CAFC vs Potters Bar Town – Match Report
Luke Read’s last-gasp winner on return sealed Carshalton Athletic a much-deserved 1-0 victory over tough-to-breakdown Potters Bar Town at the Orbital Fasteners Stadium on Friday evening.
There were a couple of changes for Peter Adeniyi’s side; Luke Read made a much-welcomed return to the starting XI, which saw Fabio Saraiva deployed back in the midfield. Tommy Bradford, meanwhile, was absent from proceedings, and Joshua Shonibare came in for Bryan Ifeanyi, who was unavailable owing to injury. Club captain Paris Hamilton-Downes was also deemed fit enough to feature on the bench.
It was Carshalton who were in the ascendancy in the early stages, applying an intense high press to force the turnover of possession and moving the ball well on an extremely difficult pitch. Despite enjoying the lion’s share of possession, it took until the 10th minute for the Robins to have their first chance of note. Saraiva fizzed the ball into the path of Shonibare, who controlled and carried it towards the hosts goal before lashing the resulting effort narrowly wide of the bottom left-hand corner.
Moments later, keen to capitalise on the momentum being garnered, Nabeel Ghannam drifted inside off the left flank and whipped a strike that rattled the outside of the near post. The match gradually opened up as the 20-minute mark beckoned, and the Scholars had their first real chance. Khale Da Costa’s pullback saw Brandon Adams send a first-time side-footed shot to the right of the penalty area wide of Mackenzie Foley’s far post; it was a warning for the Reds not to get complacent.
All of a sudden, the game burst into life midway through the half. It all started when the referee penalised the Scholars for a pass back. Bizarre moment. Smith laid the set piece off for a hesitant Saraiva to eventually come onto and power at goal;
however, the defenders were alert and quick to close it down, denying the midfielder’s strike. The resulting corner was then swung towards Saunders-Henry, languishing at the back post for pinball to ensue in the penalty area. The Robins faithful behind the hosts goal were certain the ball had crossed the line in and amongst the chaos, but the referee waved away the appeals of both players and supporters as it was scrambled clear. For the next few minutes, Potters Bar enjoyed a bit of the ball in and around Carshalton’s penalty area, failing to call Foley into action. Up the other end, Smith let fly from 30 yards out, curling the ball wide of the post with the outside of his boot.
With seven minutes until the break, the Scholars came agonisingly close to taking the lead if it were not for some defensive heroics on the line from Read. The home side’s attacker angled an effort towards the bottom right-hand corner; instead, it found another red shirt, and the close-range shot was hooked away by Read. Growing in confidence, the ball was worked across to Da Costa on the right flank, whose delivery threatened to nestle in the far corner and had Foley momentarily worried. On the stroke of halftime, Paul-Lavaly whipped a cross into the penalty area, and a tenacious Ghannam latched onto it, snatching at the chance to fire high over the bar from the tight angle.
It was a lively start to the second 45, with both teams eager to peg back the other. Following a head injury to Scholars shot-stopper Cian Moore in the 52nd minute, the intensity dropped, and the game entered a bit of a lull. There were a couple of half chances for Adeniyi’s side, such as Smith heading wide from a Read cross, but despite controlling proceedings, the Reds could not create any notable opportunities. The Robins first real chance came inside 59 minutes when Saunders-Henry cut inside and took it upon himself to inspire hopes of taking the lead, whipping a strike straight down Moore’s throat.
Approaching the halfway stage, the ball was worked across to Cawley in acres of space to the left of the penalty area. One-on-one with Foley, the forward’s attempted chip was tame and comfortably gathered by our No. 1. Breaking at pace up the other end, Saunders-Henry did brilliantly to divert a whipped delivery into the back of the net with a dipping header on the edge of the box; that said, he was adjudged to be offside.
Carshalton continued to show their attacking intent as wave after wave of attack was repelled by a defensively resolute Potters Bar backline. It was becoming apparent the Reds were growing frustrated, and it was not long before the tables turned, and a momentum shift ensued in favour of the home side. Seventy minutes in, the Reds survived a barrage of attacks from the Scholars, and Louie Barry managed to carry the ball down the left channel and into the penalty area unchallenged to lash a strike into the side netting. Entering the final third of the match, Adeniyi made a triple change, introducing Hamilton-Downes, Michael Dada, and Paris Lock to proceedings in a bid to incite the winner. A few minutes later, Dada controlled just outside the box and drilled the ball into the feet of Smith, who manoeuvred onto his stronger left, driving it low and hard inches wide of the far corner.
Towards the latter stages, Carshalton were putting Potters Bar under extreme amounts of pressure, and in the 83rd minute, Adeniyi’s side finally received their just deserts. Saraiva’s short corner found Ghannam, and the midfielder’s shot towards the bottom right-hand corner was parried by a diving Moore before Read bundled home close-range to spark jubilation among the travelling support behind the Scholar’s goal.
It was a tense final few minutes; there were appeals for a spot kick when one of the hosts attackers went to ground claiming to have been kicked; however, the Reds themselves came close to forging a two-goal cushion on numerous occasions, with Paul-Lavaly having his swivelled strike saved and Hamilton-Downes seeing his audacious strike deflected narrowly wide.
The match concluded 1-0 to the Reds and extended our winning streak to seven league games. The result means the club now have 51 points and are five points off the play-off places; that said, Cray Valley and the rest of the promotion hopefuls are yet to play this weekend. Adeniyi will have hopes that the lads can carry forward the momentum into Saturday’s Isthmian Premier tie with Billericay Town.
Up Next
Date: Saturday, February 22, 2025
Venue: New Lodge, CM12 9SA
Kick-off: 03:00 PM
Admission: £13 (Adults), £8 (Concessions), £5 (Young Adult – 12 to 17), £1 (11 or under)
Tickets: Buy Tickets Here
