CAFC vs Wingate & Finchley – Preview
Following back-to-back victories over Canvey Island and Cheshunt, Carshalton Athletic will be looking to make it three wins in a row when Wingate & Finchley make the trip to Colston Avenue on Saturday.
Carshalton Athletic
Following a 16-game winless run that stretched back to 11th November, when the Robins secured a 3–2 victory at The Dripping Pan against Lewes, Carshalton finally got over the line with a 3–1 win against bottom side Canvey Island.
The Robins went behind early on when Mike Finneran headed home from a free kick, but Carshalton levelled on 26 minutes when Bryan Ifeanyi converted a penalty following a handball in the area. The visitors were reduced to 10 men on 51 minutes when Luke O’Neill brought down debutant Nathan Young-Coombes as the last man. The numerical advantage allowed Carshalton to control the remainder of the game, and goals from substitutes Tolu Ladapo and Charlie George secured a vital three points for the Robins.
After waiting nearly four months for that win, the Robins made it two wins in a row with a 1–0 victory at Cheshunt on Saturday. Carshalton prevailed in a tricky encounter, with Nathan Young-Coombes’ 74th-minute strike proving the difference between the two sides.
Those wins lifted Carshalton out of the relegation zone, although their position remains precarious, with Cray Valley PM and Welling United (who hold a game in hand) just four points behind in the final two relegation spots.
Carshalton have just seven games left, starting with a home match against 16th-place Wingate & Finchley on Saturday. The final six fixtures look challenging on paper, with trips to Folkestone (1st), Aveley (2nd) and Dulwich (11th), alongside home games against Brentwood (3rd), Dartford (6th) and St Albans (10th). There are no easy matches in the Isthmian Premier Division, and Steven Bates will be looking to pick up as many points as possible in the final seven games to ensure his side are not in the bottom four at the end of April.
Wingate & Finchley FC
Wingate & Finchley were formed in 1991 through the merger of two historic clubs: Wingate F.C., founded in 1946, and Finchley F.C., whose origins date back to 1874. The combined club plays its home matches at the Maurice Rebak Stadium.
Although the present club dates from the early 1990s, both predecessor teams had long histories within English non-league football. Finchley enjoyed a number of notable moments, including reaching the third round of the FA Cup during the 1952–53 season. Wingate, meanwhile, was established shortly after the Second World War with strong links to the Jewish community and a mission to challenge antisemitism through sport. Financial difficulties later led to the merger, creating the modern Wingate & Finchley side.
In more recent years, Wingate & Finchley have become an established side in the Isthmian League. A significant moment came in the 2010–11 season, when the club won the Isthmian Division One North play-offs to secure promotion to the Premier Division. That achievement marked an important step forward and allowed the Blues to compete consistently at a higher level of non-league football.
Since then, the club has regularly finished in mid-table while occasionally pushing for promotion. One of their strongest recent campaigns came in 2016–17, when they reached the Isthmian Premier Division play-offs before losing in the semi-final to Bognor Regis Town. More recently, Wingate & Finchley mounted another promotion challenge in the 2023–24 season, reaching the play-off semi-final before being beaten by local rivals Enfield Town.
This season, the Blues have had an up-and-down campaign, currently sitting in 16th place with a record of 11 wins, 7 draws and 17 defeats. This leaves them nine points clear of the relegation zone, with most sides having seven games remaining. A few more wins will likely be enough to secure their status at Step 3 for another season.
Despite inconsistent league form, the same cannot be said for their run in the Isthmian League Cup, with Wingate & Finchley reaching the final. The Blues have beaten Walthamstow (on penalties), Cheshunt (4–1), Kingstonian (on penalties) and Redbridge (2–1) to set up a final against Ramsgate on 14th April. With that final taking place while the league season is still ongoing, Wingate will hope to pick up enough points in their upcoming games to secure safety before then, allowing them to focus fully on bringing the Velocity Cup back to Summers Lane.
Head to Head
This will be the fourth meeting between the sides this season, having already met twice in the FA Cup and once in the league.
In the first qualifying round of the FA Cup at Colston Avenue back in August, the original tie ended goalless on a wet and windy afternoon. Tommy Bradford came closest for Carshalton when his header struck the bar, while Wingate also had opportunities to win the match, forcing a replay three days later at the Maurice Rebak Stadium.
