We stung the Wasps at the GAC Stadium as we recorded a third straight league win league on the spin.
Team news: We started with the same first eleven which began the FA Cup victory last Saturday, with Bobby Price returning on the bench.
The game started with both teams displaying high energy and keepers sweeping up dangerous looking balls within the first five
minutes, while Town’s Reece Batchelor put in a couple of good crosses which we
managed to deal with.
We weathered the hosts’ strong start and put together a
couple of good attacks, one of which led to us opening the scoring on 19
minutes.
Tommy Bradford, Brendan Murphy-McVey and Mickel Miller
swapped passes through Town’s midfield before Miller tried to play Ricky Korboa
in on goal. He got a second chance as he gathered the half clearance to find
the subsequent run of Murphy-McVey and the midfielder grabbed his first of the
season with a low left-footed finish across Hafed Al-Droubi.
That settled us down and we began to dictate the play;
Murphy-McVey struck an 18 yard free kick wide of the target, while Sekou Kaba
burst through on a fine Bradford pass but Al-Droubi rushed out and took the
pace off the midfielder’s shot so that Callum Emptage could clear from in front
of an empty goal.
Alex Kozakis comfortably held a Marcus Elliott shot from
distance just after that, before the striker had a chance from inside the area
on 36 minutes which he blazed over the crossbar.
Murphy-McVey’s pinpoint 45 yard pass on 36 minutes got
Miller away but our forward got caught up in whether to shot or square to the
unmarked Korboa and in the end he was crowded out by recovering defenders.
Miller had another great chance to score after we broke from
a Town attack; Bradford ran into acres of space on the right before flashing
the ball into his path but our top scorer couldn’t guide the ball on target
from inside the six yard area.
The same combination, albeit reversed, did give us some
breathing space just before half-time however – Miller took a Paris Hamilton-Downes
pass down the left before picking out Bradford at the back post and he angled
the ball back across Al-Droubi and inside the far post.
HALF-TIME: 2 – 0
As with the first-half, Town came out determined to put us
on the back foot but we held firm and took the wind out of their sails again
with another goal.
After a nice spell of possession down the left, Bradford
eventually won a free kick 20 yards from goal and he stepped up to drive the
ball in off the crossbar for his fourth of the season and our third of the
afternoon.
The home side responded by making two substitutions before
Will Thomas took aim from around 35 yards and the shot had Kozakis sprawling at
full length, while King and Males both made good blocks inside our box to keep
our clean sheet intact.
Bradford had a good chance to claim a hat-trick on 63
minutes after Kaba swapped passes with Korboa and picked out the forward from
the left, but his half-volley went straight into the arms of Al-Droubi.
Into the last 20 minutes and Kinglsey Aikhionbare came on
before Kozakis kept out two Town headers which both came on the end of deep
crosses.
But Town’s miserable afternoon was compounded by a late
lunge by Laste Dombaxe on Richard Ismail and the referee showed no hesitation
in brandishing a straight red card.
Jarrell Gray and Bobby Price got late run outs and
Aikhionbare bullied his way past two opponents right at the end of normal time
but Al-Droubi got down smartly to smother his low effort.
Match photos are on our facebook page
Match photos are on our facebook page
Next up: We host Chipstead on Monday 29th August
before travelling to Worthing for the next round of the FA Cup on Saturday 3rd
September.
Carshalton Athletic: Kozakis; Ismail (Price – 85), King
(Gray – 85), Males, Hamilton-Downes (c); Bradford, Kaba, Murphy-McVey
(Aikhionbare – 67), Adeniyi, Korboa; Miller
Unused sub: O’Toole
Goals: Murphy-McVey (19), Bradford (42 & 53)
Booked: Miller
East Grinstead Town: Al-Droubi, Emptage (c), Dixon, Thomas,
Bangura, Fitchett (Joseph – 55), Dombaxe, Gaggin (Mazzone – 67), Elliott, Arif
(Peauroux – 55), Batchelor
Unused subs: Benner, McIntyre
Booked: Dombaxe
Sent off: Dombaxe