A dramatic late equaliser meant we
dropped two points against one of the league's newcomers, writes James
Barrett-Sterling.
Team news
Tom Jelley, Antone Douglas, Kalvin
Morath-Gibbs, Jordan Cheadle, Ola Sogbanmu, Tommy Bradford and Mickel Miller
all returned following our exit from the League Cup last Monday.
Kick-off
Both sides made a bright start to this
one but we fashioned a chance in the third minute as Raheem Sterling-Parker and
Sogbanmu combined to get Miller into the box, but a lunging defender blocked
away his low shot.
A minute later Sterling-Parker
played a quick free, after Sogbanmu had been fouled, into Bradford but keeper
Steve Phillips got behind our man's 20 yard effort.
But the watching crowd didn't have to
wait long for the first goal of the afternoon to arrive.
Bradford and Miller made ground down
the right but the former's cross was cleared. Adeniyi kept the move alive and the ball finally found its way into Miller
on the edge. His back heel was collected by Morath-Gibbs whom
spun his man first-time before finishing smartly beyond the advancing Phillips.
And, as surprising as it may have been
to see one of our defenders score such a sublime goal, the home crowd were
shell-shocked again five minutes later - Ashley Probets' inswinging free kick from
the right beat everyone and sneaked in the top far corner to restore parity.
We responded but Phillips got behind
both a curled Miller effort and a 20-yard Bradford free kick.
Although we dominated possession, our
decision-making in the final third was letting us down, while Sports were quite
content to get forward quickly and keep Danny Dudley and Cheadle on their toes.
We were fortunate, during one of
Sports' more positive attacks, to see a shot by Onoriode Ogboe loop over our
bar, while Miller's pace took him past two wayward tackles on 36 minutes but
Bradford's effort on the final pass was deflected wide by a defender.
Richard Ossai's first save of the game
came on 38 minutes as he got behind a powerful angled drive by Kweku Ansah,
while Miller got on the end of a Douglas cross but couldn't guide his header in
front of goal on target.
But both sides had great chances to go
into the break a goal up just before half-time.
Our visitors went up the other end and,
as a low cross was squeezed in from the left, Ossai sprang energetically across
his line to claw away what looked to be a cert goal for the poaching Lewis
Afflick.
HALF-TIME: 1 – 1
We introduced Josh Phillips and Paris
Hamilton-Downes for Dudley and Douglas during the first even 10 minutes of the second-half.
But we slowly began to get on top and
Phillips had a good chance to score on 57 minutes - Bradford neatly took down a
high ball and slipped in Sterling-Parker. His shot was blocked in front of the
keeper and our sub saw his effort from 15 yards just deflected over.
Just after the hour mark, Phillips got
Bradford away down the inside left. The former felt he was pulled down as he
made a run into the area but Bradford's pullback eventually reached Miller whom
forced a good save out of Phillips.
But we retook the lead with our very
next attack - Sterling-Parker bustled into their box but was blocked out. Phillips got onto the loose ball
however, kept calm and side-footed his first of the season almost through his diving
namesake.
Our tails up, we bossed the next
quarter hour but Adeniyi spurned a great chance from 15 yards, Miller couldn’t
get a shot off in the six yard box and the Sports defence worked hard to deny
us much space.
Jelley cleared from own byline after a
rare attack by the visitors fizzled out on 80 minutes and Sterling-Parker
chased the ball all the way back to Phillips. Our Phillips nicked the hurried
clearance on halfway and Bradford looked up to play Miller in behind, but he
was denied a clear run by a close offside call.
The home crowd all thought the moment
for Bradford to break his duck had arrived on 87 minutes after Jelley went on a
run and cruised past two opponents. He found last season’s top goalscorer
inside the box but, after steadying himself, he watched his attempt fly wide of
the right-hand post.
And we were made to rue all those
missed chances as, in the 92nd minute, Alfie Alridge got a high pass
towards Ansah whom let fly from 18 yards and the ball flew past Ossai and just
inside the top corner.
Match highlights, interviews and photos
will be available soon.
Next up
We go to Chipstead on Tuesday 26th
September before Ramsgate visit us on Saturday 30th September
Carshalton Athletic: Ossai; Jelley, Dudley (Phillips - 46),
Cheadle, Douglas (Hamilton-Downes - 55); Adeniyi, Morath-Gibbs, Sogbanmu;
Bradford, Sterling-Parker (c), Miller (Opoku - 83)
Unused subs: Murphy-McVey, Healy
Goals: Morath-Gibbs (11), Phillips (64)
Assists: Miller, Sterling-Parker
Phoenix Sports: Phillips (c), Lee, Probets (Golding -
84), Wright, Young, Robinson, Ogboe, Hopkins, Afflick (Aldridge - 68), Ansah,
Cue
Unused subs: Bryon, Fitchett, Murray
Goals: Probets (16), Ansah (90)
Booked: Hopkins, Wright
Our 'Man of the Match': Richard Ossai
Attendance: 311
Current league position: 7th (13 points)