Game postponed

Our game against Faversham Town on Saturday 1st October is OFF due to our opponent's involvement in the FA Cup.

A rearranged date will be made known in due course.

Next up for the first-team is a trip to Herne Bay on Tuesday 4th October (KO 7.45pm).

Match report - Dorking (a)

We suffered late heartbreak as our hosts nicked all three points with an added-time winner, writes James Barrett.

Team news: Sekou Kaba came in for Sean O'Toole in the only change for our draw last weekend.

We took an early advantage in this one as, in the fifth minute, Dorking's Ben Dyett prevented a corner by inexplicably clearing the ball across his own area. Ricky Korboa collected and teed up Mickel Miller who saw his shot palmed onto the post by Slavomir Huk, but the lurking Tommy Bradford rammed home the loose ball.

Wanderers almost equalised two minutes later but, with everyone expecting the net to bulge, Alex Kozakis managed to get something on Jake Beecroft's free shot from 12 yards.

The game continued with a high energy shown by both teams, although each were guilty of mis-placed passes at times.

Paris Hamilton-Downes picked out Bradford with a raking 40 yard pass on 11 minutes but Huk was equal to his left-footed curler from distance.

We thought we'd doubled our lead three minutes later as Kaba slipped Korboa in on goal, but his fine finish across Huk was ruled out by the linesman's flag.

Dorking then enjoyed a spell of possession but James McShane put a header over our bar, while Jahmahl King and Kalvin Morath-Gibbs both made good interceptions to stop attacks.

Huk got behind a Bradford free kick on 20 minutes, while Kozakis got down to deny Beecroft from 18 yards as the game continued to swing back-and-forth.

We needed good blocks by King, Morath-Gibbs and Hamilton-Downes as Dorking tried to get balls over the top, but Chris Boulter also slid in well to block a shot from Miller at the other end.

We won the ball in the centre circle on 37 minutes and Sean O'Toole bombed on beyond Miller whom fed him a pass, but he dragged an eventual shot across Huk's six yard area.

And there was plenty of action as the half went into added time; Miller unleashed a rocket from 20 yards that, via a nick off Huk, rattled the crossbar, then Kozakis had to be alert to save from both Matthew Briggs and Dyett as the home side forced two late corners.

HALF-TIME: 0 - 1

We created the first good chance after the break as O'Toole, Korboa and Miller linked up to get Korboa into the box but Boulter did well to deny Bradford a tap-in as Hux was busy narrowing the winger's options.

Kozakis and O'Toole then both slid in to deny Evans as the forward threatened to latch onto a through ball into our area.

But Dorking hauled themselves level on 54 minutes as a high free kick towards our back stick and Dyett squeezed a header in between Kozakis’ hand and the post.

We almost wrestled the lead back a couple of minutes later as Miller slipped a pass into a Korboa run but our top scorer blasted high into the near side-netting.

The game continued to be end-to-end with Beecroft and Korboa both curling shots at the goalkeepers, before Beecroft read an under-hit back pass by Hamilton-Downes and began to round Kozakis but our keeper fortunately just managed to get a firm hand on the ball.

Briggs thought he’d given his side the lead on 75 minutes but his shot across Kozakis cannoned back off the far post and we broke forward with Miller eventually fizzing a ball in front of Hux that the unmarked Korboa somehow scooped over the bar from close range.

The game settled down a bit as both sides seemed to be wary about making any mistakes, but Dorking began to display a late burst of energy and we were grateful to Kozakis for twice denying them in the 83^rd minute.

We began to look a bit heavy-legged and the home side hit Kozakis’ right-hand post again on 87 minutes and the linesman’s flag rose to curtail the home celebrations as McShane finished from an offside position on the rebound.

Bradford and Brendan Murphy-McVey did combine to get Miller in on goal a minute later but our striker was given offside as he blasted a low shot past Hux for which he was booked, presumably for ‘time wasting’.

And we had a fair shout for a penalty as the game drifted into added time; Bradford played Kaba into the box and the midfielder’s run was only halted by the third incoming challenge and, as the ball pinged around the area, it appeared to be controlled by the arm of the prone Dyett but the officials didn’t see it.

