Player interview - Jordan Hibbert

We put a spring back into our step by getting back to winning ways in Kent on Saturday, writes James Barrett.

We recorded a 2-1 victory at struggling Chatham Town, a result that ended a run of four previous league games without a win while pushing us back up into the top five of the Ryman South.

And midfielder Jordan Hibbert, a recent recruit from Kingstonian, believes that result has shown the squad can win games over and above their free-flowing football style which has won us many plaudits so far this season.

“We showed another side of our game against Chatham. It wasn’t the best footballing performance but we adapted to a bad pitch and went on to get a positive result,” he said.

“This is a tough league, especially as we head towards the winter period, so this result, after the last few disappointments, will do our morale and confidence the world of good.”

Captain Bobby Price’s 16^th minute goal gave us a half-time lead at The Sports Ground, only for Town’s top scorer Luke Medley to equalise five minutes after the break.

But forward Ricky Korboa powered home his 15^th of the season from the penalty spot, after substitute Kingsley Aikhionbare was scythed down in the area with less than 10 minutes to go, to secure all three points.

“I thought we should’ve had another penalty in the first-half too,” Hibbert lamented, “but we’ve missed so many chances in recent games that maybe it'll take something like a penalty to help us turn a corner."

As for Hibbert himself, he explained he had no qualms about dropping down a division to play for us and player/manager Peter Adeniyi.

“I’ve got a great relationship with Peter (the pair played together at Dulwich Hamlet in the past) and he sold me the ethos of the club,” he said.

“He wants to play football in the right way and I’ve joined up with a young, hungry, talented bunch of players. If we can apply ourselves then I believe the sky’s the limit and I’m happy to help the team in any way I can.”

We next welcome Walton Casuals to Colston Avenue tonight (Monday 31st October) KO 7.45pm.

Match report - Chatham Town (a)

We got back to winning ways as we left Kent with all three points, writes James Barrett.

Team news: Bobby Price, Mekhail McLaughlin, Jordan Hibbert and Brendan Murphy-McVey all came back into the side, while there were places on the bench for the returning Kalvin Morath-Gibbs and Kingsley Aikhionbare.

The game kicked off in mild and sunny conditions and our first half chance arrived on eight minutes; a McLaughlin cross was only cleared upwards by Abdul Lyoubi but Mickel Miller headed over from six yards.

Hibbert looks to build another attack

We kept on the front foot as Peter Adeniyi read a forward pass on 11 minutes, stole in and put Miller away into Chatham's half. We won a corner from his eventual shot which was headed out into the path of Sekou Kaba but his volley from just inside the area was blocked in front of keeper Alex Hyde.

We kept possession on the right-hand side and Price eventually teed up Murphy-McVey but the midfielder's angled 15 yard drive rattled the far post.

Miller then bent an effort from 20 yards towards the top far corner which just failed to dip on target.

But we took the lead on 16 minutes after Price flicked on a clearance by Alex Kozakis and Miller returned a pass which allowed our captain to gallop clear of the home defence before smashing the ball past Hyde from close range.

We could've doubled that lead three minutes later as Hibbert returned a poor defensive clearance back into the mix. Price helped the ball on over the last man to give Korboa the chance to head for goal but perhaps our top scorer thought he was offside as he plonked the ball tamely into the arms of Hyde.

The first of three penalty shouts came on 22 minutes as Miller again got free to head for goal. Jon Difford tracked him for over 40 yards before appearing to bundle our man over inside the area but the officials waved away the calls.

Chatham then created their first two chances in quick succession but both Junior Kaffo and Luke Medley failed to hit the target.

That gave the home side some confidence however and the game became a more even affair as we now had to do some defensive work as well as continue looking to extend our lead.

That almost happened in the 35th minute as Korboa's back heel put Kaba in on goal but he curled a shot directly at Hyde.

Town's Ryan Flack got some space down the left shortly after that and managed to get a ball in across our six yard box, but Adeniyi threw himself at it and deflected the ball out for a corner which Kozakis then confidently claimed.

Murphy-McVey had to be replaced with Ryan Healy before the end of the first-half after coming off worse in a tumble with Okosieme as the pair battled for possession.

And our last good chance of the half came on 42 minutes as Jonathan Tadafe held up a Korboa cross inside Town's area before teeing up Hibbert, but he thwacked an 18 yard effort off target.

