by James Barrett

Carshalton Athletic survived a late red card to progress to the second qualifying round of the FA Trophy with a hard earned win at Burnham Ramblers.

A 1-0 win at the Ryman Division One North opponents was only the Robins’ second victory on the road since the start of the season, with right back Bobby Price grabbing the crucial goal on 28 minutes.

Midfielder Matt Males said: “It’s been a tough time at the club results-wise recently but I felt we did well today, especially in the first-half.

“It was a bit tougher after the break and, the last 10 minutes in particular, saw both sides trade chance after chance, but we dug in.”

The dismissal of Paris Hamilton-Downes for a second yellow with five minutes left did not alter the end result for Carshalton, although Burnham did have a headed goal chalked off for offside from the resultant free-kick.

Males has been deployed by interim boss Ian Hazel at centre back as injuries and suspensions have robbed the manager of options in that department, but Saturday’s clean sheet was also their first since last month.

“The boss has put faith in me to play in that position and I felt we were more structured compared to the 5-0 defeat at Lowestoft,” he added.

“We worked on our shape in training and the communication between everyone on the pitch was spot on.”

As for right back Price, his goal was his first at senior level and part of the reason he got himself in that position was due to the Robins' game plan.

“Ian asked Sean O’Toole and I to get forward as much as possible, so I pushed up as I saw this attack develop,” Price said.

“It was a good through ball from Tommy Bradford, I felt someone on my back but I managed to slide it past the keeper and I watched it roll it from the floor.”

There is more cup action for Carshalton on Tuesday night as they travel to Whyteleafe in the Surrey Senior Cup.