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This friendly against the Epsom & Ewell Premier side Weston Green United saw Carshalton make the better start with Louis Barron-Pell missing a golden opportunity after being put through on goal. The visitors dominated possession, but Weston Green played with great determination and proved difficult to break down. Carshalton missed two clear cut chances and then a defender was able to make a tremendous goal-line clearance after Louis Barron-Pell delayed his shot too long. The Carshalton midfield had a tendency to migrate into very advanced positions, thereby exposing their three-man defence to rapid counter attacks into wide open spaces. Two such raids caught out the right side of the defence, but keeper Robert Marsden saved the day by making an outstanding save on each occasion. Carshalton then pressed forward, but most attacks consisted of individual bursts of speed and dribbling culminating in either wild shooting or a dead end. Nevertheless, Carshalton opened their account on 18 minutes when a corner was not dealt with and substitute Julian Osei-Gyimah reacted very quickly to tuck the chance away from close range. For the remainder of the first period the exchanges were very even and the visitors were somewhat bewildered by their opponents determined and physical style of play.

The second period was very scrappy with both sides unable to develop any sort of fluency. Carshalton might have had a penalty when Mo Fafona was blatantly held back after twisting and turning past a couple of defenders. At the other end Weston Green were unlucky not to score when a superb right-wing cross was headed narrowly over the bar. Louis Barron-Pell continued to impress with his clever footwork on the left wing, but a lot of his good approach play and service was undone by casual and inaccurate final passes that were easily intercepted by the Weston defence. Mo Fafona was then put clean through by Jezz Williams, but he shot wide of the post with only the keeeper to beat. Close to the end of the second period Carshalton increased their lead when Mo Fafona atoned for his earlier miss by forcing the ball home following a defensive error after a goalmouth scramble.

The third period saw Carshalton continue to press forward and dominate the proceedings despite looking completely disjointed in midfield and attack. Nevertheless, Weston Green struggled to get into the other half of the field, and so the Carshalton defence were reduced largely to spectators for the remainder of the game. Ten minutes from time the ever-lively Jezz Williams put the result beyond doubt with a thunderous shot that entered the goal but passed through the loose side-netting. Fortunately, a goal was awarded on the signal of the Weston Green Club Assistant referee. Weston Green were then awarded a direct free kick for a mysterious offence outside the box, and the resulting shot led to a bit of a scramble before the ball was cleared upfield.   Carshalton certainly deserved their hard-won victory against a decent hard-working side, but they will have to show much better cohesion to avoid struggling in the West Surrey Premier.

Reporter's man of the match: Louis Barron-Pell

Team: Robert Marsden; Adam Marie, Jack Malin, Spud Bradley; Jack Keable, Daniel Johnson; Jezz Williams, Jamie Streat, Louis Barron-Pell; Ben Gyamfi, Mohamed Fafona. Subs: Julian Osei-Gyimah.

Mike Malin