And Dorking’s winner came after Briggs saw an effort blocked in front of Kozakis and Kevin Terry collected the loose ball in a central position before driving a left-footed shot over the line from 15 yards.

More photos from the game can be seen here.

Next up: We travel to Herne Bay for a league game on Tuesday 4^th October before heading to Cray Wanderers for an FA Trophy tie on Sunday 9th October.

Carshalton Athletic: Kozakis; Price, King, Morath-Gibbs (O'Toole - 30), Hamilton-Downes; Bradford, Kaba, Murphy-McVey, Adeniyi, Korboa; Miller

Unused subs: Males, Ismail

Goal: Bradford (5)

Booked: Hamilton-Downes, Miller

Dorking Wanderers: Huk, Sheridan, Boulter, Dyett, Beckles, Oakes (Tolfrey - 67), Beecroft, Briggs, Medlock (Gunner - 90), Evans (Terry - 58), McShane

Unused subs: Hill, Mahoney

Goals: Dyett (54), Terry (90)

Booked: Boulter, Dyett

Attendance: 182

Man of the Match: Alex Kozakis

Player interview - Kalvin Morath-Gibbs

We registered a first league draw of the season after a bruising encounter at Whyteleafe ended 1-1 on Saturday, writes James Barrett.

Former Carshalton defender Jake Downs headed the home side in front from a corner on 14 minutes, only for top scorer Ricky Korboa to level matters just after the hour with a sweet side-footed finish.

And defender Kalvin Morath-Gibbs believes the result isn’t a comedown following our 10-0 spanking of Godalming Town last week.

“We controlled most of the game, as we did against Godalming, but this time we failed to take our chances,” said Morath-Gibbs.

“Looking back, we needed to score first as Whyteleafe seemed content to just sit back. If we had then perhaps the match would’ve opened up but, overall, this has to be seen as a positive result from a difficult match.”

Whyteleafe ended the game with four bookings, while Leafe midfielder Bentley Graham was lucky not to see red after catching Sean O’Toole with an elbow in the first-half, but Morath-Gibbs said we need to simply keep composed in the face of such treatment.

“The way we play means we are going to attract close attention so we have to remain calm, keep playing our football and the results will come,” he added.

The 1-1 draw at Church Lane saw us slip from second to fourth in the Ryman Division One South standings but Morath-Gibbs thinks its too early to be concerned with league positions.

“We try not to concern ourselves with all that at this stage because things will change a lot between now and Christmas,” he added. “We’ll keep our heads down, keep working hard and try to maintain our good start for as long as we can.”

We travel to second-placed Dorking Wanderers on Tuesday 27^th September (KO 7.45pm).

Match report - Whyteleafe (a)

We registered a first league draw as we came away from Whyteleafe with a hard-earned point, writes James Barrett.

Team news: Sean O'Toole came in for Sekou Kaba, who wasn't passed fit enough to start, in the only change from Monday night. Ex-Robins Luke Colquhoun, Jake Downs and Bentley Graham lined up for our hosts.

We had two fair shouts for a penalty within the first 10 minutes as Ricky Korboa was seemingly bundled over as he took aim from just inside Leafe's area on four minutes, then the second appeal came as a Tommy Bradford strike appeared to hit a defender's arm shortly after that.

But we fell behind in the 14th minute as Leafe won a corner and Downs, despite Alex Kozakis claiming he was impeded, towered highest to thump home a header.

And it could've been worse just two minutes later as Roscoe Dsane intercepted a poor pass and eventually teed up Karl Parker, but his shot hit the side-netting.

We responded and Colquhoun was out quickly to block at the feet of Korboa after Mickel Miller put his teammate in with a pass from deep.

Bradford then tested his former teammate with a 20 yard free kick that Colquhoun palmed away at full stretch.

Then Miller and Dean Hamlin were both booked after a coming together off the ball before the game became a bit of a stalemate until we created two good chances after the half-hour mark.

