SAL Division 2 - 14th October 2006

Saturday started well. Swanny got us to the ground in record time using just a map and none of his well known “shortcuts”. After a rather long warm up and a rather boring talk from Wiggy we kicked off against a tough Norseman team. We have been improving considerably over the past couple of weeks coming off the back of a few disastrous results and the determination was evident in the players from the first whistle. We got the tackles in and passed and moved the ball around quickly and precisely. After 20 minutes, where we had probably had the better of the possession, Cars opened the scoring with possibly the best goal scored this season. The ball broke to Jonny P whose excellent first touch took him past his man (yes Justin, excellent first touch - I did mean it). He then played a defence splitting pass to Rob Morley who in turn played another superb ball through to Wiggy who curled the ball around the advancing keeper ‘Henry’ style. 1-0 and we were flying.

A couple of minutes later and a fantastic ball whipped in from Scott on the right just evaded JP and bounced to Wiggy who could only manage to connect with his face. Should have been 2-0. A couple of strong penalty claims were turned down (blatant tackle from behind on yours truly and handball in quick succession) denying Carshalton opportunities to extend their lead further and put the game beyond doubt in the first half.

Norseman, who at times had been mere spectators, now started to find their feet a bit and could have equalised on a couple of occasions after Cars had been caught napping on the flanks. However, some good goalkeeping from Backers meant that we went in at half-time the much happier of the two teams.

Although we started the second half brightly, Norseman were a bit sharper and managed to equalise through their right winger, their best player by far. A controversial decision to allow their striker to pick up the ball when he was seemingly several yards offside threw the Cars’ defence into chaos and Norseman capitalised on this, crossing the ball for their man unmarked around the penalty spot to head home. The next 25 minutes are a bit of a blur to be honest with only one chance clearly sticking out. Ritchie Smith (who had another stormer) dispossessed their young centre back and found himself 1 on 1 with the goalie. Unfortunately he could only manage to place the ball straight into the keeper's hands.

With 15 minutes left on the clock Carshalton broke down the right with substitute Justin absolutely skinning his marker. He made his way into the box and slipped the ball to Rob Morley who turned and slid the ball into the net. Cue the most emotional celebration ever witnessed in the SAL. All can be forgiven though as it was Rob’s first goal of the season. The game was end to end but Cars looked odds on to record their second league win of the season with some solid defending from Jonny Biggle and Ash. However, as is customary for Carshalton, whenever we can give something to the opposition we do and with 2 minutes left on the clock a defensive blunder caused the ball to fall to their lanky centre forward who fired past a hapless Backers. Carshalton, somewhat demoralised by this late dose of ill fortune couldn’t find another goal in them and, come the whistle, came off the pitch looking like they had lost.

This week we were denied a deserved 3 points having controlled the game almost completely from start to finish. The commitment was superb and the teamwork was extremely encouraging. If we can get as many people as possible to training on a Tuesday then we things will get even better (with a bit of shooting practice). Thanks to Justin, Dave and Swanny for subbing for us this week. Was good to see Tilley back in the 1^st team squad. Special mention this week to Wiggy up front who put in a great performance capped off with the best goal of the game, Backers in goal who denied the opposition strikers on a numerous occasions (that should keep them both quiet for a while). Man of the Match this week goes to Rob Morley, who played a major role in the first goal, scored the second and ran his socks off the rest of the time. Great performance guys, everyone was outstanding. The 4-4-2 system suits us down the ground. Keep up these performances and we’ll be back in contention for promotion in no time.

Fat Jonny Phillips