Carshalton Athletic sealed a top ten finish with a comfortable win over their already-relegated visitors, writes James Barrett.
Phillips, who was handed his first full league start since breaking into the squad this season, had our next chance but he guided a free header on a Murphy-McVey cross wide of the target.
Peacehaven’s first real attack on seven minutes saw Ezekiel Bademosi head a whipped ball into our box over Luke Colquhoun’s crossbar, while Price then found himself 12 yards out from their goal but he miscued his shot on Bradford’s square pass.
We defended a Peacehaven corner on the quarter hour and neatly broke as Murphy-McVey headed our clearance into the run of Phillips. The young striker travelled over halfway and eventually had a shot blocked. The supporting Miller got onto the loose ball inside the area and backheeled it to the incoming Bradford but he also failed to connect properly.
But we kept dominating possession and, not long after Murphy-McVey had forced Secko into a low parry, the breakthrough came in the 22nd minute as a cross from Matt Males was accidently guided in by Peacehaven defender Andrew Jones.
Secko was alert to deny both Miller and Phillips from quickly doubling our lead, while our energetic backline was making sure Colquhoun was enduring a quiet afternoon.
A lot of our attacks now saw Price enjoy forays down the right and it was unfortunate we couldn’t convert some of his inviting passes across the Peacehaven six yard area, while Males smashed a shot from 18 yards that Secko got behind to claim on 39 minutes.
Colquhoun was called upon to deal with an old fashioned up and under on 41 minutes as Siao Blackwood threatened to beat Tony Sinclair to it inside our box, but our keeper flew out and acrobatically punched the ball away from danger.
But we doubled our slender lead two minutes later as Peter Adeyini gathered a deep cross on the far side of the Peacehaven box before eventually teeing up Bradford on the edge. Our top scorer checked inside his marker but couldn’t find space for a shot so he slipped a pass into Miller whom turned and hit a low shot past Secko from 15 yards.
HALF-TIME: 2 - 0
Michael Campbell came on for Murphy-McVey at the start of the second-half and the striker made an instant impact.
Following good work by Ricardo Panton, stealing the ball from Emmanuel Ndwa midway in our visitors’ half, Campbell held the ball up 20 yards from goal before being fouled. He stepped up to the free kick himself and powerfully beat the dive of Secko for our third.
Campbell had a chance to grab his second just two minutes later as he burst into the box and rounded the sprawling Secko but the ball got stuck under his feet and recovering defenders crowded him out.
Our visitors still hadn’t really offered anything going forward but, on 55 minutes, Bademosi hit a first-time shot on a low pullback into our box against our crossbar and Chris Ransome blasted the rebound over.
But we kept our composure and Bradford forced a flying save from Secko on 65 minutes, while Campbell and Phillips both had shots blocked as we tried to add to the scoreline.
Bradford was chasing his 25th strike of the season and he rifled a firm shot just over Peavehaven’s crossbar from 20 yards, while Phillips got Miller free into their box but his cross-shot was both off target and just too far in front of the stretching Campbell at the back post.
Gray and substitute Ryan Healy protected our clean sheet by throwing themselves into shots from just outside our box as the match drew to a close, while Adeniyi was a whisper away from grabbing his first Carshalton goal with a curling effort on 84 minutes.
But we did add a gloss to our victory three minutes later – Bradford showed neat feet and danced through the Peacehaven defence. He seemed odds on to get the goal he desperately craved but his shot cannoned off the near post, only for Miller slammed the ball back into the roof of the net from a tight angle.
So we finished the season in 10th position in the Ryman Division One South with a record of 21 wins, nine draws and 16 defeats, scoring 83 league goals and conceding 74.
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