Firstly, we broke from a Leafe corner and Hamilton-Downes picked out Korboa whom had kept his run onside but his attempted lob over the oncoming Colquhoun lacked the power to get towards goal.

Then a fine move involving Peter Adeniyi, Korboa, Bradford and Hamilton-Downes saw our captain square the ball for Miller but, from six yards out, his shot took a deflection off a Leafe player to balloon wide.

Kalvin Morath-Gibbs made two good interceptions as Leafe tried to push forward after that, but Hamilton-Downes should've really got something on a Brendan Murphy-McVey cross with Colquhoun stranded.

The half ended in quite unsavoury fashion as Scott Johnston was booked for scything down Korboa before Sean O'Toole was left in a heap by an elbow in the face from Graham as the pair chased a loose ball, but the officials deemed it a 'fair challenge' despite stopping play for our man to receive attention.

HALF-TIME: 1 - 0

The game swung back and forth for the first 10 minutes of the second-half, with Nathan Daly booked for a foul on Korboa and us not making two quick counter-attacks pay.

But we slowly began to dominate the forward play and we eventually pierced the Leafe defence on 61 minutes.

Adeniyi played a perfectly weighted through ball between Daly and Downs for Korboa to calmly side-foot home into the bottom far corner.

Miller was almost in on goal but for a desperate tackle by Downs just two minutes later and, as our man chased the loose ball, we could've had a penalty as it appeared Daly pushed him in the back.

Then Bradford played a neat one-two with Korboa on the left before driving at goal and then slipping a reverse pass for our goalscorer to latch on to, but a clash with Colquhoun and a defender meant his stabbed effort lacked pace and was cleared in front of an open goal.

Another tackle on Korboa yielded a booking - this one for Downs - but a lot of our fine forward play was just let down by either our final pass or good defending, while we worked hard to regain possession whenever Leafe sort to push forward; Miller and O'Toole in particular chasing back and tackling well.

Bradford tried his luck from 20 yards on 79 minutes but it was always straight at Colquhoun, while Sekou Kaba and Matt Males were thrown on with less than 10 minutes to go.

It would've been harsh on us to leave Church Road with nothing after such a dominate performance but we were grateful to Morath-Gibbs for denying Parker twice, as the striker had Leafe's only two shots of the half in quick succession, at the death.

Next up: We travel to Dorking Wanderers on Tuesday 27th September before we welcome Faversham Town on Saturday 1st October.

Carshalton Athletic: Kozakis; Price, King, Morath-Gibbs, Hamilton-Downes; Bradford, Adeniyi, Murphy-McVey, O'Toole (Kaba - 81), Korboa (Males - 83); Miller
Unused subs: Ismail, Panton
Goal: Korboa (61)
Assist: Adeniyi
Booked: Miller

Whyteleafe: Colquhoun, Hamlin (c), O'Leary, Francis (Bird - 76), Downs, Daly, Fowler,  Graham (Grant - 59), Dsane, Parker, Johnston (Lyle - 67)
Unused subs: Coleman, Price
Goal: Downs (14)
Booked: Hamlin, Johnston, Daly, Downs

Attendance: 246
Man of the match: Kalvin Morath-Gibbs

Player interview - Kingsley Aikhionbare

Striker Kingsley Aikhionbare capped our fine display by grabbing the final goal in the 10-0 drubbing of Godalming Town on Monday night, writes James Barrett.

We were 7-0 up by half-time, forward Ricky Korboa helped himself to four goals and the huge win catapulted us to second place in the Ryman Division One South.

And Aikhionbare believes we have been capable of recording such a victory since the start of the season.

“I mean no disrespect to the opposition but I feel that kind of result has been coming, especially at home where we feel comfortable playing our football,” he said.

“The first 10 minutes of the game said it all but the most important thing is that we’ve got another positive result.”

Aikhionbare alludes to our flying start as Mickel Miller, a penalty by Tommy Bradford and Peter Adeniyi gave us a commanding lead within the first eight minutes.

Town couldn’t live with our free-flowing football but the home side had to wait until the 35^th minute for their fourth – a Bradford cross turned past his own keeper by Chris Wales.

