Staines Sport
Robins exit FA Trophy after Newport defeat
12:20pm Wednesday 8th February 2012
Carshalton Athletic’s FA Trophy run came to a shuddering end on Tuesday night, but manager Paul Dipre feels the whole club should be proud of their efforts.
The Robins, who beat Conference Premier side Lincoln City in the second round, could not repeat the feat against another team from the top tier of the non-league pyramid as they were well beaten 4-0 by Newport County – after the game was postponed on Saturday due to a frozen pitch.
It means they just miss out on a quarter-final appearance but Dipre was not too disconsolate after the club’s best run in the Trophy for more than a decade.
“What we have achieved in our Trophy run this year is something we are all very proud of,” he said.
“It’s no mean feat for us part-timers to get to the last 16 and every player in the squad has done their bit to achieve this feat.
“Unfortunately, we were second best against Newport, they were very good in all areas of the pitch and thoroughly deserved the win. I hope they go on to win the competition.
“For us to beat a full-time professional outfit, we needed all 11 players to be firing on all cylinders and that’s what we had against Lincoln.
“Newport started at a blistering pace and caught us early with a defensive slip followed by a great first goal.
“We had a few chances but never really got a foothold in the game.”
The Robins were praised in many quarters for playing good football and giving a good account of both themselves and Ryman Premier football, but they couldn’t recover from an early strike to progress into the quarter finals.
However, the club’s progression to this stage included a 5-0 thumping of Conference North side Bishop’s Stortford and an epic 3-1 replay win against Lincoln, which came after a well-earned 0-0 draw at Sincil Bank.
Manager Paul Dipre selected Kennedy Adjei in the centre of the Robins midfield following an impressive substitute appearance in the 2-1 win against Margate, while Laurent Hamici came back in up front after his recent illness and Sonny Ayres, Tom Davis and Dean McDonald offered attacking options from the bench.
But Newport didn’t give Carshalton the chance to settle into the game and they took the lead with Sam Foley’s well-hit shot on four minutes.
Nick Hamann then made saves from Darryl Knights and David Pipe as Carshalton regained their composure and started to test their hosts.
Luke Pigden had a hurried shot just wide of Newport goalkeeper Glyn Thompson’s post and Hamici crashed a shot just over the crossbar after turning his marker.
Foley then sprang The Robins offside trap on 33 minutes but, despite having lots of time, Hamann blocked his shot with his legs.
The German goalkeeper was powerless to prevent Elliott Buchanan adding the second from close range two minutes later however.
Carshalton looked to hit back quickly and Hamici held up a long ball, playing it sweetly out to Luke Nolan. Nolan picked out Vines on the corner of Newport box, but the striker’s cross was headed away for corner. The Robins forced a further two corners from that situation but couldn’t test Thompson.
As half time approached, Adjei hit a firm shot from outside the box just over and Michael Kamara replaced the injured Kieran Murphy but The Robins couldn’t reduce the deficit.
Dean McDonald and Tom Davis came on for Adjei and Hamici at half time but, before they had a chance to even stretch their legs, Newport went 3-0 up thanks to a long range effort from Adam Chapman.
Vines, had scored seven goals in six previous FA Trophy matches, had a header and a shot both saved by Thompson as Carshalton tried to rally a comeback for their fans.
Hamann made two more good saves, Buchanan hit the crossbar and Vines was harshly adjudged offside as he latched onto a defence-splitting through ball as the fast-paced game moved into the last 20 minutes.
Carshalton plugged away but Newport’s fourth came on 86 minutes as substitute Romone Rose, making his debut for Newport, crashed home a 35-yard thunderbolt which gave Hamann no chance.
Carshalton Athletic: Hamann, Ray (c), Murphy (Kamara), Roberts, R Joseph; Nolan, Adjei (Davis), Jones, Pigden; Vines, Hamici (McDonald). Unused subs: Ayres, Badiali.