Carshalton Athletic playmaker Ricky Korboa made an instant impact as he returned to action for the first time this season, writes James Barrett-Sterling.

The Robins shared eight goals with visiting Ramsgate on Saturday during a game in which their unbeaten league record came under serious threat before ending 4-4.

And Korboa, whom missed the start of this season with a hamstring injury, came off the bench to play a key part in two of his side’s second-half goals.

“I’m really pleased to be back but we aren’t happy with that result. We feel its two points dropped,” said Korboa.

“We didn’t do well in the first-half and gave away sloppy goals. We needed to move the ball quicker and then we hit three goals after the break.”

There were three goals in six minutes during the first-half as Raheem Sterling-Parker reduced Carshalton’s two-goal deficit before the break.

The Robins dominated the start of the second-half but Ramsgate’s Rory Smith plundered his hat-trick just after the hour mark.

Enter Korboa - he won the corner that Mickel Miller bundled in at the near post then, after Jordan Cheadle’s 20 yard free kick made it 3-3, the tricky forward teed up Miller for his second of the afternoon.

“We always say never give up and keep running until the last whistle, so we did well to get ourselves in front but it was so disappointing to concede late on,” added Korboa, referring to Smith’s close range header on 86 minutes.

“We need to stop letting in so many goals but we’ll learn from this and work hard to cut it out our game.”

And Korboa, whom hit 20 goals last season despite suffering with his injury on-and-off since last December, cannot wait to get back to work.

“I’ve really missed it over the last two months. It’s great to get back on the pitch and I want to play my part in helping the club achieve promotion this season.”

Carshalton Athletic suffered their first league defeat of the season at Hastings United on Tuesday when they went down 2-0. The Robins travel to Heybridge Swifts in the FA Trophy on Saturday.