Then Korboa got in on the act by scoring twice ahead of Miller’s second just before half-time, then grabbing two more before assisting Aikhionbare whom coolly slotted home his first of the season in the 70th minute.

“We have such a goal threat in Tommy, Ricky and Mickel but I was happy to break my duck,” he added.

“I’m excited by what we could achieve here, there is a great atmosphere in the camp, so I’m happy to continue helping the team as best I can when called upon.”

We next travel to Whyteleafe this weekend and Aikhionbare knows there’ll be no room for complacency after registering such a shock result.

“We worked just as hard to keep a clean sheet as we did to score 10 goals and we’ll need to show the same kind of commitment again on Saturday if we want another good result,” he added.

Whyteleafe vs Carshalton Athletic is on Saturday 24^th September (KO 3pm).

Match report - Godalming Town (h)

It was a consummate performance as we hit Godalming Town for ten on Monday night, writes James Barrett.

Team news: Brendan Murphy-McVey came in for Sean O'Toole from Saturday, while Ricardo Panton was back among the substitutes.

And we flew out the blocks as, within the first eight minutes, we scored three goals to effectively end the game as a contest.

The first came as Ricky Korboa cut inside their area and had a shot blocked, only for Mickel Miller to latch onto the loose ball, cut onto his left and hit a deflected shot past Luke Edgcombe.

And we doubled that lead in the fifth minute as Tommy Bradford beat Edgcombe's dive from the penalty spot after Korboa drew a foul from Graeme Purdy.

Before the opposition could take stock Miller got down the left just two minutes later and his cross was swept home left-footed by Peter Adeniyi for his first of the season.

We continued to pass the ball around well and Korboa was subjected to some late challenges by a frustrated Town backline, but the forward managed to force a good save out of Edgcombe on 14 minutes.

It was all one-way traffic, with Jahmahl King and Kalvin Morath-Gibbs always available when we had to ‘start again’, but Korboa failed to convert a low Bobby Price centre from close range on 20 minutes.

Town's Jon Palmer did well to nick possession just inside our half on 23 minutes and he thought he'd try to catch Alex Kozakis sleeping, but our keeper watched his long-range effort harmlessly sail off target.

Another crunching tackle on Korboa finally yielded the first booking of the game awarded to Ashley Lloyd before Adeniyi got Miller in behind a high Town defensive line but, while a square pass to the unmarked Korboa was available, Edgcombe saved his eventual shot.

Murphy-McVey was next to try his luck but his half volley from 20 yards dipped the wrong side of the crossbar, but we did extend our lead on 35 minutes after he won a goal kick, got Miller away and he found Bradford whose cross was deflected over Edgcombe by the outstretched boot of Wales.

The fifth came on 39 minutes as Kaba displayed great strength to keep a deep cross alive, hold off two opponents and turn back towards goal. He fed the ball into the lurking Korboa whom rifled a low shot past Edgcombe's outstretched leg from 15 yards.

And there was still time for more thrilling action as Miller headed a Murphy-McVey cross straight at the keeper, Korboa bent home his second from just inside the area and Miller made it seven just before the break by taking Adeniyi's pass around Edgcombe and squeezing home from a tight angle.

HALF-TIME: 7 - 0

Matt Males was brought on for Morath-Gibbs at the start of the second-half and Edgcombe denied Bradford after our man took down a deep cross and fired on target from 15 yards, while Kaba also just couldn't latch on to a dinked Murphy-McVey pass in front of the keeper.

Town made a double substitution but it failed to make any instant impact as Paris Hamilton-Downes fed a pass into Miller whom sweetly flicked the ball first-time into the run of Korboa and he completed his hat-trick with a dink over the oncoming Edgcombe.

That was Miller's last contribution as he made way for Kingsley Aikhionbare before Hamilton-Downes was teed up 18 yards from goal but his low shot went the wrong side of Edgcombe's near post.

Price foraged forward on 64 minutes but Aikhionbare couldn't guide a header on his cross on target but, just two minutes later, Korboa saw a deflected shot bulge the net after he gathered a backheel by Bradford inside Town’s area.

