Carshalton Athletic put on a resolute display to claim a fifth league win of the season at Lewes on Saturday.
The Robins took an early lead on the south coast through Ricky Korboa before spurning more chances in a dominate first-half performance.
And they were made to pay for that profligacy as top scorer Tommy Bradford gave away a 66th minute penalty converted by home striker Jamie Brotherton.
But the forward made amends 10 minutes later with his eighth of the season and the 2-1 victory cements Carshalton’s place among the early Ryman Division South pacesetters ahead of a game against rock-bottom Godalming Town.
“We played well overall, especially the first half-hour, but we had to dig in the second-half,” said Robins midfielder Sekou Kaba, whose pass set Korboa away to score in the fifth minute.
“We perhaps should’ve killed the game a little earlier than we did but to win three points away from home is always fantastic.”
Kaba was pleased to see teammate Bradford hit the winner after the indiscretion inside his own area and added it proved the resolve within the Carshalton squad.
“Tommy is a quality player - we all told him to keep his head up and he did just that,” he said.
“We let them back into it because I think we sat back a bit more in the second-half and some mistakes crept in, but we fought hard and showed we can come back from disappointment.”
Godalming Town will visit Colston Avenue having earned one point from their opening seven games, but Carshalton assistant coach Mike Gilham believes their opponents will provide a stern test.
“Every club will get their first win of the season at some stage so we’ll have to be on our toes to ensure theirs doesn’t come against us,” he said.
“There are no easy games at this level but we look forward to getting out there and trying to continue our recent good form.”
The Robins kick off against Godalming Town tonight (Monday) at 7.45pm.
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