Carshalton Athletic midfielder Sean O’Toole completed his comeback from injury hell on Saturday as the Robins got back to winning ways.
The winger, who made his first full competitive start after an eight-month layoff, drew his side level against Guernsey with an 18-yard screamer before Mickel Miller’s sixth of the season on 64 minutes settled the affair 2-1.
But, after playing against 10 men for almost an hour as visiting defender Tom Martin was dismissed for a late lunge on Ricky Korboa, O’Toole said the result should have been more emphatic.
“We’ve had a bit of a torrid time lately but it was good to bounce back Saturday,” he said, referring to the two FA Cup games against Worthing last week that saw the Robins exit the competition.
“Guernsey made it difficult by sitting very deep in the second half and we didn’t make best use of our man advantage.
“I think we should have got more shots off on goal but it felt good to get the three points in the end.”
That fourth win in five league games puts Carshalton sixth in the Ryman South, five points behind leaders Tooting & Mitcham who have played two games more, and O’Toole hopes to carry on playing a part in the club’s fine start.
“I was happy to be told I would start against Guernsey as I felt like I’d been training well,” he added.
“It’s hard sitting on the bench sometimes but you do get to admire the football the lads are playing.
“Other teams, like Tooting and Corinthian Casuals, have also made good starts but I believe no-one has the quality we do.
“Not many would get ahead of Mickel, Tommy Bradford and Ricky in the kind of form they are in.
“We are going into every game believing we can win but we maybe just need to start being more clinical in front of goal.”
Next up for Carshalton Athletic is a first round Ryman League Cup tie against visiting Molesey tonight, kick-off 7.45pm.
Feature image of Sean O’Toole scoring courtesy of Ian Gerrard, with thanks