It was pleasing to see the team as a whole still work hard to deny Town any glimpses of Kozakis' goal at this point, particularly when Males blocked an effort by our near post as the visitors caused some rare panic inside our area.

And we made it a 'perfect 10' as Korboa picked out Aikhionbare with a neat flick and he calmly steered his first of the season in past the exposed Edgcombe.

Pleis Oldland took aim for the visitors on 81 minutes from 20 yards but the ball rolled past Kozakis' right-hand post and, that aside, we controlled the rest of the game without adding to the scoreline, although Aikhionbare almost found Bradford with a weighted through ball which flew millimetres in front of his teammate's head by the penalty spot.

More photos from the game can be viewed here.

Next up: We travel to Whyteleafe on Saturday 24th September before heading to Dorking Wanderers on Tuesday 27th September.

Carshalton Athletic: Kozakis; Price, King, Morath-Gibbs (Males - 46), Hamilton-Downes (c); Bradford, Adeniyi, Murphy-McVey, Kaba, Korboa (Ismail - 71); Miller (Aikhionbare - 58)

Unused subs: O'Toole, Panton

Goals: Miller (2 and 44), Bradford (5 pen), Adeniyi (7), Wales (35 og), Korboa (39, 43, 54 and 66), Aikhionbare (70)

Assists: Korboa (2), Miller (2), Bradford (2), Kaba, Adeniyi, Murphy-McVey

Godalming Town: Edgcombe, Wales (Musgrove - 51), Hutton, Lloyd, Purdy (c), Brice, Perkins, Sellick, Palmer (Spiers - 51), Oldland, Gales (Cristiano - 71)

Unused sub: Anton

Booked: Lloyd, Cristiano

Attendance: 197

Player interview - Sekou Kaba

We put on a resolute display to come away from Lewes with a fifth league win on Saturday, writes James Barrett.

We took an early lead on the south coast through Ricky Korboa before spurning more chances in a dominate first-half performance.

And we were made to pay for that profligacy as top scorer Tommy Bradford gave away a 66^th minute penalty converted by home striker Jamie Brotherton.

But the forward made amends 10 minutes later with his eighth of the season and the 2-1 victory cements our place among the early Ryman South pacesetters ahead of a game against rock-bottom Godalming Town.

“We played well overall, especially the first half-hour, but we had to dig in the second-half,” said midfielder Sekou Kaba, whose pass it was that set Korboa away to score in the fifth minute.

“We perhaps should’ve killed the game a little earlier than we did but to win three points away from home is always fantastic.”

Kaba was pleased to see Bradford hit the winner after the indiscretion inside his own area and added it proved the resolve within the Carshalton squad.

“Tommy is a quality player - we all told him to keep his head up and he did just that,” he said. “We let them back into it because we sat back a bit more in the second-half and some mistakes crept in, but we fought hard and showed we can come back from disappointment.”

Godalming Town will visit Colston Avenue having earned one point from their opening seven games, but assistant coach Mike Gilham believes their opponents will provide a stern test.

“Every club will get their first win of the season at some stage so we’ll have to be on our toes to ensure theirs doesn’t come against us,” he said.

“There are no easy games at this level but we look forward to getting out there and trying to continue our recent good form.”

The game against Godalming Town kicks-off at 7.45pm tonight (Monday 19^th September).

Match report - Lewes (a)

It was another three points on the road as we claimed a hard fought victory at Lewes, writes James Barrett.

Team news: Kalvin Morath-Gibbs, Paris Hamilton-Downes, Peter Adeniyi, Mickel Miller and Ricky Korboa all returned to the starting line-up following our cup victory last Monday.

It was a cold, blustery day on the south coast but, although Jahmahl King had to block a home effort within the first minute, we made a perfect start to this one.

A quickly taken free kick in the fifth minute saw Sekou Kaba thread a through ball for Ricky Korboa whom cut inside a defender before poking the ball past the oncoming keeper from 15 yards.

Tommy Bradford was then given space and time inside the home box just two minutes later but he dragged a shot wide of the target.

