CAFC vs AFC Wimbledon – Report
Carshalton Athletic fell to a 4-1 defeat against an AFC Wimbledon XI in their penultimate pre-season friendly on Saturday at Colston Avenue.
The Wombles looked the more threatening side in the early exchanges, with their forwards repeatedly breaching Carshalton’s back line. However, the Robins’ well-organised offside trap stood strong, with the assistant’s flag halting several promising attacks.
After a brief stoppage in play for goalkeeper Matt Kerbey to receive treatment, Wimbledon enjoyed a sustained spell of attacking pressure. Kerbey remained sharp between the sticks, quick off his line to intercept through balls as the young Dons looked to exploit gaps in the defence.
As the match approached the 20-minute mark, Adeniyi’s side began to pose questions of their own. A clever short-corner routine led to Bradford whipping in a dangerous cross that was met by a Carshalton head, drawing a full-stretch save from the Wimbledon keeper. Moments later, another short corner found its way to Read inside the box, but his swivelled effort lacked power and was easily gathered by the goalkeeper.
Midway through the half, the Reds were enjoying a good spell of possession and edging closer to the Wimbledon goal, but the final ball continued to elude them. Carshalton’s build-up play was tidy, yet they lacked the killer pass to unlock the defence. A lofted ball in behind released Aziz Sankoh down the left channel, and his driven delivery flashed venomously across the face of goal—no one in red was there to apply the finishing touch.
In the final third of the half, the game opened up into an end-to-end affair, though it was Wimbledon who carved out the more dangerous opportunities. A winger found himself in acres of space on the left side of the box but scuffed his shot wide, allowing Kerbey to collect and launch a counter-attack. Minutes later, the visitors broke forward at pace — the ball broke kindly inside the area, and though it was squared across the six-yard box, the attacker failed to connect cleanly, and Kerbey smothered the danger.
As the half wore on, momentum began to swing in the visitors’ favour, and they got their reward in the 38th minute. Kerbey made a superb one-on-one save, sticking out a boot to deny the initial effort, but an alert Womble was quickest to the rebound, slotting home despite close pressure from Dylan Pepe and Kerbey. Unlucky.
Wimbledon pressed to double their lead before the break. A cut-back from the byline found an attacker on the edge of the area, who struck first-time — the shot flashed just wide of Kerbey’s bottom corner, taking the faintest of deflections en route. What followed was a spell of chaos inside the box, but Kerbey reacted sharply to smother the loose ball amid the scramble.
Right on the stroke of half-time, a trialist had Carshalton’s best chance of the half — spinning in the box and firing narrowly wide. Inches from an equaliser, and moments later, punished. The Wombles broke again, and this time the forward made no mistake, coolly side-footing past Kerbey one-on-one to give the visitors a two-goal cushion heading into the break.
The second half got off to the perfect start as Kalvin Kalala halved the deficit in spectacular style. An inswinging corner was only partially cleared, and Kalala met it on the volley from 25 yards out—a thunderous strike that flew past the diving keeper and nestled into the bottom corner. What a hit!
Moments later, Carshalton had the ball in the net again through Read, but celebrations were cut short as the referee ruled it out for a foul in the build-up.
Just before the hour mark, Wimbledon restored their two-goal cushion. The visitors’ attacker weaved his way through a sea of red shirts and unleashed a powerful strike, which Kerbey did well to parry. The rebound was followed up with another sharp save, but a substitute reacted quickest, smashing home from a tight angle to cap off the move.
On 67 minutes, Read was penalised for catching his man as the attacker tried to cut inside, and the referee wasted no time in pointing to the spot. The Wombles made no mistake, sending Kerbey the wrong way to make it four. The pressure kept mounting as wave after wave of attacks rained down on the Robins’ defence.
Kola Salami offered a glimmer of hope with a powerful run down the right channel, bursting into the penalty area,
but his effort flew the wrong side of the near post without troubling the keeper. In a bid to restore some pride, manager Peter Adeniyi turned to his bench, introducing a flurry of substitutions — many of them promising youngsters from the academy.
Pushed deep into their own half, Carshalton were forced to absorb a succession of attacks. The Wombles continued to rotate their side, keeping the tempo high, while the Robins struggled to break out—barely managing to get a foothold in the opposition half as the game threatened to slip away with a whimper.
In the dying embers of the match, the Reds finally found some urgency and began to test the Wombles’ keeper. Nabeel Ghannam showed quick feet, rolling the ball under control before executing a pair of stepovers and flashing a dangerous delivery across the face of goal.
Shortly after, the trialist right-back drove into the box with purpose, cut inside onto his left foot, and unleashed an effort—but it could only sting the visiting No. 1’s palms.
In the final few minutes, our trialist left winger stood out, desperately trying to inject some life into Carshalton almost single-handedly. Driving purposefully towards goal, he squared the ball to the forward, whose shot was deflected over the bar. Moments later, the winger had a chance of his own but fired high over from close range. Ghannam could have reduced the deficit from the spot, but his penalty was denied, capping off a frustrating afternoon for the Robins.
The lads are back in action next Saturday for their final pre-season match away at Merstham. We look forward to seeing the Robins faithful behind the goal backing Adeniyi and Co!
Up Next
Date: Saturday, 2 August 2025
Venue: Moatside
Kickoff: 3:00 pm
Admission: Adults (£10), Concessions (£6), Children (£3)
Tickets: Buy Tickets Here