HALF-TIME: 0 - 1

Chatham started on the front door after the break and they equalised just five minutes in; we failed to pick up Medley as a corner swing in and the forward volleyed home from about 10 yards.

It was a cheap goal to concede and our hosts tried to capitalise by enjoying a spell of possession, but our defensive line stayed stout.

Price won and subsequently delivered a free kick on the far side just before the hour but McLaughlin, among the crowd, couldn't guide his header on target.

Aikhionbare was then brought on for Miller and, just after the hour, he had a good sight of Town's goal following good build up play by McLaughlin, Tadafe and Korboa but he was slightly off-balance and shot wide from 12 yards.

Chatham's pitch was both bumpy and dusty in places and this led to them losing both their centre backs to injury with 20 minutes to go - the pair catching their feet and going down in separate incidents.

That seemed to give us renewed heart and we began to push forward in earnest, only to be foiled in and around their box by some good last ditch defending and clearances.

Price forced a corner on 78 minutes which was played short and Korboa pinged an inswinging cross that found McLaughlin unmarked at the back post, but the defender wildly volleyed over the angle of post and bar.

Winner: Korboa tucks in our penalty

We retook the lead just five minutes later however as Healy threaded a through ball for Aikhionbare to run onto and he was felled by a lunging Aboagye. The referee had no hesitation in pointing to the spot and Korboa confidently blasted the penalty home low past Hyde.

We held firm for the rest of the game, with Morath-Gibbs and McLaughlin making good interceptions as Chatham tried to probe forward, but the home side wanted a penalty late on as Jackson took a tumble inside our box, only for the referee to instantly wave away the claims.

More photos of the game can be viewed here.

Next up: We host Walton Casuals on Monday 31st October before Hastings United arrive on Saturday 5th November.

Carshalton Athletic: Kozakis; King, Adeniyi, McLaughlin; Price (c), Kaba, Murphy-McVey (Healy - 40), Hibbert, Tadafe (Morath-Gibbs - 75); Miller (Aikhionbare - 55)
Unused sub: O'Toole
Goals: Price (16), Korboa (83 pen)
Assists: Miller, Aikhionbare
Booked: Kaba, Adeniyi

Chatham Town: Hyde, Aboagye, Lyoubi, Price (c), Okosieme (Bray - 70), Difford (Rogers - 70), Morley, Flack (Campbell - 75), Medley, Kaffo, Jackson
Unused subs: Patterson, Youngs
Goal: Medley (50)
Booked: Jackson

Attendance: 138
Our Man of the Match: Mekhail McLaughlin

Ryman League Cup - third round draw

The draw for the next round of the Ryman League Cup has been made, writes James Barrett.

The winner of our second round game against South Park in November will then have to travel to Ryman Premier outfit Harrow Borough.

We set up our second round tie by beating Molesey 4-1 in the first round via goals from Josh Phillips (2), Bobby Price and Ricky Korboa.

The full draw is as follows:

AFC Hornchurch v AFC Sudbury
Billericay Town v Brightlingsea Regent/Bowers & Pitsea
Dulwich Hamlet v Faversham Town/Hastings United
Harrow Borough v South Park/Carshalton Athletic 
Tonbridge Angels v Romford
Metropolitan Police/Corinthian Casuals v Merstham
Ware v Bury Town/Needham Market
Worthing/Dorking Wanderers v Burgess Hill Town/Godalming Town

South Park vs Carshalton Athletic in the Ryman League Cup second round kicks-off at 7.45pm on Wednesday 9th November.

Match summary - Cray Wanderers (a - FA Trophy)

We are out of this season’s FA Trophy competition as our hosts scored three second-half goals during our replay, writes James Barrett.

Team news: Harrison Street and Jonathan Tadafe were handed debuts, while Ryan Healy was given his first full start of the season and Paris Hamilton-Downes returned from injury.

Cray defender Jay Leader headed a second minute free kick over Alex Kozakis’ crossbar as the game began at full throttle.

Our first real opening of the game came on eight minutes and it should’ve really opened the scoring – Mickel Miller did well to get round an advancing Nick Blue but Paul Lorraine had got back and managed to block our man’s shot off the line.

