Carshalton Athletic 0 Hendon 0

Again the Robins had to play the major part of a home Ryman League Premier Division game with 10 men following the sending-off of Karl Murray for handball late in the first half and, in the circumstances, this might have been regarded as a good point.

But such is the Robins predicament that wins are badly needed if Ian Hazel’s side are to gain the points that the manager has said they need to lift them out of the relegation places.

More personnel changes late in the week saw the departure of Craig Faulconbridge to Woking and the arrival of Byron Harrison and Ben Clark and, with Charlie Ide unavailable through sickness, Harrison in particular did well enough to suggest that he will be an asset in the last six weeks of the season.

Despite the latest upheavals to the side, it was the Robins who made the early running.

A good move involving Murray, Richard Jolly and Clark ended with Harrison inches away from a the contact needed to guide the ball home and from the subsequent corner Ben Clark’s header was hacked off the Hendon goal line by James Burgess.

Hendon’s James Parker became the first of many to find his way into the referee’s book for a foul on Clark and minutes later Kenny Beaney’s free-kick was headed down to Toppin only for the midfielder to hit his shot disappointingly wide.

Hendon enjoyed a good spell of pressure winning three corners in succession, but Nic Hamann’s handling was positive and the Robin’s keeper was rarely troubled.

Back in the midfield, Toppin was the next to be booked and it was clear that Mr Eva, the match official, was intent on penalising any strong contact with no allowances for the difficult conditions or the spirit of the game.

Jolly was showing signs of forging an understanding with Harrison and when his well-timed flick found Harrison, the rangy striker’s drive from the edge of the area hit the Hendon bar.

Things were looking brighter for Carshalton, but it all went wrong late in the half when a long ball put Murray under pressure on the edge of his area.

Play was halted by the referee who, after consulting his assistant, awarded a free kick and dismissed Murray for handling the ball to deny Hendon a scoring chance.

Faced with the prospect of playing out the game with 10 men, Barry Stevens reverted to full-back, leaving the Robins short-handed when going forward.

Ironically it was Stevens who was the first to be booked in the second half, apparently for showing dissent at what he considered to be some erratic decision making.

Harrison and Jolly again combined well to create a chance for the Robins top scorer, but Hendon keeper, Berkley Laurencin, did exceptionally well to race off his line to block Jolly’s attempt to chip the ball over him.

The quality of the play deteriorated as the game went on. Carshalton could put this down to playing with 10 men, but Hendon appeared to lack the ambition to take advantage of their extra man, looking more interested in ensuring one point than pressing for three, and the main interest lay in seeing how many more players would find their way into the over-fussy officials note book.

The answer turned out to be three, Lewis Gonsalves for Carshalton and James Busby and Anthony Thomas for the visitors.

In terms of chances, it was Hendon who produced a late flurry with Lubomir Guentchev, Danny Dyer and Casey McLaren all testing Hamann to no avail, giving the Carshalton keeper the chance to finish as Carshalton’s man of the match.

Robins: Nick Hamann, David Ray, Rob Watkins (Rashid Kamara), Karl Murray, Lewis Gonsalves, Adrian Toppin, Barry Stevens, Kenny Beaney, Byron Harrison, Richard Jolly, Ben Clark

Subs not used: Dexter Bart, Stefan Cox, James King

Attendance: 247

Forthcoming games

Tuesday, March 16 (7.45pm): Tonbridge Angels v Carshalton Athletic, Ryman League Premier Division

Saturday, March 20 (3pm): Margate v Carshalton Athletic, Ryman League Premier Division

Thursday, March 25 (7.45pm): Hendon v Carshalton Athletic, Ryman League Premier Division