CAFC 3 - 1 Chichester FC

CAFC 3-1 Chichester FC – Report

Stagg’s Brace makes it three unbeaten

Tommy Stagg’s brace secured a hard-fought 3-1 victory over Isthmian newcomers Chichester City FC today.

Steve Gody, starting his first-ever competitive game for the Robins, netted his first Carshalton goal inside 30 minutes before Stagg made sure of the points late on in the second half. The result means Peter Adeniyi’s side moved up the table to second place after going three matches unbeaten.

Following on from the Robins registering their first victory of the 2024-25 campaign on Monday, beating Wingate and Finchley 3-2, Adeniyi, once again, shuffled his front three slightly. Captain Tommy Bradford retained his spot in the centre, while the flanks were occupied by Mason Saunders Henry and the incoming Gody. Meanwhile, for the hosts, there were two changes. The long-serving Lloyd Rowlett replaced Josh Clack with serial goalscorer Jimmy Wild unavailable, and Chi’s latest and only summer acquisition, Dion Jarvis, made his first start.

Much like the previous two games, it was another positive start to the first half from the Robins. As expected, there was some good early pressure with Ollie Hamstead and Fikayo Atewologun’s diagonals proving effective, particularly on Gody’s left flank. With our centre- backs given license to step up and carry the ball, Chi looked susceptible to their lofted passes in behind.

The home side had a couple of sights at goal in the opening stages to also threaten, albeit to a lesser extent. Number 10 Mo Jammeh finished off an attacking move down the left with a tame effort, and there was a shot that flashed wide of Mackenzie Foley’s post.

Ten minutes in, Hamstead adjusted well to stick a foot out, deflect the ball to Foley, and prevent forward Jarvis from latching onto it. Gody was presenting himself as the main attacking threat for Carshalton, constantly finding himself in a lot of space out wide and making good runs; however, his progress was often halted by the flag of the assistant.

The first real chance of the half fell the way of the hosts when Hamstead’s pass was cut out and Isaac Bello was teed up for a one-on-one with Foley. Atewologun managed to manoeuvre the forward into a tight angle after some good defending and quick of his line, Foley stood his ground and denied the effort low to his left with an outstretched boot. That being said, up until the 20-minute mark Adeniyi’s side were the better team, enjoying lots of possession and dominating proceedings, yet failing to fashion a clear-cut chance.

Midway through, the Lilywhites gradually turned the tables as a mixture of frustration and complacency crept in. Saunders-Henry was dispossessed on the touchline after trying to run the ball clear, it was delivered into the Carshalton box to Joe Moore, who laid it off for Rowlett to let fly and the shot was matched by Foley diverting it round the post at full stretch.

Moments later, Canadian Emmett Dunn almost had his delivery turned in by the head of Bello, but it was the wrong side of the bar.

Despite Chichester being on the ascendancy, the Robins took the lead thanks to Gody.

Lurking at the back post unmarked, the right cross was flicked on by the boot of Jackson to the goalscorer on the opposite side, who, twisting and turning, bided his time before finessing into the roof of the net to open his Carshalton account.

The goal spurred City on to push for an equaliser and the Robins had no choice but to sit back, soaking up the pressure. Carshalton were hanging on, surviving a barrage of crosses from both flanks to demonstrate their defensive resolve. There was a bit of a scare momentarily when the ball fell kindly to Moore a couple of yards out, but his miscued half-volley did not trouble Foley. Chichester just kept on coming, and a Hutchings free kick was headed into the ground and narrowly over from close range.

Eventually, the Lilywhites deservingly levelled the score four minutes from half-time after Fabio Saraiva was penalised for a handball. Jammeh stepped up to take the responsibility;

however, Foley guessed the correct way and performed an excellent save to his right before the midfielder followed up to steer the ball into the far corner – blushes sparred for the former Worthing player.

After a positive start to the match, Carshalton headed into the break fortunate not to be behind. Our centre-back duo, Hamstead and Atewologun, had been the standouts for the Robins, dealing with wave after wave of attacks from Chichester.

A few minutes into the second half, Chichester were already appealing for a spot kick when it appeared Luke Read had tussled Bello down to the ground, the referee waved it away, seeing it for what it was, a strong but fair battle. Saraiva, desperately trying to inspire some attacking intent from the Robins, hooked it in behind for Saunders Henry to give chase, yet the keeper reached it first to clear. Hamstead was then punished for matching the physicality of the big man up top Jarvis with the referee indicating a free kick. Ben Pashley wasted no time teeing up Hutchings to come onto it and whip in a deep cross, which evaded everyone, much to the relief of the Reds.

It was apparent something needed to change for the visitors, so Saunders Henry and Gody departed for Bryan Ifeanyi and Tommy Stagg to freshen up the forward line, and before long Carshalton were back in the game.

Hunting to peg back Chi, Vose threaded Bradford through the right, he cut it back and it was only cleared as far as the onrushing Read, who lashed his two efforts first time against the defender.

It would take a couple of minutes for the impact of the attacking substitutes to bear fruit and in the intervening period, Hamstead masterfully cut out a Rowlett cross angling dangerously towards the front post and Atewologun singlehandedly held off a counter-attack following a well-timed tackle.

On the hour, Ifeanyi showed signs of coming to life and providing some much-needed attacking flair, even forcing two claims for a penalty in quick succession.

Approaching the final third, Carshalton seemingly regained the momentum. Bradford, cutting inside, split the Chichester defence open, cutely slipping through Jackson to attack right. The midfielder fizzed it across the face of goal until it reached Ifeanyi arriving on the opposite side, the winger’s quick feet allowed him to fire it within inches of the far post. Keen to capitalise, Aziz Sankho, who was playing an inverted role as one of the front five in the attacking phase of play, drove into the penalty area and was tackled before he could get his shot away. The resulting Vose corner was an inswinger that was spilt by Lilywhites number one Kieran Magee and bundled over the line by an alert Stagg to extend the Robins’s advantage.

The striker completed his brace in the 83rd minute, Magee’s loose pass fell into the path of Jackson, who released it to Stagg to curl around the goalkeeper one on one, giving Carshalton a two-goal cushion.

The introduction of Paris Hamilton-Downes after the goal shored up the midfield and injected the necessary stability. The academy product threw his weight about to break up play and frustrate Chichester.
Determined to pull it back, Chi did not let up towards the latter stages of the game. Oliver Munt’s corner came extremely close to being turned in at the front post on the volley, and after riding their luck attacking through the middle, the ball found Clark left of the penalty area to drift inside, but ultimately have the sting taken out of his strike by a Carshalton foot. The board indicated four minutes of added time and failed to dispel hopes of a comeback from the spirited Chi. Munt drove into Foley’s arms, while Hutchings twenty-yard set piece grazed the bar and had our goalkeeper scrambling. When Hamstead denied yet another cross from the flanks and let out a huge roar as he embraced his fellow teammates, the former Chipstead defender had capped off a tremendous afternoon for himself and the team.
In the end, it was comfortable for Carshalton, who with the win moved to second place in the Isthmian Premier Division, two points behind Lewis. Of course, the table accounts for very little in the first few weeks of the season; however, more importantly, it is three matches unbeaten for Adeniyi’s side. The Robins will have hopes of carrying the momentum of today’s win into next week against Dartford FC.

Team: Foley, Read, Hamstead, Atewologun, Sankoh, Vose, Camacho-Saraiva, Bradford
Saunders Henry, Gody, Jackson; SUBS: Hamilton-Downes Stagg Ifeanyi Kabujko Somo
Goather-Braithwaite
Goals: Gody and Stagg X2