Carshalton away is one of the first matches the men’s fans look for when the Commodore 64 at Isthmian HQ spits out the fixtures. The fact this season’s fixture was on the first Monday of the season, only two days after a disappointing opener, didn’t dampen enthusiasm.
The Hope is without a shadow of doubt the best away pub we’ll visit all season. Just as The Dripping Pan always wins that fans’ favourite ground contest, so too is The Hope a shoo-in for best pub. A huge boozer selling decent craft ales for less than a fiver a pint, and with a cabinet full of pork pies on the bar. That will do very nicely indeed.
Consequently, The Hope’s spacious pub garden was stuffed full of Rooks fans hours before kick-off. Big Deaksy, “Young” Rob (48 next birthday), Chris The Cab, Terry Boyle, Cambridge Steve, Dave and Janette, Tall James, Former Kit Man Clive… the roll call was endless. Even Men’s football supremo and Club Sec John Peel popped in for a couple of pre-match liveners, filling out his teamsheet in between drags on a roll-up (smoking kills, kids. Just say no.)
John was explaining the fundamental arse ache of the Isthmian League’s new app, which requires players’ full names to be entered into the system, which then spits out the teamsheets on FootballWebPages. So if you were looking at the line-up on Saturday and wondering why all the players were listed with names like Louis Julio Iglesias Rogers or Dan Montgomery Lidl Bowry, it wasn’t John being overly pedantic, he was just following orders. As well as being an accessory to identity theft for the entire first team squad. (Bad luck, fraudsters – the system’s been fixed now.)
It’s fair to say confidence wasn’t exactly overflowing in the pre-match pub, even with a few pints of bravado inside us. Talk of “taking a point” was widespread after Saturday’s defeat and Carshalton’s surprise win at Cray Valley.
Yet, two minutes into this one and we were suddenly thumbing through the Non-League Handbook, marvelling at all the new grounds we’ll get to visit when we’re inevitably promoted to the National South by Christmas. That’s because Devonte West had just put the finishing touches to a glorious passing move, which saw the ball swept elegantly across Carshalton’s crumb-laden 3G and into the back of their onion bag. What a start.
Alas, it didn’t last all that long. Billie Clark got bundled off a ball on the left wing (it might have been a foul, but a soft one) and as with the second goal on Saturday, we were caught out by a big switch to the left-hand side. Sharon Ifeanyi cut inside Dan Bowry and smashed a belter into the top corner, bringing the scores level and subduing that ale-soaked confidence among the Rooks fans on Carshalton’s magnificent terrace – the longest stretch of unbroken concrete this side of The Great Wall of China.
If Carshalton perhaps edged the first half on points, the Rooks certainly took hold of the game in the second. Indeed, their strongest opponent were the officials, who were “having one”. West was hacked down and yet got a free-kick given against him for falling on the ball; Bernal was tripped on the edge of the box by the last defender who only saw yellow; he was then the recipient of a knee-high challenge which the ref couldn’t even be arsed to take a name for; and finally Perri Iandolo was sent off in time added for something only the linesman saw (or heard).
Still, none of this mattered, because the Rooks had put the home side to the sword by then. Finlay Chadwick had whacked the post from a free-kick shortly before we went one better and claimed an actual winner. The Carshalton defenders were guilty of titting about with the ball at the back, before they were deservedly robbed by the advancing Jack Burchell.
If you’d taken a quick straw poll of which player you’d want in a one-on-one with the keeper, a centre-back wouldn’t be most people’s choice. They’re not normally renowned for their calm finishing, unless you’re talking about a Foster’s Top at the Christmas party. But Jack Caerphilly Hatstand Chumbawumba Burchell is no ordinary centre-back. He adroitly slotted the ball past the onrushing keeping like a 40-a-season striker, sparking bedlam in the away end.
After Saturday’s defeat, one Facebook reactionary said it would be the last game he was coming to all season. Remember, mate, there’s always The Hope.
Lewes: Rogers, Bowry, Burchell (c), Asiedu, Bernal (Erskine), Clark (Starkey), Chadwick (Gayle), Iandolo, West (Christmas), Bennett, Figueira
Unused sub: Deda
Supporters Club man of the match: For that super finish and 90-odd minutes of solid defensive graft, it has to be Captain Jack Burchell.