Carshalton Athletic got back to winning ways with a convincing first-ever win over Guernsey, in which Tommy Bradford grabbed a hat-trick, writes James Barrett
Guernsey, who were coming into this match unbeaten in six, almost opened the scoring inside the first minute as Luke Winch found Ross Allen inside our box. The forward created some space for a shot but he was denied by Luke Colquhoun.
We shrugged off that early scare to work visiting keeper Leroi Riley twice before taking the lead on six minutes. Summers latched on to a low Billy Marshall corner and fired off a shot from 18 yards which Riley could only parry. Youssef Bamba reacted quickest and slammed in his first goal for the club.
Carshalton Athletic v Guernsey - 26 October 2015 103 photos
Match photos
Bamba and Mickel Miller saw a lot of the ball during the first-half and the pace of both players caused plenty of concern amongst the visiting ranks, but we couldn't extend our lead while on top.
Guernsey's lively trio of Winch, Allen and Liam Mahon seemed their most likely route back in the game but, when they did manage to shake off the attentions of our hard-working midfield, they were met by a defensive red wall which protected Colquhoun well.
But they managed to break our resolve two minutes before the break as Winch finally bested Summerfield on the right and his deep cross was headed in by Dominic Heaume on his 200th appearance for the visitors.
HALF-TIME: 1 - 1
Miller had to be withdrawn at the break due to an foot injury, which had him leave the ground on crutches, so Sean O'Toole came on at the start of the second-half.
The visitors threatened on 50 minutes after Allen broke into our box but Matt Males got a vital touch on the forward's pull back to divert it away from the incoming Josh Steel.
But we quelled the visitor's attempts to further get on the front foot before creating more chances of our own, the best of which was spurned by Marshall before the hour mark.
Bamba clipped a cross in from the right which Riley initially did well to divert away from the lurking Bradford but the ball fell to our midfielder who, from dead centre of goal and with plenty of time, blazed a shot narrowly over the crossbar.
But we kept plugging away and eventually retook the lead on 71 minutes. Tony Sinclair's header on a Marshall free kick beat Riley but not Heaume on the line, but our captain turned the ball back into the mix from the byline for Bradford to pounce.
And the diminutive forward was denied a second shortly after as Summers broke clear of the Guernsey back four before picking out Bradford's run with a neat pass, but the linesman's raised flag meant his finish from 10 yards didn't count.
Sub Ricky Korboa was introduced eight minutes later and the young forward made an immediate impact. He took a pass on halfway and showed a clean pair of heels to Jacques Isabelle before crossing into Bradford who hooked the ball first-time past the despairing dive of Riley.
That seemed to knock the stuffing out of Guernsey and, although they kept trying to get their forwards on the ball, we added a gloss to our victory in added time.
Korboa was again the provider as he showed neat footwork to beat three opponents en route to goal before unselfishly squaring to Bradford who slotted home from close range to claim his second career hat-trick in Robins red.
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