FA Trophy: Carshalton Athletic settle for replay

Weston-super-Mare 1 Carshalton Athletic 1

CARSHALTON were just three minutes from reaching the first round of the FA Trophy before conceding a late equaliser in Saturday's third qualifying round tie.

The Robins face a home replay against their Blue Square South opponents on Tuesday night, but will have been kicking themselves at not sealing victory at the first attempt.

Francis Vines gave a debut to ex-Crawley Town, Farnborough and Staines Town player David Woozley alongside Joe Dolan at the heart of the Carshalton defence.

Carshalton created the first chance when David Ray's clearing header set up Richard Jolly who advanced into the area and tested Kevin Sawyer before putting the rebound narrowly wide.

Dayle Grubb missed the target with a low shot for the Seagulls, but it was the visitors who took the lead on 17 minutes with an incisive move.

Rashid Kamara fed the ball quickly to Barry Stevens whose pass found Ray in the middle of the penalty area. The Robins skipper cleverly side-stepped his marker before scoring with a left foot drive that gave Sawyer no chance.

Stevens dragged a left-footed shot wide as Carshalton looked the most likely side to score. The Seagulls' main threat came from the long throws by Tom Evans, but the aerial power of Dolan and Woozley kept them at bay.

Jolly had the ball in the net just minutes into the second half following a free-kick only for his effort to be ruled out for offside.

But the hosts were far more purposeful than in the first 45 minutes and when Josh Klien-Davis found space on the right his shot crashed off the post.

The Robins' play lacked its earlier fluidity although Rob Watkins' long range effort just cleared the cross-bar.

But for all their superior possession, Weston were still struggling to create chances and Jolly came close to sealing the win when he picked up Kamara's pass and curled his shot just wide.

Weston sent Clayton Fortune up front in the latter stages and the move paid off on 87 minutes when the Robins' failure to clear their lines gave Fortune the chance to score from close range.

The winners of Tuesday night's replay will host Ryman Division One North side Northwood in the first round.

Carshalton Athletic: Hamann, Ray, Watkins, Dolan, Woozley, Beaney, Stevens (Webb), Murray, Faulconbridge, Jolly, Kamara.

Unused subs: Roberts, Munday, Awuah, Honey.