We were keeping possession well and frustrating our hosts as the minutes ticked on, with Bradford being fouled several times during patient attacks and Kaba a strong force in midfield.

One neat move involved us shifting the ball with one touch passing between Sean O’Toole, Bobby Price, Kaba and Korboa to get Bradford in on goal, but his lofted shot on the bouncing ball cleared the crossbar.

Kaba won the ball on 19 minutes and fed Adeniyi whom strode forward with purpose but Alex Malins slid in well as Korboa looked to shoot on the through ball. Lewes failed to clear their lines properly however and Miller ended up shifting the ball onto his left foot only for Chris Winterton to get down well to parry the shot.

The danger here was a failure to convert our dominance into further goals and Lewes’ first real attack of the game saw Steve Brinkhurst whip in a cross that found Ronnie Conlon on the far side but Alex Kozakis beat away the midfielder’s first time hit.

We responded as Hamilton-Downes chipped a ball in for Miller to contest by the penalty spot. It went over his and Malins' head but Winterton didn’t come so our man spun but crashed a shot over the crossbar from close range.

The home side vehemently called for a penalty on 32 minutes as Jamie Brotherton and Hamilton-Downes clashed on the edge of the box. A free kick was indicated by the officials and we defended the ball swung in front of Kozakis.

That took the wind out of Lewes’ resurgence and we controlled the game up until the break, with our men doing the dirty work, as well as continuing to be neat and tidy in possession, when required.

Morath-Gibbs was isolated on a long ball by Brotherton in added time however and our man's header back to Kozakis lacked power, but our keeper stood big and patted the striker's attempted lob away to keep our lead intact.

HALF-TIME: 0 - 1

Lewes came out after the break determined to push us on the back foot and some sloppy passes from our players didn’t help, although we had a claim for a spot-kick on 53 minutes as it seemed Miller was pushed by Stacey Freeman inside our opponent’s area.

But, one break aside where O’Toole eventually dragged a left-footed shot across their goal, it was Lewes that looked the more likely to create a dangerous chance and they did level things up in the 66^th minute.

Bradford had the ball in the right back area but he got caught in possession by Alex Laing whom drove into our box. He fed the ball into Brotherton whom fell over the chasing Bradford's outstretched leg and the striker picked himself up to power home the awarded penalty.

Then, on their very next attack, a soft back header by Price was seized upon by Laing but he thankfully shanked his shot way off target from inside our area.

We had to compose ourselves and did so by giving Lewes something to think about on 70 minutes; Adeniyi ran on to a ball over the top to get one-on-one with Winterton. He checked inside a desperate lunge by a recovering defender but, instead of shooting, he beat a second player before getting crowded out and the supporting Price saw his shot blocked from 15 yards.

Lewes could’ve then gone down to 10 men as Lloyd Cotton, who had been booked in the first-half, slid in late on a galloping Miller but the referee only gave him a talking to after awarding the free kick.

And our top goalscorer atoned for his earlier indiscretion on 76 minutes; Miller drove at the home defence before squaring to O'Toole. His long shot was deflected into the path of the unmarked Bradford whom kept his cool to skew a shot outside the keeper and inside of the far post.

The rest of the game became a bit of a stalemate as defences got on top; Kaba weakly shot through to Winterton on 81 minutes, while a long ball pumped into our box in added time saw Hamilton-Downes bravely challenge at the back post to deny Brotherton a header.

More photos from the match are available here.

Next up: We host Godalming Town on Monday 19th September before travelling to Whyteleafe on Saturday 24th September.

Carshalton Athletic: Kozakis; Price, King, Morath-Gibbs, Hamilton-Downes (c); Bradford, Adeniyi, Kaba, O'Toole, Korboa (Murphy-McVey - 49); Miller

Unused subs: Males, Aikhionbare, Ismail

Goals: Korboa (5), Bradford (76)

Assists: Kaba, O'Toole

Lewes: Winterton, Brinkhurst, Uade, Dixon, Freeman, Malins, Hammond (McCreadie - 72), Cotton (c), Culley (Brotherton - 13), Laing, Conlon (Coppola - 67)

Unused subs: George, Dramis

Goal: Brotherton (66 p)

Booked: Conlon, Cotton, Brotherton

Attendance: 449

Player interview - Josh Phillips

Our fans can sing about yet another homegrown star following Monday night's first round league cup victory, writes James Barrett.

