It was a case of double delight for on-loan goalkeeper Joe Tupper on Saturday as we earned three valuable points in our continued hunt for promotion, writes James Barrett.
We travelled to local rivals Corinthian Casuals on Saturday and broke an almost decade-long hoodoo by winning 2-0 at King George's Field, moving up to fourth in the Ryman Division One South in the process.
And Tupper is keen to remain a part of that charge as he also agreed to extend his loan from Championship club Reading until the end of the season.
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| Tupper: Happy to be at Colston Avenue |
“Casuals are also high up the league so we knew we had to defend well and take our chances when they came," said the 19-year old shot stopper. "We maybe could’ve scored a couple more but overall I’d say we put on a professional performance.”
We took a fifth minute lead on Saturday as defender Kalvin Morath-Gibbs rifled home a knocked-down cross from eight yards.
Things got even better just 10 minutes later as Casuals defender Juevan Spencer was dismissed for bundling over Mickel Miller inside the box and captain Paris Hamilton-Downes blasted home the spot-kick for his third of the season.
And, aside from a couple of moments during the second-half that forced the young goalkeeper into making good saves, Tupper endured a pretty comfortable afternoon from that moment on.
“You do need to remain switched on at all times as a keeper however,” he added.
“I dealt with the ball at my feet a lot during the game, but both Carshalton and Reading like to play out from the back so I’m used to it and also continuing to improve.
“I’ve been made to feel really welcome here so I was delighted to sign on until the end of the season and hopefully we’ll still be in fighting for promotion.”
Next up for the first-team is a home game against Horsham on Saturday 4th February (KO 3pm).