Both sides traded attacks after that as Karl Dent and Miller fired shots off target, before our man was this time denied by a low save by Blue on 21 minutes.

Kozakis was relieved to see a powerful shot by Brandon Scott whistle past his near post five minutes later, while Miller was again involved in teeing up Josh Phillips by the home penalty spot but the young striker blazed an effort over the crossbar as the first-half finished goalless.

HALF-TIME: 0 – 0

We thought we’d taken the lead just before the hour mark as Ricky Korboa got a shot off inside the Cray area but Jay Siva managed to divert its trajectory into the side-netting.

And, after the referee gave the home side a seemingly soft free kick about 25 yards from goal, Lee Prescott stepped up and saw his low shot go in via the hands of Kozakis who couldn’t keep it out.

The home side were given the chance to double their lead on 70 minutes as Peter Adeniyi felled Danny Haynes inside our area and the striker picked himself up to tuck the spot-kick just beyond the reach of the unfortunate Kozakis.

We almost reduced the arrears through Tadafe with 15 minutes to go but his cracking strike from distance, that swerved and deceived Blue, smacked the crossbar and flew away to safety.

Blue then produced a great one-handed save to keep out Korboa’s 25-yard free kick, meaning Haynes’ 88^th minute header sealed an eventual 3-0 win for our hosts.

Pictures from the match can be viewed here.

Next up: We travel to Chatham Town on Saturday 29^th October before Walton Casuals arrive at Colston Avenue on Monday 31^st October.

Carshalton Athletic: Kozakis; Street, King, Hamilton-Downes (c) (Okuglini – 76), Tadafe; Miller, Adeniyi, Healy, Kaba, Korboa; Phillips (Sey – 85)

Unused sub: O’Toole

Booked: Healy

Cray Wanderers: Blue, Mundele, Siva, Leader, Lorraine, Dawson, Prescott, Roberts (Taiwo – 85), Haynes, Dent (Osibodu – 77), Scott

Unused subs: Osifuwa, Wood-Garness, McKinlay

Goals: Prescott (62), Haynes (70 pen, 88)

Attendance: 91
Our Man of the Match: Peter Adeniyi

Post-match interview - Peter Adeniyi

Player/manager Peter Adeniyi has been ruing our wastefulness in front of goal ahead of an away trip to Chatham Town this weekend, writes James Barrett.

We drew 1-1 at home against struggling Ramsgate last Saturday before crashing out of the FA Trophy on Wednesday evening as Cray Wanderers hit three second-half goals without reply in our replay.

But Adeniyi feels we created more than enough chances across each game to obtain two victories.

“It’s no secret that goals change games in football and that has been proven twice this week, particularly the match against Cray,” he said.

“That was a meeting between two good sides that play positively and create chances, the only difference was they took theirs.

“We could’ve been two or three goals ahead by half-time in both games and so we’ve got to start finding the net with more regularity again.”

Our early season form sees us currently boast one of the healthiest goal differences in the Ryman South (+16) but a slew of injuries has perhaps seen us become more reliant on winger Ricky Korboa, whom has scored five goals in our last seven games.

But Adeniyi is confident 10-goal Tommy Bradford, among others, will be back to bolster the squad sooner rather than later.

“We had seven players aged 20 or under out against Cray and yet, despite how the final result reads, we still performed well,” he added.

“We gave debuts to Harrison Street (17) and Jonathan Tadafe (20) and I was pleased with their contributions, particularly Jonathan whom had to deal with their tricky right winger all evening and was unlucky not to score in the second-half.

"But we hope to have Tommy and (experienced defender) Kalvin Morath-Gibbs back from injury in about a week.

“Others like Sean O’Toole, Brendan Murphy-McVey, Bobby Price, Mekhail McLaughlin and Jordan Hibbert should all be in contention for the trip to Chatham too.”

Our game at Chatham Town is on Saturday 29^th October (KO 3pm).

Match report - Ramsgate (h)

Both goalkeepers were in inspired form as it finished honours even against Ramsgate, writes James Barrett.

Team news: We gave a debut to new arrival Jordan Hibbert in place of Paris Hamilton-Downes in the only change from Tuesday night's visit to Molesey.

We started on the front foot but our visitors created the first good chance on nine minutes as Bradley Stevenson got round Jahmahl King and only had Alex Kozakis to beat, but our keeper stayed big and clutched the firm shot.

