Carshalton Athletic 4 Wealdstone 2

Carshalton picked up three crucial Ryman League Premier Division points at home against a physical Wealdstone side in a game full of interest and incident even if the quality was not quite out of the top drawer.

In the end, the Robins deserved their victory thanks to the hard work of their makeshift side, without the ill David Ray and late arrival Justyn Roberts, but mainly due to the sharper finishing of hat-trick man, Craig Faulconbridge, and, inevitably, his strike partner Richard Jolly.

The Stones came close to taking an early lead when Ryan Ashe was inches away from making contact with a cross from the right, but it was the home team that seemed to settle to the job in hand soonest and Faulconbridge opened the scoring on 14 minutes with a header from Rob Watkins's cross that hit the ground before bouncing up and past the static Sean Thomas in goal.

The Robins were having the better of the exchanges, but Jolly was let down by a poor first touch, which allowed Thomas to block his shot when through on goal.

Gerry Gonella, on his home debut, was cynically obstructed by Alan Massey when he threatened to break through but, at the other end, Greg Ngoyi demonstrated why he is being sought after by a number of clubs with a flicked header that hit the upright.

Carshalton continued to press, so it came as something of a surprise when the Stones were back on level terms after 37 minutes.

Orlando Smith’s poor header put the Robins defence on the back foot and Ngoyi’s close control created the chance for a shot into the corner, even if there was a suspicion of handball by the striker.

Minutes later, Smith’s contribution was at the right end, when he was brought down at the end of a strong run into the area and Faulconbridge carried on the good work with his spotkick to give the Robins the lead at the break.

Ten minutes into the second period, the Robins increased their lead, when Smith won the ball back on the left before crossing into the area.

It wasn’t the best of crosses but Jolly made it look quite special with some outstanding close control before prodding the ball past Thomas for Carshalton’s third.

The game began to hot up after the goal, with some robust play from the visitors that resulted in the Stones' Ashe and substitute McCoy being booked in quick succession to join their compatriots O’Leary and Gray in the busy referee’s collection.

Gonella was finding space in midfield and set up Faulconbridge with a shooting chance on the right that went wide and, with just over 20 minutes left, it looked as though the miss might prove an expensive one, when Wealdstone scored their second through Ashe from the penalty spot after the ball had hit the arm of Watkins just inside the area.

Danny Spendlove was proving a handful with his close control in midfield, but Carshalton remained the dominant side, with Jolly volleying just over and Faulconbridge inches wide with a shot that curled past the upright.

Both teams were reduced to 10 men when straight red cards were shown to the visitors' Lee Chappell and Carshalton’s Karl Murray for a fierce exchange that continued after a foul had been awarded and the game swung from end to end.

Kenny Beaney should have ensured the win when presented with an open goal from Jolly’s short pass only to see his effort cleared off the line, but it all turned out right in the end when Gonella again picked out Faulconbridge against a tiring Stones’ defence, and the Robins strikers finish made certain that it would be a happy home win for the Carshalton team and their enthusiastic supporters.

Robins: Nick Hamann, Joe Dolan, Rob Watkins, David Woozley, Gerry Gonella, Kenny Beaney, Barry Stevens, Karl Murray, Craig Faulconbridge, Richard Jolly, Orlando Smith

Subs not used: Jones Awuah, Michael Lee Charles, Justyn Roberts, Craig Davies, Stefan Cox

Forthcoming games

Saturday, February 6 (3pm): Carshalton Athletic v Boreham Wood, Ryman League Premier Division

Saturday, February 13 (3pm): Waltham Abbey v Carshalton Athletic, Ryman League Premier Division

Tuesday, February 16 (7.45pm): Carshalton Athletic v Horsham, Ryman League Premier Division