While the likes of Tommy Bradford, Mickel Miller, Ricky Korboa and Sean O’Toole have grabbed recent headlines, eighteen year-old Josh Phillips scored his first senior goals to help us to a 4-1 win over Molesey.

And the forward, who has most recently been an integral part of the club’s under 21 team, is simply happy to be a part of our overall positive start to the season.

“Everyone was distraught at how we went out of the FA Cup but I’ve been involved in the last two games and the atmosphere in the changing room has been great,” he said.

“I was told last week that I’d be in the weekend squad and, although I was simply happy to get on late against Guernsey, I was really delighted to help the team win on Monday.”

We fell behind inside the first 20 seconds against Molesey but, after Bradford saw a 28^th minute penalty saved, Phillips levelled matters before half-time with a neat 15 yard finish.

Defender Bobby Price put us ahead with a close range deflected effort just after the hour, while Phillips won and converted a second spot-kick before Korboa plundered a late fourth.

“Tommy and I just shared a look of ‘What just happened?!’ when they scored so early,” Phillips smiled, “but the manager has built a great team spirit here and we bounced back really well.

“I’ve set myself a bit of a standard now and I hope I get more chances to help the team moving forwards.”

We will travel to South Park in the second round of the Ryman League Cup as they beat Chipstead 2-1 in the same competition last night.

Match report - Molesey (h - Ryman League Cup)

We are through to the second round of the Ryman League Cup after a 4-1 victory over Molesey on Monday night, writes James Barrett.

Team news: There were first starts of the season for Kingsley Aikhionbare and Josh Phillips, while Sekou Kaba and Bobby Price returned from suspension and injury respectively.

We made the worse possible start to a football match however; Molesey's first ball forward dropped kindly for returning forward Joe Nwoko and, with barely 20 seconds on the clock, he crashed a half volley over Alex Kozakis from around 20 yards.

So, aside from having to convince late arrivals that we weren't starting the game, we had to dust ourselves down and concentrate on putting some pressure on our visitors; Brendan Murphy-McVey had a shot blocked in front of keeper Liam Allen, while Aikhionbare was millimetres away from connecting with a Sean O'Toole cross.

Tommy Bradford and Tom Windsor both ran at goal at either end but our man blazed over the near top corner, while Ricardo Panton managed to get back and halt the visiting winger’s progress inside our box.

Aikhionbare was brought down just outside the Molesey box on 19 minutes but Bradford’s free kick narrowly flew the wrong side of the post.

We kept up the pressure and it was Bradford again on 22 minutes, beating his marker on a ball over the top but Allen got down well to deny him at the near post.

Dre Grobler then protected his side’s lead as Price played a neat one-two with O’Toole and drew Allen to his near post, but the defender hacked away our man’s square ball from in front of the incoming pack.

But we were given the chance to level things up from the spot on 28 minutes as Aikhionbare was fouled in the area, but Allen managed to push out Bradford’s firmly struck shot.

That inspired the visitors into launching a couple of attacks but both shots ended up off target and we finally got off the mark on 34 minutes.

O’Toole was set off down the left and he drove into the Molesey box before laying the ball into the feet of Phillips whom looked up and bent home his first senior goal from 15 yards.

The visitors tried to respond quickly but Kozakis was alert to the run of Tunde Aderonmu and our keeper won a 50/50 tackle on the edge of our area.

We defended the throw-in and broke quickly as Bradford put Phillips in on goal from halfway. The young striker kept his head and held off a recovering defender as he bore down on goal, but Allen got a leg on the left-footed shot from 18 yards.

We survived a close call as Aderonmu burst on a long ball on 42 minutes and was only halted by a raised flag, while Price finished the half firing in a shot from 10 yards that was bravely blocked by a flying defender.

HALF-TIME: 1 - 1

The second-half began with O’Toole flying down the left and his cross was millimetres over the head of the incoming Aikhionbare whom had charged in from deep.