Mickel Miller was played in on goal a minute later by Peter Adeniyi and his toe poke on the through ball deceived the oncoming Luke Watkins but, frustratingly, the ball rolled just the wrong side of the near post.

We continued to dominate possession and kept Ramsgate on the back foot for long spells, but they worked hard to block our shots and press us into hurried crosses or passes back away from goal.

Brendan Murphy-McVey read a poor clearance on 17 minutes and headed it into the path of Ricky Korboa whom bore down on goal but Watkins palmed away his angled drive.

Korboa had another run on goal a few minutes later as he spun past Jake MacKenzie but, rather than cutting the ball across the six yard box, he selfishly went for goal and only found the side-netting.

Phillips and Price combined in their area on 26 minutes and our captain saw a shot balloon up off a defending leg and fall down on top of Watkins' crossbar, with the resultant corner kick being defended.

The same two both tested Watkins further as the clock ticked on, while Korboa was given as offside as he latched on to an Adeniyi through ball and Hibbert fired a right-footed effort way off target on 38 minutes.

We continued to press and Adeniyi and Korboa combined for Miller to then rattle a post with a deflected 12-yard strike which Phillips then couldn't force home from close range. Murphy-McVey took aim on the weak clearance from 20 yards but Watkins had recovered to palm it away at full stretch.

And, to further compound our profligacy, we lost possession midway inside our half on the stroke of half-time, through a poor back-pass by King, and Alfie Paxman was played in to beat the exposed Kozakis with a low angled shot into the far corner. 

HALF-TIME: 0 - 1

An early powerful run by Adeniyi was only ended when he was hauled down illegally by Stevenson, but Murphy-McVey thought his goalbound free kick was blocked by an arm inside the congested penalty area - nothing was given.

But we finally beat Watkins and his defence on 56 minutes as Adeniyi teed up Murphy-McVey and his perfectly weighted through ball got Phillips free and the young striker opened up his body before calmly side-footing back beyond the keeper for his fifth of the season.

We continued to press forward with Korboa and Murphy-McVey both firing wide from distance, while Watkins got behind an 18-yard strike by Miller that took a small nick off an opponent on its way through.

Adeniyi played a lovely through ball for Miller to get in front of his marker on 66 minutes and his neat touch and shot saw Watkins push the ball away at full length, the visiting keeper doing his utmost to further frustrate us.

Sekou Kaba seemed odds-on to open his goalscoring account on 71 minutes after Korboa attacked down the left and teed up the tall midfielder about eight yards out, but his shot ruffled the wrong side of the side-net and the home cheers were swiftly curtailed.

Ryan Healy was then introduced for Murphy-McVey before Mekhail McLaughlin and Hibbert both done well to halt threatening Ramsgate attacks at the other end.

But it was Watkins whom continued to be the busier of the two keepers as, on 78 minutes, Korboa got in one-on-one with the shot stopper and managed to get round Watkins' lunge but, before he could think about turning the ball goalwards, the keeper had sprung back and got his hands on the moving ball.

Phillips made way for academy player Francis Sey's debut as the game headed towards the last five minutes - and both sides had big chances to win it.

We were grateful to Kozakis for pushing away another angled Paxman drive, while Watkins tipped over a fierce Kaba shot from 15 yards before Paxman fired a neat volley straight at our keeper as the game entered added time.

And we could've nicked it at the death as Miller did well to hold the ball up in the centre circle before turning and releasing Korboa in behind a high defensive line, but he lacked composure and sadly thrashed an 18-yard effort way off target.

More photos from the game can be viewed here.

Next up: We visit Cray Wanderers for our FA Trophy replay on Wednesday 26th October before travelling to Chatham Town on Saturday 29th October.

Carshalton Athletic: Kozakis; Price (c), King, McLaughlin, Hibbert; Miller, Kaba, Murphy-McVey (Healy - 72), Adeniyi, Korboa; Phillips (Sey - 82)

Unused subs: Hamilton-Downes, Street

Goal: Phillips (56)

Assist: Murphy-McVey

Ramsgate: Watkins, MacKenzie, Penny, Crimmen (c), Wheatley, Murray (Wilson - 69), Gray, Stevenson (Chapman - 61), Millbank, Chapman, Paxman

Unused subs: Smith, Laing, Blackman

Goal: Paxman (45)

Booked: Murray, Penny, Wilson

Attendance: 297

Our Man of the Match: Alex Kozakis

Squad update

There have been some comings and goings within the first-team this week, writes James Barrett.

