Carshalton Athletic 0 Bromley 3

Blue Square South side Bromley came out on top in an entertaining opening game, mainly due to resolute defending and their ability to take the chances that came their way at crucial points in the game. Despite the absence of several players with minor injuries, the Robins showed up well in the early exchanges with Richard Jolly and Charlie Ide putting shots on target and just before the half hour Bromley keeper Gareth Williams made an outstanding double save from Karl Beckford and Ide’s follow-up.

Liam Harwood headed Matt Gray’s corner just over and it was something of a surprise when Gareth A Williams put the visitors in front five minutes before the break, slamming in his close-range shot following a throw-in on the right.

Williams could have claimed a second minutes after, but his shot was turned aside by trialist keeper Mark Reed in the Carshalton goal.

Both teams made changes for the start of the second period and two of the Bromley substitutes made an early impression. Warren McBean turned in a cross from the right and Jacob Erskine scored the third when he picked up a pass by Ashley Carew to drive the ball past Reed.

The Robins keeper prevented Bromley from running away with the gameat this point with further saves from McBean’s close range shot and a drive from the edge of the area by Harrison Dunne, with Carshalton rarely able to put pressure on the visitors. Frankie Sawyer’s shot on the turn from a tight angle was held by Williams and late in the game Charlie Ide headed a cross from Adrian Toppin just over, but Bromley’s greater experience served them well to give them a deserved win.

Carshalton squad; Mark Reed, Antonio Gonnella, Scott Cousins, David Graves, Liam Harwood, Karl Beckford, Bashir Alimi, Matt Gray, Charlie Ide, Richard Jolly, Dean Carpenter, Adrian Toppin, Frankie Sawyer, Dwain Clarke.