The feel good factor is back around Colston Avenue as Carshalton Athletic enter cup action this weekend.
The Robins, after losing their first two Isthmian Premier matches of the season, have now won four league games in a row after most recently winning 2-0 against struggling Bognor Regis Town.
But the FA Cup now looms on the horizon as player/manager Peter Adeniyi and his squad visit Bracknell Town in the first qualifying round this coming Saturday.
And assistant coach Keith Boanas hopes the players continue to be mindful of their own goal as well as the opponents.
“It’s important to build momentum and now we have to keep it going,” said Boanas.
“But, as a former defender myself, I’m most pleased with the two consecutive clean sheets we’ve now kept.
“Before that we had conceded two goals a game and mostly because of our own errors, but the boys have now begun to turn that negative around.”
Carshalton got off to a perfect start on the south coast last weekend as, on just six minutes, Christie Pattisson curled in his first goal of the season from 20 yards.
And Jerry Amoo doubled that lead 15 minutes later as he beat keeper Charlie Searle in a race to a long ball before deftly lobbing it into the empty net.
Centre back Daniel Pappoe was harshly dismissed for a contentious handball decision on 71 minutes but Bognor still couldn’t find a way to penetrate a hardworking Carshalton unit before full-time.
“We can’t always rely on our goalkeeper and defenders to make last-ditch interventions, so it’s been pleasing to see everyone take on more responsibility,” added Boanas.
“We’ve told the boys we need to be stronger winning things like fifty-fifty duels, plus the work ethic defensively from the forwards has improved, so hopefully these’ll continue as we look towards a tough game away at Bracknell.”
Bracknell, also nicknamed the Robins and who ply their trade in the Isthmian South Central, reached this stage of the FA Cup by beating Bournemouth FC 5-0 in the preliminary round last month.
Bracknell Town vs Carshalton Athletic is on Saturday September 7 (kick-off 3pm).
Feature image shows Christie Pattisson. Image credit: Ian Gerrard.
