SAL Division 2 - 21st October 2006

Ravaged by injuries, Carshalton lost their first game of the season on Saturday, going down at the Edmonton Sports and Social Club ground to a very impressive Norsemen side that should on the evidence of this game be amongst the front-runners for promotion to the First Division.

Carshalton began brightly, adapting the better of the teams to the greasy surface of Norsemen’s main pitch.  And, just two minutes into the contest they fashioned a quality move down the right flank that involved an interplay of passes between Lewis Cosgrove and Billy Andrews, resulting in a free-header for striker Shane Bowes who unfortunately sent his effort over the angle of post and bar.  Three minutes later, Cosgrove and Andrews repeated their earlier play; this time finding Paul Pearce whose far post header beat the Norsemen keeper and looked destined for the back of the net before coming down on top of the crossbar and rolling behind to safety.  Then, in the 7^th minute from a box-to-box move, Cars took the lead – their skipper Chris Tilley the catalyst in the move that finished with Bowes calmly slotting home under the Norsemen keeper after good work from midfielder Sam Johnson.  Despite going behind, Norsemen came more into the game as the first half wore on, and on 32 minutes they equalised when their centre-forward took advantage of a simple ball over the top, shook off his marker and lobbed the advancing Ross Sinclair in the Cars goal.  Once level, the home side began to dominate and in the 41^st minute they went ahead from another ball played over the top that on this occasion their centre-forward collected and played square to a colleague who had the simplest of tasks – finishing from close range at far post.

Just as they had in the first half, the visitors started well after the interval but nevertheless fell further behind on 51 minutes when a defensive mix-up gifted the home side a fortuitous third goal.  Undeterred by this setback, Cars continued to take the game to their opponents.  However, committed now as they were to attack and getting men forward they did look somewhat vulnerable to the counter attack, which is exactly how the fourth Norsemen goal came about.  Though, there could be no denying the sheer quality of the finish from the host’s centre-forward who in the 66^th minute cut-in from the left and from a tight angle hit a rasping shot into the far corner of the net.  Cars didn’t lye down though, and ten minutes later Bowes gave his team a glimmer of hope when his persistence to get onto Cosgrove’s pass in the 18-yard box paid off, resulting in him snatching his second goal of the afternoon.  Cars then went close to reducing the arrears further still; indeed, on any other day the efforts from Neal Collard who saw the keeper tip his 30-yard screamer over the bar, and Cosgrove who rifled a 16-yard drive narrowly wide of an upright probably would have found the back of the net.  Moments later though, Norsemen broke away, quickly turning defence into attack to put the result beyond doubt with a well-taken fifth goal that had a suspicion of offside about it.  Finally, in the 89^th minute, and as if to sum up Cars’ day, their young midfielder Johnson cut-in from the left-wing to hit a stunning shot that despite beating the Norsemen keeper, crashed against the crossbar with the ball then dropping beyond the onrushing Cosgrove and incredibly right into the path of a Norsemen defender, who with a simple long ball set-up another break from which his team completed the afternoon’s scoring, despite the player receiving the final pass looking a whole country mile offside.