Carshalton Athletic (H) - 9th December 2023
By Josh Cole
The Mark Stimson era at Margate begins on Saturday as we take on Carshalton at Hartsdown Park for Matchday #19. Get your tickets for this match by clicking here.
A youthful Margate side were knocked out of the Velocity Trophy on Tuesday despite taking a 1-0 lead. You can read the match report from that game by clicking here.
OPPONENTS SEASON SO FAR
Carshalton are sat in 13th place from 18 games on 22 points. Carshalton started the season in red hot form with the robins going unbeaten until the eighth game, with them winning five and drawing two. After losing to Hashtag which ended their unbeaten run, they then went winless for the next four games (losing two and drawing two) before they beat Folkestone 3-1 at home. In the five league games leading up to our clash with Carshalton, they lost all of them, only scoring three goals in those five games and conceding 14. Over the course of the season so far, they have scored 28 but conceded 30, giving them a –2 goal difference.
LAST FIVE: MARGATE
Loss vs Horsham, away (1-0) League
Loss vs Billericay, home (1-3) League
Draw vs Bognor Regis, away (2-2) League
Loss vs Enfield Town, away (2-0) League
Loss vs Whitehawk, away (3-1) Velocity Trophy 3rd Round
LAST FIVE: CARSHALTON ATHLETIC
Loss vs Cray Wanderers, away (1-0) League
Loss vs Hastings United, away (4-0) League
Loss vs Wingate & Finchley, home (2-3) League
Loss vs Billericay, away (2-0) League
Loss vs Cheshunt, home (1-4) League
In the away form table, Carshalton sit in 14th place with two wins, three draws and three defeats whilst Margate are 8th in the home form table with four wins, two draws and three losses.
You can view the full table by clicking here.
HEAD-TO-HEAD
There have been 15 encounters between the ‘Gate and the Robins dating back to December 2012, with Margate winning six, Carshalton winning four and five games ending level. The last time the two teams met at Hartsdown Park, it was a 0-1 win for the away side in February last season. You can watch the highlights from that game by clicking here.
MATCH OFFICIALS
The man in the middle for Saturday’s game is Daniel Blades, with the two assistants being Kieron Williamson and Wayne Horsfall.
Not able to get to HDP this Saturday? Head over to our official X account for live match updates commencing from 2:15pm onwards!
UP THE ‘GATE
Blues Defeated By Carshalton Athletic
By Riley Finch
A Bradley Williams wonder goal denied Mark Stimson his first points as the new Margate manager in a 1-0 defeat to Carshalton Athletic at Hartsdown Park.
William’s ruthless strike pinged off the crossbar to cross the line in the 57th minute of the match to give the away side the lead.
The goal was the only real measure to separate the two sides in a game which presented such little opportunities.
With that said, Olly Box will be gutted that he did not put the home side level with six minutes to play.
Box and Tyrone Sterling were both subbed in the second-half as we looked for an equaliser.
After making a late run to the back post, it looked as though Box was destined to sweep a searching cross into the net but his effort was just wide.
Our best chance of scoring looked as though it would come from a set-piece as Ben Greenhalgh and Rhodell Gordon produced some quality from the corner flag.
A Gate player just could not get the telling touch however on some excellent crosses as Carshalton piled bodies on the line to deny a deserved equaliser.
Having scored his first senior goal this week, Vinnie Bowman also got some minutes after Archie Johnson took a late knock.
In the end however, time simply ran out for us.
It would be fair to say that both teams deserved a point today in what was a hard fought match
After taking just one training session with the boys however, Stimson’s impact was clear to see.
Mark Stimson was announced just a few days ago following Reece Prestige’s departure.
Our new manager was largely happy with the performance despite a 1-0 loss.
“I’d just like to say thank you to the board for giving me this opportunity”, Said Stimson.
“I have had one, one-hour training session with the boys and they have bought into it really well.
“They worked really hard tonight, in the end they score a wonder goal but im happy with what I’ve seen from the players tonight.
“I’m not here because I want to be on the road missing my family at Christmas, I’m here to win football matches and I’m confident we can get ourselves back to where we need to be.”
Margate face fellow strugglers Kingstonian in their next test at home where Stimson will be keen to get his first victory.
While our new manager will be allowed all the patience and time we can offer, there is a strong feeling that this will be a must win match for the Gate if we are to avoid being sucked into a relegation scrap.
Margate: Harry Seaden, Harrison Hatfull, Archie Johnson (Vinnie Bowman 85'), Godfrey Poku, Harry Hudson, Rohdell Gordon, Sam Blackman, Steve Cawley, Ben Greenhalgh, Fyn Rutherford (Olly Box 72'), Lewis Knight (Tyrone Sterling 72')
Unused Subs: Reece Hobbs, Leo Mazzone
Attendance:
343