Graham Rolfe hit a hat trick as Carshalton Village marched into round 4 of the Surrey Junior Cup with a convincing 6-0 victory away to Smallfield from the Redhill and District League. Goals from Paul Gill, Matheu Sullivan and Rolfe inside the first 15 minutes left village 3-0 up at the break. Rolfe completed his hat trick in the second half before Adam Meller grabbed his second Surrey cup goal of the season.
Having trekked across Surrey to Smallfield, Village were met with a pitch that which was missing some important components - side lines. The home side got out the paint and marked out the pitch before he referee arrived in the hope that the long journey for Village would not be a wasted one.
Within the first 4 minutes, Village had a chance to take the lead, and after a couple of blocked attempts, Rolfe fired in from the edge of the box to find the top left hand corner and settle any nerves in the Village team. Less than a minute later, Village played some lovely quick football through the midfield before Phil Boon found a gap between the Smallfield defence for Sullivan to run onto. Taking his first touch into the box, Sullivan then cut back inside, past the helpless, sliding centre back and taking another touch to steady himself, before gently caressing the ball into the far corner, past an outrushing goalkeeper who was left nowhere near the ball.
15 minutes into the first half, Rolfe turned provider by winning the ball in the midfield and sending a low pass to Gill who used his trusty toe poke past the last defender before slotting into the far corner, off the post, and into the net to put Village 3-0 up. Village began to dominate and only took their foot off the pedal after a cut back across goal found Adam Meller unmarked at the back post. Blaming the uneven pitch, Meller struck the ball not only upwards, but also backwards as it was more of a clearance than a shot. Village saw in the half to keep the 3-0 lead.
The second half started with Smallfield trying hard to put the Village back line under pressure, but they remained strong and kept the ball well, linking up with the midfield players to try and create more chances. Half way through the second half Village were awarded a free kick on the left touch line, half way inside the Smallfield half. Gary ‘Beckham’ Hewston floated a ball agonisingly out of reach of the first line of defence before it fell to Rolfe’s feet with his back to goal. A smart turn from Rolfe allowed for him to produce a ‘daisy cutting’ an effort towards the far post and find the bottom corner. It was not long until Rolfe was celebrating his hat trick. An in swinging corner on the left from Sullivan caused the defence and keeper to allow the ball to drop inside the six yard box, and after the initial effort was blocked on the line, Rolfe tackled the ball in to complete his hat trick and become the second Meller relative in as many weeks to score three.
Not contempt with 5, Village continued to press, and should have scored more before Sullivan was played through to see his shot saved by the out rushing keeper. The rebound fell back to Sullivan who flicked it into the path of Meller who took a touch before placing it past the defender on the line to complete the rout. Village must now wait to find out their opposition in the next round as the cup march continues.
