CAFC vs Hashtag United – Match Report
Carshalton Athletic secured an entertaining 1-0 victory over Hashtag United thanks to long-serving Robin Tommy Bradford on Tuesday.
The 5ft 7 No. 10 rose completely unmarked to head in a deliciously whipped in cross from full-back Luke Read on the right flank almost immediately after the second half got underway.
There were a couple of changes for Peter Adeniyi’s side, Fikayo Atewologun was unavailable owing to injury, so club captain Paris Hamilton-Downes came into the starting XI. As well as the omittance of Atewologun, striker Tom Stagg was also missing, with Mason Saunders-Henry named as the Robins centre-forward in the 22-year-olds stead.
It was an end-to-end start to proceedings, both sides delivering crosses into the penalty area in a bid to put the other under some early pressure, but it would come to no avail. Our resident inverted full-back Aziz Sankoh was picking up dangerous positions, particularly in the left pocket, and the young man drove a shot into the defender inside two minutes. Meanwhile, Darnell Goather-Braithewaite managed to latch onto a long ball down the right channel as it broke loosely to Saunders-Henry, who could only produce a tamely hit half-volley wide of the near post. Despite the end-to-end stuff, neither keeper had been troubled up to this stage (the ten-minute mark). Growing in confidence, Adeniyi’s side dominated the ball and displayed a beautiful rhythm to their play. That being said, the hosts sent a warning sign with their first real chance of the half a few minutes later when a cross was hooked in from the left and met by the head of Toby Aromolaran – directing it into the path of Misha Djemali to lay off Max Cornhill whose left footed effort was calmly watched past the post by Mackenzie Foley.
Not long after, there was a big goalscoring opportunity for Saunders-Henry. Slipped through, the striker, one-on-one with Tags shot-stopper Jack Giddens, attempted to whip the ball and nestle it into the far corner; however, he did not get the intended bend and squandered the huge chance. The Robins were knocking on the door, but lack of clinicality was again rearing its ugly head. Up the other end, Darren Foxley’s inviting inswinging corner was denied on the line by an alert Fabio Saraiva.
Mid-way through, Foley was called into action properly for the first time and proved a match, parrying a close range Djemali strike after the pullback from a Sak Hassan attacking left. The Robins thought they would make the breakthrough when Dom Vose’s corner was spilt by Giddens in the slippery conditions, bringing down Read for a penalty following an attempt to scramble the ball. Naturally, Vose stepped up to the spot kick after Saturday’s heroics, but even though it was well struck, low and hard towards the bottom left, Gidens got down well to make the save. Entering the final third before halftime, Foxley, on his weaker right foot, lashed a long-range effort a yard wide of the near post before centre-back Ollie Hamstead stepped up bravely and played a press splitting pass to Bradford, who teed up Goather-Braithewaite to test Gidens between the sticks. Hamilton-Downes concluded the first 45 minutes with a brilliant sliding challenge to disrupt the attacker’s progress. With that, the referee blew his whistle to end a very entertaining first half that saw both sides have plenty of chances, but Carshalton would have been the ones feeling the more disappointed to be level having come agonisingly close with that missed penalty.
The second half commenced, and Carshalton immediately took the lead one minute after the restart. Goather-Braithewaite attacking right, checked back and set up Read to control and whip in a cross that was begging to be turned in and Bradford obliged. The vice-captain was free in acres of space in the penalty area to rise high and divert the ball with his head into the back of the net for his fourth of the 2024-25 campaign, which makes him the joint-top scorer alongside Vose. Hamstead had been a standout so far in the match, putting his body on the line in not too dissimilar vein to Saving Private Ryan; however, he was walking a bit of tightrope for the remainder of the half after a yellow card for a pull back on Djemali in the 53rd minute. On the hour mark, Hassan unleashed a sweetly struck volley from the edge of the box and a diving Foley pushed it away quite magnificently. The Tags were pushing for the leveller, but the story of the match had been – Hashtag attack until thwarted by an extremely resilient Robins backline. Four hundred goal Sam Higgins took to the pitch moments later and posed a different kind of threat for the Reds defence to subdue. Having survived a succession of shots and crosses, Bryan Ifeanyi, who had been electric all game, causing so many problems down the left, skipped past several defenders and into the box, smashing a tightly angled strike behind via the crossbar. Even though Carshalton were doing lots of defending at this point in the game, the effectiveness of our counter-attack through the pace of our wingers provided an avenue for forging a two-goal cushion.
A Tags triple sub welcomed in the final 15 minutes as the referee waved away the home side’s claims for a penalty after Hassan’s left flank cross was floated dangerously towards target man Higgins and Foley’s outstretched fist seemingly caught the face of the 37-year-old. With the clock ticking down, yet another chance went begging for Jay Devereux’s team. Matt Wooldridge’s lofted pass teed up Pedro Carvalho to cut it back to the onrushing Camilo on the edge of the area, but somehow his effort rolled the wrong side of the post. In the dying embers of the match, the Tags were really pushing for the leveller, putting the Robins under extreme pressure, who to a man were throwing their bodies on the line for one another, displaying tremendous spirit. Whenever they could, Carshalton were eyeing an opportunity to break and get the ball as high up the pitch as possible to break the host’s momentum. Camilo went into the book two minutes from time after losing possession and committing a foul tracking back, having tried to make amends. There was a heart in mouth moment for the Robins when experienced fullback Nathan Smith delivered a great cross onto the head of Higgins; however, he failed to keep it down and it sailed over the bar. That was the chance for the Tags, and they squandered it. Interestingly enough, the final action of the game was actually a sending-off for Camilo, who was shown a second yellow following a jump for a header, although many people were left perplexed as to the reason for the red card.
Thankfully, Carshalton held on for the win and there was jubilation for the incredible travelling supporters behind the goal. A very close engrossing encounter, Bradford’s header panned out to be the difference between the two sides. For the Tags, it was a case of chances not being taken, and perhaps they will feel hard done by that Higgins was not awarded a penalty for the Foley super punch.
Up Next
Date: Saturday 5 October
Opponents: Hadley FC
Competition: FA Trophy Third Round Qualifying
Ko: 3.00 pm
Venue: Brickfield Lane
Admissions: Hadley Football Club | members of The Southern Football League (hadleyfc.co.uk)
