SAL Division 2 - 28th October 2006

Following last week's first defeat of the season, Carshalton missing still a number of regulars through injury, travelled to Roehampton where they responded well to Manager Ian Lewis’s call for a back-to-basics approach, scoring eight goals without reply to defeat a Bank of England side that had made a reasonable start this season to their league campaign.

Looking to bounce back from the loss at Norsemen, Cars were quickly into their stride, which saw them as early as the 2^nd minute create an opportunity for Martin Vincent who hurried his effort, sending it high and wide of the BoE goal.  However, the visitors didn’t have to wait long before opening the scoring – the sheer persistence of Paul Pearce in chasing down a ‘lost ball’ paying dividends as he robbed the host’s left-back and laid the ball into the path of Michael Tilley who drilled home from 8-yards.  Four minutes later, Cars’ young midfielder Sam Johnson thought he’d put his side further ahead with a screamer of a shot from 18-yards, only to turn and find that the referee had penalised him for handball.  Although seemingly in control, Cars were nevertheless grateful to keeper Ross Sinclair on 21 minutes when he denied the BoE centre-forward with a fantastic stop at his near post.  On 26 minutes Vincent doubled the Cars lead, volleying from close range into the roof of the net having met Tilley’s deep corner to the far post.  Despite continuing to press for the remainder of the first half Cars were unable to add to their tally and had to make do with going in at the break just the two goals to the good.

Cars started the second half even better than they had the first.  And, three goals in a six-minute spell signaled the end of the game as a contest.  Firstly, in the 51^st minute following a move down the left-flank, Pearce went round the keeper to roll the ball into the path of Johnson who found the back of the net from around the penalty spot.  Next, after 56 minutes Vincent hit his second of the afternoon, curling a delightful shot into the top corner from just outside the BoE 18-yard box.  Then, a minute later good link-up play from Pearce and Billy Andrews resulted in the latter sending over a threatening cross that a BoE defender put through his own goal, glancing a header over the fingertips of his startled keeper.  Sinclair in the Cars goal, anxious to keep a fourth clean sheet of the season, twice inside the 66th minute denied the hosts a consolation goal with two good stops.  Cars’ sixth goal when it arrived in the 70 minute was an absolute gem of a team goal; indeed, the free flowing movement and passing in the Cars build-up, leading to Vincent completing his second hat trick of the season with a shot under the BoE keeper, the perfect example of how to play on the large Record Office pitch.  Five minutes from time, Pearce looked to have finally got some reward for a superb individual display when he rounded the keeper and fired towards goal only for the ball to strike the far upright and into the path of Vincent who had the simplest of tap-ins for his fourth goal.  Finally, in the 88^th minute, Andrews rifled a low 25-yard free-kick through the BoE wall to complete an emphatic Cars all-round team performance.