoon.

A goal in each half, coupled with several fine saves by goalkeeper Jack Minchin, saw us move on from Monday's performance in a positive manner.

Boss Peter Adeniyi gave Bobby Price, Ricardo Panton and Kalvin Morath-Gibbs their first run outs of this pre-season, while Josh Phillips was also named among the substitutes. Former Robins Tommy Williams (as manager), Pelayo Pico Gomez and Saidou Khan were all in the visiting party.

Both sides created early chances; Daniel Thompson held up a long ball and gave Ricky Korboa the chance to see an effort blocked by a defender's leg, while Jack Dixon thrashed a shot wide for the visitors.

Each keeper did well to claim crosses under pressure and Rob Tolfrey had to be at his most dogged to stop the surging Ricardo Panton from making something of a long cross field ball on 10 minutes.

Jack Minchin's first save of the afternoon came six minutes later as he got down to smother George Wells' low drive. We broke from that and Bobby Price was played in behind the Ks defence but Thompson's header on the cross was wayward.

We continued to dominate possession and some neat passing saw us keep the Ks defence on their toes, but Korboa blazed over the best chance created on 25 minutes.

Price bravely put Ryan Moss under pressure as a cross came into our box, receiving a whack on the head for his trouble, and we broke from the resultant corner to open the scoring. Korboa put Tommy Bradford through on goal and, as our forward bore down on goal, Tolfrey got down to block his low shot from inside the box. However Thompson, who'd followed the action, was on hand to knock the ball into an empty net from six yards.

Minchin did well to deny Moss five minutes later as the striker wrapped a half volley around a poor defensive clearance inside our area and we broke again to cause Ks some trouble but, although Price did well to draw out Tolfrey before unselfishly squaring to Thompson, our goalscorer was denied his second by a well-timed recovering tackle by Aaron Goode.

Bradford and Panton both saw efforts narrowly clear the Ks goal just before the break, while Morath-Gibbs stood his ground to deny Pico Gomez a potential goal upon his return to Colston Avenue.

HALF-TIME: 1 - 0

Bradford again almost scored three minutes after the restart but his shot was a whisker the wrong side of the far post, but we did double our advantage on 51 minutes.

Matt Males played an inch-perfect ball over the top for Korboa to run clear on to and, as Tolfrey remained big and narrowed the angle, he curled the ball low with the outside of his foot and inside the far post.

Kigstonian responded by rattling our crossbar from distance and then making nine changes, while we introduced Jarrell Gray, Femi and Nii Ayah at the back.

Panton superbly slid in to deny Sadik Baslarabe a clear shot on our goal on 64 minutes and Leo Burgess saw his header on the resultant corner bounce off the top off of our crossbar.

We made some more substitutions but our reinvigorated visitors continued to press forward only to find Minchin in inspired form - he first kept out a firm Balarase header with a strong right hand, before diving low to clutch a shot by Emmanuel Akinokou.

Esteban Salgado, who looked lively after coming on, jinked past a couple of challenges on 81 minutes before slipping Josh Phillips in on goal. The angle didn't favour the young forward but his shot still beat Tolfrey before rolling agonisingly across goal.

We kept our clean sheet thanks in no small part to Minchin whom made two more good blocks as the game entered added time, while Tolfrey stayed big to block out Phillips whom had stolen in on a through ball and stabbed the ball goalwards.

Next up: We travel to the home of Hendon on Saturday 23rd July to play  the hosts in the first of a two-day tournament (kick-off 1pm).

Carshalton Athletic: Minchin; Price (Gray - 55), King (Femi - 55), Morath-Gibbs (Ayah - 55), Panton; Bradford (Franklyn - 66), Males (Healy - 66), Murphy-McVey (Salgado - 66), Kaba, Korboa (O'Toole - 66); Thompson (Phillips - 66)

Unused subs: Aikhionbare, Del Alcasal, Adeniyi

Goals: Thompson (32), Korboa (51)

Kingstonian: Tolfrey; Goode (Stripp - 55), Page (Dixon - 81), Hustwick (Ratteray - 55), Wells (Skelton - 55); Derry (Burgess -55), Dixon (Newman - 55), Nicholson (Khan - 55), Turner (Balarabe - 55); Pico Gomez (Akinakou - 55), Moss (Etheridge - 55)

Written by James Barrett.

2016/17 fixtures now known

Our new league campaign, beginning in next month, has now taken shape.

We kick-off away at Horsham on Saturday 13th August (KO 3pm) and ends with a visit from East Grinstead United on Saturday 22nd April.

Other notable dates for your diary include a Boxing Day derby versus Tooting and Mitcham United at home and our trip to Guernsey on Sunday 2nd April.