First of all it is a sad goodbye to midfielder Matt Males whom was released on Friday. Matt was a popular figure around Colston Avenue during his four seasons and proved his versatility during his time, once memorably going in goal for the last 10 minutes away against Faversham Town and making a couple of decent saves!

He made well over 70 appearances and grabbed one goal (away at South Park) and we wish him all the best in his future footballing endeavours.

Midfielder Esteban Salgado has also been released and everyone again wishes him all the best moving forwards.

We have made one signing as 25-year old Jordan Hibbert joins us from Ryman Premier outfit Kingstonian.

He can play in either defence or midfield and has also turned out for Dulwich Hamlet and Thamesmead Town among others.

Jordan will be available for selection as Ramsgate come visiting on Saturday 22nd October (kick-off 3pm).

Manager interview - Peter Adeniyi

Player/manager Peter Adeniyi channelled The Wizard Of Oz this week by bringing to mind the famous mantra 'there's no place like home', writes James Barrett.

The squad has just completed six straight away fixtures, the last of which was a 1-1 draw against Molesey on Tuesday night, in which we collected only five points but also earned an FA Trophy replay.

That run, ahead of a home game against Ramsgate this weekend, has seen us slip from second to seventh in the Ryman South although we are just one point outside of the top five.

"If you consider the psychological side of football, the past three weeks have been tough on the boys with so many back-to-back away games,” Adeniyi said, "but Mike Gilham and I have already discussed ideas as to how to get them in the right frame of mind for Ramsgate."

We took the lead at Molesey thanks to Ricky Korboa's 15th goal of the season, but the hosts equalised shortly after half-time and the game finished even stevens.

Adeniyi has been without several attacking options thanks to injury recently, including 10-goal Tommy Bradford, but he doesn't feel worried about his available options.

"We had four players unavailable and, while they've both kept doing well, that does increase the pressure on the likes of Ricky and Mickel," added Adeniyi.

"That said, I have no concerns about my squad. Josh Phillips returned Tuesday, Sean is almost fully fit and we hope to have Tommy and Kingsley back soon."

And Adeniyi is looking forward to us playing at Colston Avenue on Saturday for the first time since we spanked Godalming Town 10-0 last month.

“Things are more challenging when you’re out of your comfort zone but the players have coped well generally and we’ll be looking to give the fans something to cheer this weekend," he added.

Our game against Ramsgate is on Saturday 22nd October (KO 3pm).

Match summary - Molesey (a)

We left Walton Road with a point on Tuesday night as our sixth away game on the spin finished 1-1, writes James Barrett.

The result was an improvement on the defeat suffered at Cray Wanderers on Saturday, with Ricky Korboa's 15th goal of the season giving us a half-time lead.

Moles midfielder Tom Windsor levelled things up in the 50th minute however and that's how the game ended, although it does mean we've remained unbeaten against Molesey in three meetings this season to date (W2 D1).

Photos from the match will be available soon.

That point leaves us seventh in the Ryman South standings, just one point outside the play-off positions and eight off the top.

Next up: We have a home game as Ramsgate arrive at Colston Avenue on Saturday 22nd October, then we head off to Cray Wanderers for our FA Trophy replay on Wednesday 26th October.

Carshalton Athletic: Kozakis; Price, King, McLaughlin, Hamilton-Downes (c); Miller, Kaba, Murphy-McVey, Adeniyi, Korboa; Phillips
Unused subs: Males, Ismail, Healy, Salgado
Goal: Korboa (30)
Assist: Adeniyi

Molesey: Allen, S Charles, Rodney, Lewington, Pratley-Jones, David, Windsor, Grobler, Samuels, Oglinkoya, A Charles
Unused subs: Guppy, Grant, Smith, Somuyiwa, King
Goal: Windsor (50)

Attendance: 75

Match report - Cray Wanderers (a)

We suffered away day blues as we left Hayes Lane off the back of a heavy defeat, writes James Barrett.

