Carshalton picked up their first win in three league matches with a 1-0 victory at Margate to ease the pressure on manager Paul Dipre, writes James Barrett.

In a role reversal of recent games, it was the opposition that had most of the chances but The Robins who scored against the run of play.

Paul Vines hooked in the winner halfway through the second half to claim the three points and a result which could become a springboard to kick-start the Robins' league campaign.

“I thought the whole team worked very hard for their points today, and the effort and commitment was excellent,” said manager Paul Dipre.

“They played very direct and put us under a lot of pressure and, although our defending was good, we did lose the ball too easily and too often going forward at times. We converted one of the few chances we got and made it very difficult for Margate to beat us.

“Margate did have a lot of half chances however, and also forced a couple of excellent saves from Nick.

"But, after we scored the goal, we found a bit of confidence and also went on to create more chances.

“Margate will feel the same way as we have done after recent results; good performance but no points to show for it. They were a very hard working unit.”

Luke Pigden was brought into a midfield three in place of Francis Quarm as the only change from the starting eleven at Dover Athletic.

Carshalton’s defence would’ve been on red alert to the threat of Margate’s top goalscorer Kwesi Appiah, and the striker did burst through in the first two minutes. Robins goalkeeper Nick Hamann did just enough to put Appiah off and he failed to control the ball, but the move set the tone for the first half.

Margate looked to release Appiah at every opportunity, either through short through balls or long balls that strike partner Billy Bradbrook flicked on. Midfielder Mark Corneille flashed a volley just over from a corner and it took a while for The Robins to settle.

Carshalton’s first real chance came on the quarter hour mark. After good work between Billy Crook and Dean Lodge forced a corner on the left, David Ray flashed a header just over from Tom Davis’ corner. Two minutes later Hamann made a wonderful save as he tipped over Curtis Robinson’s free header from a free kick to keep the score level.

Carshalton’s last decent chance of the first half came on 20 minutes. Davis swung over a corner that Corneille headed almost out of the hands of keeper Jack Smelt for another corner. Margate only succeeded in knocking the second delivery up into the air with Smelt struggling. Vines sent a looping header goalwards, but two covering defenders cleared the danger.

The home support thought their team had a penalty five minutes later. From a goal kick by Smelt, a Craig Tanner back header to Hamann lacked power and Appiah raced into the box. The striker and the keeper came together, but referee Blunden booked the forward for diving and rightly so.

A further unforced error gifted Margate another opportunity to open the scoring just after the half hour. Kieran Murphy possibly had too much time on the ball and eventually hit a soft pass straight to Bradbrook on the centre circle. The number nine galloped into the box and turned inside the recovering Murphy, but Pigden blocked his effort with a diving header six yards out. Margate whipped the ball in again and Pigden this time cleared a shot off of the line from Appiah, with Matt Bodkin volleying the rebound wide.

Carshalton’s goal led a charmed life but, coupled with some stout defending from The Robins backline, the game remained goalless.

Bodkin dribbled across the edge of the box from the right on 38 minutes and laid the ball into Bradbrook, whose shot was saved by Hamann. Appiah picked the rebound up on the left and smashed the post from an acute angle. As the ball sailed across the six yard line, Carshalton managed to smuggle it away.

Robinson rippled the side-netting two minutes later, after good hold up play from Appiah, who then picked up an injury as Carshalton made it to half-time without conceding.

Appiah didn’t reappear for the second half and was replaced by Ian Pulman. Corneille smashed a shot wide from 30 yards after two minutes and Carshalton fans would’ve been forgiven for thinking it’ll be another 45 minutes of the same again.

But The Robins did show more mettle in the second half and created a few chances of their own. A piece of quick thinking by Lodge saw him strike a quick free kick towards goal from 40 yards, but the shot lacked enough height to trouble Smelt.

Bradbrook thumped a header wide as the game turned scrappy, with both teams failing to get the ball down and players on each side giving away niggling fouls; Justyn Roberts picked up a booking during that period.

Sonny Ayers then had a glorious chance to put Carshalton in front, but he dragged his shot wide from just inside the box after Tanner had made a penetrating run down the left and played him in with a low cross-field through ball. The young striker had his head in his hands but fortunately his strike partner grabbed the only goal of the game five minutes later.

Francis Quarm came on for Davis to add fresh legs to the midfield and Lodge forced a corner on the left. The ball in was knocked up into the air rather than out by the home team and Vines hooked the ball back goalwards. It dropped in under the bar despite the attentions of a Margate player on the line and he claimed his first league goal since the opening day of the season.

The goal knocked the stuffing out of Margate and having something to protect gave Carshalton reason to keep strong and not give anything away. Captain David Ray and Tanner both pushed forward from full back and Pigden was still industrious in midfield.

One scare came on 75 minutes when Pulman peeled away from Roberts and beat the offside trap. Pigden tracked him back and Roberts made up the distance to shut out the remaining space with a slide tackle and win a goal kick.

And with ten minutes to go Bradbrook gathered a long throw into the Carshalton box and, despite the narrow angle, he fired in a shot that Hamann parried across area. Ray was alert and stabbed the ball away from the incoming Pulman, but the ball bobbled around the edge of the area until Bradbrook dragged a shot wide of Hamann’s right hand post.

Carshalton next play Harrow Borough at home on Saturday 15th October before travelling to Worthing in the League Cup on Tuesday 18th October. The Robins then host either Bidesford or Beaconsfield SYCOB in the FA Carlsberg Trophy on Saturday 22nd October.

Carshalton Athletic: Hamann; Ray (c), Murphy, Roberts, Tanner; Crook, Pigden, Davis (Quarm); Ayers, Vines, Lodge. Unused subs: Baldwinson, Kamara, A Joseph, Hill.

Goal: Vines (68) Margate: Smelt; Ball, Cloke (c), Pooley, Hill; Bodkin, Avery (Johnson), Corneille (Stubbs), Robinson; Bradbrook, Appiah (Pulman). Unused subs: Overland, Wilson.