Carshalton Village kicked off the 2014-15 season with a 2-1 victory over Kudos Athletic. Phil Boon, Duncan Fraser and Paul Jenner made their Village debuts in a game in where Kudos opened the scoring in the first half. Paul Gill equalised after the break, and it was a late Gill strike that secured all three points for Village.
With the absence of Graham Rolfe, Daniel Baker and captain Mark Harrison, manager Stephen Sharp had to reshuffle the midfield and call upon the services of resident left back Simon Heffernan to squeeze into the number one shirt and take his place between the posts.
Village started brightly with some good play and solid defending to prevent the Kudos attack with any chances in the final third of the smaller than average pitch.
It was Village who had the first meaningful chance on goal, when long kick down the right wing from ‘Neville Southall’ Heffernan fell to Toby Meller who, after neat skill, released Paul Gill through into the Kudos penalty area, and his low drive evaded the keeper, only for it then to hit the upright.
Kudos were trying hard to apply pressure to the Village defence with some long balls down both flanks, and on a few occasions did manage to get past a resilient back three, only to then fail to make the chances count with either scuffed shots or over-hit crosses.
Village managed to force Kudos onto the back foot in the latter stages of the first half with some neat passing through midfield from Colin Mitchell and Phil Boon, allowing Village to take control and force a succession of corners and free kicks in and around the Kudos penalty area but wasted efforts from Adam Meller, Duncan Fraser and Wojciech Lerka were to prove costly.
With the first half drawing to a close, Kudos Athletic pushed forward, and from a long throw into Heffernan’s six yard area, Village failed to deal with the initial threat, and a flick on from a Kudos player found an attacker at the back post who slotted home to give Kudos a half time lead.
In the second half, Village’s defence began to cope better with the balls lofted into the air or down the flanks, allowing the Village midfield trio and attackers to start creating opportunities,
Within ten minutes of the restart, Village were rewarded for their increased efforts when a ball found Adam Meller on the left, and Meller’s pass to Paul Gill enabled the forward to find some space to curl in an effort from twenty yards into the far top corner to draw Village level.
Village’s momentum continued as they and kept forcing Kudos to defend, with Mitchell, Boon and Spelman breaking through the middle and supplying the strikers with the ball, but to no avail.
Stephen Sharp replaced Spelman to solidify the midfield, and he was to be involved in two opportunities that stemmed from long throws, and following flick-ons by Sharp, Duncan Fraser managed to squander both chances from six yards out.
Fewer chances were created as the game went into its latter stages, as Kudos managed a few balls into the penalty area, only for Heffernan to put a halt to any attack.
However, with ten minutes remaining, a long ball found Gill in the opponents third, where the Village forward used his pace and skill to drive into the penalty area and take on the defender to shoot and, despite seeing his first effort saved, he smashed home the rebound with his left foot to give Village the lead.
Despite a late surge of pressure from Kudos and one final effort that Heffernan confidently held, Village showed resilience to ensure victory and take all three points.
A great team effort with positive encouragement throughout and everyone playing to the team’s plan ensured Village continued from their fine pre-season form.
They move onto next week’s first home match against AFC Dara where they must produce another positive performance and continue their winning streak.