Team news: Richard Ismail was switched into attack, while Paris Hamilton-Downes and Peter Adeniyi returned to the starting eleven.

We had the first effort on target in the third minute but Nick Blue got down to smother Mickel Miller's 20 yard shot.

As the sun beamed down and a light breeze kept thing fresh, both sides looked to play the ball on the deck, but Leader thumped a header on an inswinging free kick over on 10 minutes.

Alex Kozakis was alive to gather up two dangerous through balls, while Prescott did enough to deny Brendan Murphy-McVey a clear run on Cray's goal as the game swung back and forth.

Miller tested Blue again on 21 minutes with a decent shot but chances were still at a premium, although Kozakis made up for a poor clearance five minutes later by tipping Danny Haynes' subsequent gather and shot around a post at full stretch.

The game slowed down after that as both sides were guilty of poor passes or giving away niggly fouls.

One nice passage of play, which started with Jahmahl King and included Ismail, Bobby Price and Adeniyi, ended with Korboa driving into their area but our boss saw his shot on the cut-back deflected away.

But we went into the break trailing as we failed to clear a late corner and, at the second attempt, Haynes rifled a low shot through a crowd to beat Kozakis just inside the far post.

HALF-TIME: 1 - 0

Before we could settle into the second-half Haynes blasted a 22 yard effort into the top corner to double Cray's lead and make our task even harder.

But we did rally and an Adeniyi run into their box was only halted by a third tackle, Hamilton-Downes almost picked out Miller with a cross and Blue just beat Korboa to a neat Sekou Kaba through ball.

Kozakis was alert to deny Haynes his hat-trick on 55 minutes but Mundele added to the home side's score by poking home a pass after he ghosted into our area unchecked.

Matt Males was introduced for Ismail and he almost reduced the arrears on the hour but his header on a corner lacked the power to beat a defending leg inside the six yard box.

But, just a minute later, Miller rose unmarked 10 yards out from goal and powerfully headed a Hamilton-Downes cross from left past Blue.

That joy was short-lived however as Scott got onto a pass and drilled a low shot across Kozakis inside the far post to re-establish Cray's three goal advantage.

The rest of the game was played at a slower tempo and the closest we came to reducing the arrears was through Korboa, but his jinking run and firm shot was well held by Blue on 77 minutes.

Photos from today's game can be viewed here.

Next up: We travel to Molesey on Tuesday 18th October before we welcome Ramsgate on Saturday 22nd October.

Carshalton Athletic: Kozakis; Price, King, McLaughlin, Hamilton-Downes (c); Miller, Kaba, Murphy-McVey (Salgado - 80), Adeniyi, Korboa (Healy - 80); Ismail (Males - 57)
Goal: Miller (61)
Assist: Hamilton-Downes
Booked: Korboa, Kaba

Cray Wanderers: Blue, Mundele, Sivapathasundaram, Leader, Lorraine, Dawson, Prescott, Roberts, Haynes (Wood-Garness - 80), Dent (Williams - 67), Scott (Osibodu - 88)
Unused subs: McKinlay, Taiwo
Goals: Haynes (45, 47), Mundele (56), Scott (63)
Booked: Mundele

Robins remain in FA trophy

Further to a charge being levied by the FA against Carshalton Athletic for fielding an ineligible player in the FA trophy fixture against Cray Wanderers on the 9th October we are pleased to report that the FA's decision has not excluded us from the competition.

The FA have ordered the replay to be held at Cray Wanderers ground on Wednesday 26th October. The match will be played to a conclusion including the possibility of extra-time/penalties. Kick off will be 7.45. The winners will be at home to Marlow on Saturday, 29th October.


About the charge
The reason for the ineligibility of a player was the late arrival of documents required to be with the FA by Friday 7th October that arrived on Monday 10th October. It was proven that the documents were sent on Thursday 6th of October by first class registered post and their late arrival was a result of the postal system.

Paul Dipre Club chairman who represented Carshalton Athletic in the case said "We apologise to Cray Wanderers and the FA for the inconvenience this has caused and thank the committee for arriving at a prompt and fair judgement."

FA Trophy fixture is postponed

The FA Trophy replay, due to be played on Thursday 13th of October has been postponed due to a charge being levied by the FA against Carshalton Athletic for fielding a ineligible player.

