Carshalton Athletic recorded a third straight league win with victory over struggling Whitstable, writes James Barrett
Both sides spent the first quarter of the game getting used to the wet and windy conditions but plenty of chances were created.
Matt Males picked Youssef Bamba out with a 60 yard free kick on six minutes and the winger delivered a smart cross after beating his marker, but both Dan Summers and Tommy Bradford couldn’t connect with it in the six yard box.
Town’s first opportunity came when Ira Jackson isolated Jake Downs on the right and his eventual shot beat Luke Colquhoun yet thumped off the near post.
Lee Hall, after gathering a loose pass 20 yards from Town’s goal, couldn’t find the space to unleash a shot on 19 minutes. He teed up Summers instead but keeper Dan Eason parried our top scorer’s effort away for a corner. The same player knocked down Billy Marshall’s delivery but Downs’ shot cannoned off the crossbar.
Summers broke into the visitors’ box on 21 minutes and he jinked inside a lunging tackle. Tommy Bradford’s supporting run was checked so he took on a shot which was blocked by a defender in front of Eason.
Bamba then beat two players out on the right and cut along the byline but his shot flew straight into the side-netting.
Town started to then give our defence some food for thought without really testing Colquhoun, while we failed to make two free kicks in dangerous positions count for anything.
But our more dominant display was finally rewarded on 42 minutes when Hall picked out a forward run by Bradford. Clear of the Town defence, although he had to ride one recovering challenge just inside the area, he bore down on Eason before coolly finishing inside the near post.
HALF-TIME: 1 – 0
We kept on the front foot after the break and Eason did well to save from both Bamba and Korboa before we increased our lead on 58 minutes.
Price broke with the ball from the back and played a long one-two with Bamba to get free down the right. He cut in towards the byline before fizzing in a low cross that Summers met at the near post for his tenth Robins goal of the season.
Both sides made substitutions but, although we kept our visitors quiet, we couldn’t further extend our lead – the closest we came was Billy Marshall’s angled shot on 69 minutes saved by Eason.
Then Whitstable started to make a fist of it with 15 minutes to go, putting two clear shots at Colquhoun’s goal over the top and breathing a sigh of relief as Downs' powerful free header on a corner flew narrowly off target.
They won a corner of their own on 83 minutes however and Mitchell Dickenson headed it through a crowd of players and back inside the near post to set up a tense finale.
We almost reprimanded Town straightaway but Eason just managed to claw away a dinked Bradford effort from close range.
Although we were now dealing with a Town side buoyed by their goal, our backline defended doggedly to the last while Town were reduced to 10 men in added time after Cameron Heffernan appeared to stamp on Kingsley Aikhionbare as our man tried to keep possession deep in their half.
Next up: We visit Sittingbourne on Saturday 14th November before Walton Casuals arrive at the Ave on Monday 16th November. We then head to Three Bridges on Saturday 21st November.
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