The full fixture list can be viewed here for the time being:http://www.pitchero.com/clubs/carshaltonafc/teams/109282/fixtures-results

Match summary - Merstham (h)

The first team were hosts to Merstham FC at Colston Avenue today.

New boss Peter Adeniyi took the opportunity to give several new faces a chance to impress, while the visitors had ex-Robins Simon Cooper, Dean McDonald and Alex Addai among their ranks and former manager Hayden Bird in the dugout.

We didn’t get off to the best of starts however as Anton Douglas was given time and space in the 10th minute to cut in from the left. The midfielder finally unleashed a low drive which beat the despairing dive of youth team goalkeeper Jack Minchin from the edge of the box.

Our first effort on target came just two minutes later as Brendan Murphy-McVey got onto a loose ball by the visitor’s D but his curled effort went into the arms of the grateful Chris Haigh.

Both sides traded attacks as the late evening sun bathed Colston Avenue in a glorious hue but Merstham looked the more likely until the 27th minute mark.

Firstly Ricky Korboa played a neat one-two with Sekou Kaba to get free down the left but a defender just got in front of the lurking Daniel Thompson to clear the low cross away.

Then we drew level thanks to the tenacity of Korboa – the young midfielder stole the ball off a dithering Cooper before advancing clean through on goal. He then checked back inside the recovering full back and bent a neat shot around Haigh from 10 yards.

King slid in to deny Pat Cox a clean sight of goal a few minutes later, Korboa tested Haigh with a snapshot from 20 yards and McDonald found himself free on a squared cross from the left on 38 minutes but our former striker guided a free shot way off target.

Merstham were given the chance to retake the lead after the referee judged the coming together of Minchin and Samuels as a foul in our six yard box and Cox steered home the spot-kick.

HALF-TIME: 1 – 2

Adeniyi was introduced at the start of the second-half, as was Addai whom extended Merstham’s lead when his 50th minute cross looped over the head of Minchin and fortuitously went in via the inside of the far post.

Thompson flicked on a Murphy-McVey cross five minutes later and Tommy Bradford found himself unmarked at the back post, but the angle didn’t favour our man and his shot dragged across the six yard area.

Bradford then had an opportunity to test sub keeper Phil Wilson with a 20 yard free kick but his firm drive just flew narrowly wide.

Wilson then showed his worth by first denying Thompson with his legs after our forward did well to beat his marker onto a wicked left wing delivery by Paris Hamilton-Downes, then by rushing out to parry a shot by Bradford after our man got in on goal via a one-two with Korboa.

We made a flurry of substitutions, including the re-appearance of midfielder Sean O’Toole for the first time this calendar year, but Merstham began to carve out the better chances again; Tom Howard blasted one over from distance, while Jarrell Gray slid in perfectly to deny Addai a free run at our goal.

Minchin superbly tipped over a stinging strike from Addai on 78 minutes after the winger’s pace again got him into a decent shooting position, but the visitors added a fourth before the end as Callum Willock’s run broke our offside trap and he rounded the young keeper before slotting home.

Next up: We prepare to welcome Kingstionian to Colston Avenue on Saturday 16th July (kick-off 3pm).

Carshalton Athletic: Minchin; Gray, King (Adeniyi – 46), Ismail, Hamilton-Downes (c); Murphy-McVey (Salgado – 63), Males (Healy – 63), Bradford (Franklyn – 63), Kaba (Kaiser – 63), Korboa (O’Toole – 63); Thompson (Aikhionbare – 63)

Unused sub: Pink

Goal: Korboa (29)

Merstham: Haigh (Wilson – 54), Cooper (c), Campbell, Douglas, Okoye, Samuels (Howard – 46), Bennett (Henriques – 71), Vidal, Cox (Willock – 54), McDonald (Djamou – 63), Hector (Addai – 46)

Goals: Douglas (10), Cox (42 pen), Addai (50), Willock (86)

Written by James Barrett.

Up for the cup - opponents now known

The first draws for the 2016-17 FA Cup and FA Trophy competitions have now been made.

We have been drawn at home in the preliminary round of the FA Cup and we'll welcome the victor of Crowborough Athletic vs Farnham Town.

The date for this tie is currently scheduled for Saturday 20th August (KO 3pm)*.

We are on the road for the FA Trophy preliminary round as we travel to Cray Wanderers, earmarked to take place Saturday 8th October (KO 3pm)*.

The winners of this match will then be at home against either Brentwood Town or Marlow in the first qualifying round.

* Dates/kick-off times are subject to change. We advise keeping tabs on such information via the club website or Twitter page (@carshaltonA_fc).

The Robins are now on Instagram

The club has joined picture sharing platform Instagram this week.

The account - cafc_therobins - will share exclusive photos/videos from both on and off the pitch throughout the 2016/17 season.

If you have an account then please give us a follow: Link to new instagram site