The Club are replying to the charge after which the FA will make a determination. The outcome is expected to be known within 7-10 days.

Match summary - Cray Wanderers (a - FA Trophy)

A thrilling match ended all square as Ricky Korboa's 84th minute equaliser forced a replay against Cray, writes James Barrett.

Team news: There were starts for Matt Males and Richard Ismail, while Mickel Miller returned from suspension to lead our attack. Ex-Robin Jai McKinley lined up for the hosts.

Both teams passed the ball from the off, and continued to do so throughout the match, but Alex Kozakis was forced into a magnificent double save by Brandon Scott in the 10th minute.

We responded with Miller shooting wide of the far post and home keeper Nick Blue saving a deflected Korboa effort from distance well.

Korboa was pulling the strings going forward and, following two good runs, Blue had to be at his best to keep out shots by Brendan Murphy-McVey and Miller.

But, on the 27th minute, Cray opened the scoring as Danny Haynes bent a shot beyond Kozakis and into the bottom far corner.

We went on the offensive and managed to turn the scoreline round by half-time; firstly Korboa latched onto a Bobby Price through ball to beat Blue from 10 yards in the 37th minute then, after Kozakis got a firm hand onto another shot by Haynes, Murphy-McVey planted a low effort past Blue at his near post.

HALF-TIME: 1 - 2

Although Price had the first shot in anger of the second-half, Wanderers levelled things up on 51 minutes through a Scott header at the back post.

Josh Phillips thought he'd continued his good current form when Korboa created a chance for him on 66 minutes but he saw Blue tip his dinked effort around a post.

Blue then smartly denied Miller before Peter Adeniyi came on for Males and we then fell behind to Haynes' second of the game with 13 minutes left to play.

But we kept plugging away and Korboa managed to take down and chip a long Murphy-McVey pass, that had tempted Blue to advance from his box, to earn us a replay.

Photos from the match can be viewed here.

Next up: We host Cray Wanderers in our FA Trophy replay on Thursday 13th October before we head back to Hayes Lane for a third match against them on Saturday 15th October.

Carshalton Athletic: Kozakis; Ismail, King, McLaughlin, Price (c); Murphy-McVey, Males (Adeniyi - 70), Kaba, Korboa; Miller, Phillips
Unused subs: Hamilton-Downes, Aikhionbare
Goals: Korboa (37, 84), Murphy-McVey (41)
Assists: Price, Kaba, Murphy-McVey

Cray Wanderers: Blue, McKinley (Mundele - 49), Sivapathasundaram, Leader, Lorraine, Dawson (c), Taiwo (Prescott - 41), Roberts, Haynes, Dent Scott
Unused subs: Williams, Wood-Garness, Osibudu
Goals: Haynes (27, 77), Scott (51)
Booked: Dawson, Mundele

Attendance: 187
Our Man Of The Match: Alex Kozakis

Match report - Herne Bay (a)

We turned a poor start round to secure three points in a hard fought game on the Kent coast, writes James Barrett.

Team news: Loanee defender Mekhail McLaughlin was handed his debut, while Sean O'Toole and Josh Phillips came in place of Tommy Bradford (injured) and Mickel Miller (suspended). Youngsters Francis Sey and Oliseh Okiglini were named among the substitutes.

The match began energetically as both sides tried to get their wide men on the ball early doors, while a good move involving Bobby Price, Brendan Murphy-McVey and Sean O'Toole resulted in us winning two quick corners that the home side defended well.

Bay midfielder Connor Sanders then channeled his inner Ian Hutchison/Dave Challinor/Rory Delap* and displayed an almighty long throw in the 11th minute - an attribute both he and Joe Nelder made use of throughout - but Alex Kozakis pushed the ball away from within a throng of players and James Turner blasted the loose ball over our bar.

Ricky Korboa and Paris Hamilton-Downes then put in useful crosses that were cleared ahead of teammates, while Murphy-McVey also fired a weak shot at Jack Delo, but our hosts drew first blood on 19 minutes.

We failed to deal with another long throw which flew around 40 yards into our box and Turner teed up Sanders whom beat Kozakis with a low shot from just inside the area.

And things got worse just two minutes later as Korboa lost possession in midfield and the ball was switched out wide to Michael Turner whom cut onto his left 20 yards from goal. His shot hit someone in the crowd and Sanders was there to rifle the loose ball on target which Kozakis, whom got a hand to it, couldn't prevent going in.

