We got back to winning ways as we broke the resistance of Guernsey to record a 2-1 win, writes James Barrett.
Team news: Matthew Males and Sean O'Toole came in for the injured Kalvin Morath-Gibbs and suspended Sekou Kaba, while Josh Phillips and Ryan Healy were named among the substitutes for the first time this season.
We
started the game brightly and Tommy Bradford curled a shot just off
target on six minutes that had keeper Chris Tardif sprawling.Then, just a minute later, we had a golden chance to take the lead as Ricky Korboa unselfishly squared inside the Guernsey six yard area but Mickel Miller could only guide his shot into Tardif's midriff from close range.
A fine rain was tumbling down and it made a long range effort from the visitors tricky for Alex Kozakis but he got down well to deny them.
We continued to probe forward at will but, aside from a couple of pieces of skill by Bradford and Korboa, we failed to breach the Guernsey defence and were made to pay for that in the 23rd minute.
Guernsey picked up a clearence on our right and shuffled the ball into Ross Allen whom hit an opportunistic shot from 20 yards that beat Kozakis and bulged the net.
That buoyed our visitors as they kept us at bay; Tardif caught a near-post effort by Ricardo Panton while Bradford crashed an effort over the bar from distance.
But, on the 33rd minute, Tom Martin was dismissed for a late lunge on Korboa and, despite Bradford almost drawing us level with an acrobatic volley, we cracked Guernsey's resistance with an 18 yard screamer from O'Toole before the break.
HALF-TIME: 1 - 1
Guernsey's Dave Rihoy had the first shot of the second-half, which Kozakis dealt with, but we started to dominate possession and keep the visitors on the back foot and Korboa wasn't alert enough to bring down a Richard Ismail cross inside the area on 50 minutes.
We were continually frustrated by either wayward passes or good blocks by the men in white, while Bradford began a personal duel with Tardif by seeing the keeper save his 20 yard drive on 62 minutes.
But,
just two minutes later, we took the lead for the first time as Miller
neatly took a pass inside their area before rifling a low shot into the
far bottom corner for his fifth of the season.Tardif denied both Korboa and Brendan Murphy-Mcvey as the clock ticked down toward the final 20 minutes, but we were still had the lion's share of the ball as Guernsey's defenders manfully stuck to their tasks.
We were grateful to Jahmahl King and Matt Males for keeping alert whenever Guernsey try to forage forward through Allen and Dominic Heaume, while Kozakis got behind a Sebastian Skillen drive from 30 yards comfortably.
We could've added to the scoreline during the latter stages but Bradford was twice denied by Tardif again during the latter stages, while Korboa wanted a penalty for a supposed trip as he went to latch on to a spilled Murphy-Mcvey effort which wasn't given
For more photos from the game click here.
Next up: We host Molesey in a Ryman League Cup tie on Monday 12th September before travelling to Lewes on Saturday 17th September.
Carshalton Athletic: Kozakis; Ismail, King (c), Males, Panton; O'Toole (Phillips - 88), Adeniyi, Murphy-McVey, Bradford, Korboa (Aikhionbare - 88)
Unused sub: Healy
Goals: O'Toole (40), Miller (64)
Booked: Bradford
Guernsey: Tardif, Domaille, Martin, Dodd (c), Steel (Legg - 72), de la Mare, Rihoy, Black (Mahon - 53), Heaume, Allen, Loaring (Skillen - 68)
Unused sub: Fallaize
Goal: Allen (23)
Sent off: Martin