Then Murphy-McVey and Phillips combined to get Sekou Kaba running towards goal, but he just couldn’t get the ball out from under his feet to get a shot off.

As Matt Males and Richard Ismail were dealing with any attempts by Molesey to forage forward, Phillips had another angled drive saved by Allen before Bradford ghosted past two opponents and into the box, but James King slid in to deny Aikhionbare from six yards.

But we turned our dominance into a second goal just after the hour; Aikhionbare almost turned a firm Price cross on target with a bicycle kick in the middle but Phillips was alert and kept the ball in play on the far side. He turned and drove along the byline before teeing up Aikhionbare whose shot was blocked from close range, only for Price to smash the loose ball home via a defender as Allen was left stranded.

Kozakis got down to comfortably gather a Joe Pratley-Jones shot as the visitors looked to rally, while Aikhionbare wanted another penalty as he tangled with Grobler on a cross and Phillips looped a header on the bouncing ball over the bar.

Males, Ismail and Kaba weren’t found wanting when called upon inside our half to do any defending and we introduced some fresh legs as Mickel Miller and Ricky Korboa came on for the last 20 minutes.

But it was Phillips on centre stage again on the 80^th minute as he won, and confidently dispatched, our second penalty of the evening and all but seal our progress into the next round.

Kaba then thought he’d grabbed his first Carshalton goal as Bradford played him in and he finished smartly, but the linesman’s flag curtailed the celebrations.

But a fourth did arrive four minutes from time as Korboa skipped in on a one-two with Bradford and he shot low inside the near post.

Photos from the match can be viewed here.

Next up: We travel to Lewes on Saturday 17th September before Godalming Town arrive at Colston Avenue on Monday 19th September.

Carshalton Athletic: Kozakis; Price, Ismail, Males, Panton; Bradford, Kaba (c), Murphy-McVey (Healy - 81), O'Toole (Korboa - 71); Phillips, Aikhionbare (Miller - 71)

Unused subs: Adeniyi, Hamilton-Downes

Goals: Phillips (34 and 80 pen), Price (62), Korboa (86)

Molesey: Allen, King (Charles - 78), Rodney (Pratley-Jones - 58), Lewington (c), Russell, Grobler, Windsor, Chalke, Palmer, Nwoko, Aderonmu (Fatai-Jomiyiwa - 64)

Unused subs: Motley, David

Goal: Nwoko (1)

Player interview - Sean O'Toole

Midfielder Sean O’Toole completed his comeback from injury hell on Saturday as we also got back to winning ways, writes James Barrett.

The winger, who made his first full competitive start after an eight-month layoff, drew us level against Guernsey with an 18 yard screamer before Mickel Miller’s sixth of the season on 64 minutes eventually settled the affair 2-1 in our favour.

But, after playing against 10 men for almost an hour as visiting defender Tom Martin was dismissed for a late lunge on Ricky Korboa, O’Toole said the result perhaps should’ve been more emphatic.

“We’ve had a bit of a torrid time lately but it was good to bounce back Saturday,” he said, referring to the two FA Cup games against Worthing last week that saw us eventually exit the competition.

 

“Guernsey made it difficult by sitting very deep in the second-half and we perhaps didn’t make best use of our man advantage. I think we should’ve got more shots off on goal but it felt good to get the three points in the end.”

That fourth win in five league games keeps us firmly among the early Ryman South pacesetters and O’Toole hopes to carry on playing a part in our fine start.

“I was happy to be told I would start against Guernsey as I felt like I’d been training well,” he added. “It’s hard sitting on the bench sometimes but you do get to admire the football the lads are playing.

“Other teams, like Tooting and Corinthains, have also made good starts but I believe no-one has the quality we do. Not many would get ahead of Mickel, Tommy and Ricky in the kind of form they are in.

“We are going into every game believing we can win but we maybe just need to start being more clinical in front of goal.”

Next up for the first-team is a first round Ryman League Cup tie against visiting Molesey tonight (Monday 12^th September), kick-off 7.45pm.