Carshalton Athletic defender Jordan Cheadle called their victory at league leaders Lewes on Wednesday night a “major milestone”, writes James Barrett-Sterling.

The third-placed Robins inflicted Lewes’ first defeat since New Years Day, via an early Kalvin Morath-Gibbs goal, and the 1-0 win has blown the race for the Bostik South title wide open with less than 10 games to go.

Carshalton now sit three points behind Lewes and trail second-placed Corinthian Casuals by only one but, crucially, the Robins have games in hand over their rivals.

“We were buzzing at the final whistle and this result could be considered a major milestone, but we very quickly put our feet back on the ground,” said Cheadle.

“There’s still lots to do, we need to focus on our upcoming games and everyone in this squad understands that.”

It was Cheadle’s second minute corner that caused a melee inside the Lewes box before defender Morath-Gibbs pounced to ram home his fifth goal of the season.

Ricky Korboa almost made it two on the stroke of half-time but his venomous 20-yard strike cannoned back off a post.

Lewes failed to get out of second gear for much of the match but, in added time, substitute Billy Medlock found himself in front of Carshalton’s goal only to guide a low cross into the grateful arms of keeper Billy Bishop.

“We knew we had to frustrate them so we let them have possession at the back, but we worked hard to win the ball or force mistakes as soon as they crossed the halfway line,” added Cheadle.

“It wasn’t the prettiest of performances but we felt we could win this game and we got a perfect result.”

Carshalton, who have now only lost once in 23 league games, are now preparing to welcome Guernsey to Colston Avenue this Saturday (kick-off 3pm).