We had a mountain to climb but fortunately we reduced the arrears just five minutes later and the goal provided us with a much-needed 'shot in the arm'.

Murphy-McVey, 45 yards from goal, drove a pass over the top which Korboa tracked. It seemed like the sprawling Delo had done well to claim the ball in front of our leading marksman but the keeper failed to secure possession and gifted our man a tap-in from 12 yards.

The game then began to swing back-and-forth; Murphy-McVey was in the right place to clear a Bay header on a 31st minute corner off the line, while Sekou Kaba took aim from 25 yards a minute later but his angled shot just rose the wrong side of the crossbar.

Delo's handling was called into question again on 37 minutes as he failed to keep hold of a corner kick. Phillips turned the ball back on target at the far post but Turner this time provided the goal-line heroics.

But our young striker wasn't to be denied again on 40 minutes - Korboa got Sean O'Toole away down the left and, after cutting in- and outside of chasing defenders, his square ball from the byline was bundled home by Phillips for his first ever senior league goal.

HALF-TIME: 2 - 2

We were grateful to Kozakis for being switched on right from the very start of the second-half as he turned away a Mark Lovell snapshot at full stretch. We responded with Korboa rising to meet a Murphy-McVey free kick a couple of minutes later but his header flew off target.

Price knocked a lovely weighted ball to get O'Toole attacking down the right on 55 minutes and he created space with a neat trick before driving in a cross that Delo had to punch away from the incoming Phillips, with Korboa tackled on the edge of the box while trying to keep the danger alive.

But, that aside, the match had become a bit of a stalemate - we lacked a killer 'final ball' during attacks while, at the other end, Jahmahl King displayed great strength and positional awareness more than once to thwart potential Bay counter-attacks.

There was some confusion in the 68th minute as the referee at first appeared to have given Korboa his marching orders for tangling with an opponent on the far side. The official seemed to point several times towards the tunnel as he spoke to both our agitated goalscorer and concerned captain, but then he brandished a yellow card and waved both players away.

Both sides made substitutions as the game ticked down towards the last 10 minutes plus, while we were unfortunately thwarted by late offside flags during two promising build-ups, we had began to look more comfortable dealing with Bay's long throw-ins and driven corners when faced with them.

Our third goal arrived in the 81st minute - Korboa and Richard Ismail combined and our sub got the ball to Hamilton-Downes right by Bay's far corner flag. Our captain slung in a high, looping cross which tempted Delo but Phillips rose above both his marker and the keeper to head in the eventual winner.

Our lead survived one major scare, which came in added time, as a whipped right-hand cross almost deceived Kozakis but our keeper managed to lean back and claw the ball away from dropping in under his crossbar.

More photos from the match can be viewed here.

Next up: We visit Cray Wanderers in the FA Trophy on Sunday 9th October before we play them again away in the league on Saturday 15th October.

Carshalton Athletic: Kozakis; Price, King, McLaughlin, Hamilton-Downes (c); O'Toole (Ismail - 79), Adeniyi, Murphy-McVey, Kaba, Korboa; Phillips
Unused subs: Males, Sey, Okuglini
Goals: Korboa (25), Phillips (40, 81)
Assists: O'Toole, Hamilton-Downes
Booked: Price, Korboa, Ismail

Herne Bay: Delo, M Turner, Sayer, Nelder (Zanone - 71) Kennett, C Sanders, Walder (c), Williams, Lovell (Elliott - 71), Woolcott, J Turner
Unused subs: Phillip, Algar, K Sanders
Goals: C Sanders (19, 21)
Booked: Elliott, Turner

Our Man Of The Match: Jahmahl King
Attendance: 161

* Choose from your own personal footballing era.

Squad update - new addition

We have added to our squad this week with a new signing, writes James Barrett.

Defender Mekhail McLaughlin arrived on a month's loan from Met Police on Monday and was handed his debut in the 3-2 win at Herne Bay on Tuesday night.

McLaughlin has made 30 senior appearances and scored one goal for the Met over the past two seasons.

Next up for Mekhail and the first-team squad is a visit to Cray Wanderers for an FA Trophy first qualifying round tie on Sunday 9th October (kick-off 3pm).