CAFC vs Bowers and Pitsea – Report
A David Smith brace secured the Robins a 6-1 victory over Bowers and Pitsea in the Isthmian Premier Division at Colston Avenue on Saturday.
Two new faces were introduced to the Robins’ starting XI: Kyron Horsley-McCay and Chesterfield loanee Kalvin Lumbombo-Kalala, who both made immediate starts. Nabeel Ghannam was relegated to the bench, while Kwaku Frimpong, Fikayo Atewologun, and Paris Hamilton-Downes were all sidelined due to injury.
The first chance of the match fell the way of the Robins; Fabio Saraiva took the set piece, quickly switching the ball to Bryan Ifeanyi on the opposite flank. Ifeanyi attacked left and arrowed it across the face of the goal towards Lumbombo-Kalala arriving late at the far post, but the winger headed the wrong side of the post on the stretch. Moments later, the Reds took the lead thanks to Saraiva inside eight minutes.
Bowers shot-stopper Joseph Whitney came darting out of his penalty area to prevent David Smith from latching onto a lofted pass in behind, but he only managed to clear as far as the central midfielder, whose audacious side-footed volley from 40 yards nestled into the empty net. Ninety seconds later, Carshalton forged a two-goal cushion. Smith was threaded through clear away on goal and successfully maintained his composure one-on-one to fake a shot before slipping the ball inside the keeper’s bottom left corner.
A few minutes later, Bowers had a couple of half chances up the other end, the best of which was from Reon Smith-Kouassi, who struck wide on the swivel. On the 20-minute mark, Josh Shonibare demonstrated his impressive passing range when his diagonal teed up Ifeanyi to carry the ball down the touchline and deliver into the penalty area, with Kalala miscuing the volley from four yards out. Twenty-three minutes in and Peter Adeniyi’s side were three goals for the better; Saraiva picked out Kalala, whose deflected cross was converted by the head of Smith from close range at the back post.
As the 30th minute beckoned, Kalala, developing into Carshalton’s main attacking threat, drove the ball low and hard across the face of goal, but none of the red shirts in and around the six-yard box could turn it home. Moments later, Tommy Bradford forced a routine diving save out of Whitney off a 25-yard left channel free kick, and Ifeanyi drifted inside, whipping an effort wide of the far post. The Reds spent the remainder of the first 45 probing the Bowers backline in search of a fourth, with Joe Flower’s side surviving a succession of shots and crosses into the penalty area. The final chance of the half saw Saraiva and Michael Dada deceive from the set piece in a dangerous position, with the latter, the one to strike, whipping it inches wide of the bottom right corner.
It was a sluggish start to the second 45 from Carshalton, with Bowers in the ascendancy. The visitors came agonisingly close to getting one back when Monville’s lovely delivery was pulled back across goal by TQ Addy at the back post, and the ball would have been stabbed home if it had not been hooked away on the goal line by a red shirt, brilliant defending. Flower’s side issued another warning not long after; Max Fiddes touched down in the penalty area, and with only the keeper to beat, he was fortunately dispossessed following an excellently timed sliding challenge from Read. Aware that Bowers were growing in confidence, Adeniyi introduced Sanchez Ming and another new addition, Pepe, to the pitch in place of debutants Kalala and Horsley-McKay, who had impressed the home supporters. However, Bowers continued to threaten; Addy’s cushioned header at the far post had to be scrambled away off the line acrobatically by newcomer Pepe on the hour mark.
Seventy minutes in and Bowers had their first goal in nine games, and you could not say it was not deserved. Following a challenge on Shonibare down the right channel, the Robins had a free kick to the right of the penalty area. Bowers left three blue shirts forward, so it was six on five in the penalty area in favour of Carshalton. Saraiva cleverly played it short to Dada in acres of space; however, the midfielder’s effort was parried away to spark a counter-attack. On the break, the Bowers attacker forced a save from Aaron Watkins with his legs before Freddie Price fired the follow-up into the roof of the net. That said, the Reds eventually sealed a well-deserved fourth of the afternoon. Ifeanyi won the spot kick and took the responsibility, curling the ball into the top right-hand corner.
Entering the final third of the match, Robins manager Adeniyi was brandished a red card by the referee for leaving his technical area and using language that the referee deemed threatening after a tackle that caused Read to crash into the barriers between the dugouts. As soon as play got back underway, Saraiva whipped a set piece onto the bar as the onrushing Nabeel Ghannam was flagged offside trying to head home in the six-yard box. A few minutes later, Bradford had the ball in the back of the net after heading Ifeanyi’s deflected shot into the back of the net; however, the referee penalised him for bundling over Whitney. With three minutes until time, Carshalton got their fifth of the afternoon
when Saunders-Henry flicked the ball inside the near post of a Saraiva inswinging corner. Carshalton capped off the game by finding the net once more, Sankoh pulled the ball back into the path of Ghannam who scuffed the initial attempt before he got his feet sorted out to drive through the legs of Whitney.
The result means that even though the Robins returned to winning ways, we stay in seventh place on 61 points after Chichester City beat Lewes 3-0 to edge closer to the play-off places. There will be hopes that Adeniyi’s side can carry forward the momentum into Monday night’s Surrey Senior Cup Quarter Final against Kingstonian FC and next weekend’s away trip to Chatham Town.
Up Next
Date: Monday, March 31, 2025
Venue: Colston Avenue
Kick-off: 07:45 PM
Admission: Admission: £11, £8, £5 (online prices) on the gate is a pound dearer.
Tickets: https://form.123formbuilder.com/566