In the replay, Wingate raced into a 2–0 lead with two first-half goals from Camilo Restrepo. The Robins responded quickly in the second half with an own goal and a strike from Kola Salami to level the tie, but Wingate clinched the win late on thanks to an 89th-minute finish from Ryan Lowe.
The league fixture took place in December at the Maurice Rebak Stadium. Wingate took an early lead through Ayyuba Jambang in the 8th minute. The Robins turned the game around, scoring twice before half time, with Ifeanyi levelling the scores by tapping home from a free kick before Nzuzi’s cross was turned into his own net by a Wingate defender. Carshalton looked set to hold on for all three points, but Alfie Cue equalised in the 93rd minute to make it 2–2, meaning both sides had to settle for a point.
The teams also met twice in the league last season. At Colston Avenue, Carshalton surged into a 2–0 lead through a Dominic Vose brace, only for Wingate to respond with excellent goals from Luke Deslandes and Ben Frempah. With the match level at 2–2, club legend Paris Hamilton-Downes bundled in a dramatic late winner to secure a 3–2 victory – a result that briefly sent the Robins top of the Isthmian League.
In the reverse fixture at the Maurice Rebak Stadium, Wingate struck early through Frempah and Andronicos Georgiou. David Smith pulled one back before the break, but despite sustained second-half pressure from the Robins, Wingate held firm to claim a 2–1 win, leaving last season’s head-to-head evenly split.
Team News
Carshalton Athletic
New striker Nathan Young-Coombes scored his first goal in Carshalton colours on Saturday – and it proved crucial, as he netted the winner in the 1–0 victory over Cheshunt.
Young-Coombes appears to be a significant coup for the Robins, having previously appeared in the Premier League for Brentford in 2022, as well as spending time on loan at then-League Two side AFC Wimbledon.
Following the goal on Saturday, manager Steven Bates commented on X:
“So pleased for this young man. A very decent footballer who has had a tough couple of seasons and deserved his goal.”
Bates has worked with Young-Coombes previously at Wealdstone, where the striker made four National League appearances, as well as two more in the National League Cup during a short-term spell. Bates will hope he can get the best out of his new number nine in the coming weeks, with his goals potentially crucial to the Robins’ survival hopes.
Pre-Match Analysis
With Carshalton winning their last two games and Wingate winning their last three in all competitions, both sides will enter the match in confident moods. Wingate know that a few more wins will likely secure their survival, and the visitors will want to get those points on the board as soon as possible.
The sides have already met three times this season – all close encounters – and another tight contest is expected on Saturday. The Robins currently sit four points above the relegation zone, but with several “six-pointers” still to come between other sides in the relegation battle, Carshalton will need a positive result on Saturday to keep themselves out of trouble.
Key Player
Gianluca Botti made the move to Wingate & Finchley in September after starting the season with National League South side Horsham. He also finished last season at that level with Tonbridge Angels.
Botti spent time at Lewes last season and was an enormous success for the Rooks, scoring seven goals in twelve appearances. He joined Lewes from Whitehawk, where he had spent less than six weeks, making seven appearances and scoring three goals.
Botti scored thirty-one goals for Chertsey Town as they won the Isthmian South Central title during the 2023–24 season, including a four-goal haul against Uxbridge. What impressed most, however, was his consistency – he scored in twenty-five different matches. He joined Chertsey after scoring twenty-nine goals in forty-one appearances for Camberley Town during the 2022–23 season.
This season for Wingate, he has scored 17 goals in all competitions – 13 in the league and four in the Isthmian League Cup. He has scored a number of important goals, including the winner in a 1–0 victory over Hashtag United, both goals in a 2–0 win against Canvey Island, and most recently the winner in a 1–0 victory over Cray Valley PM on Saturday.
The Gaffer
Ahmet Rifat took charge of Wingate & Finchley in October 2022, guiding them to safety with a 16th-place finish. In 2023–24, he oversaw a remarkable 4th-place finish – the highest in the club’s history – followed by a solid 11th-place campaign with 60 points last season.
A true Wingate stalwart, Rifat made over 400 appearances for the club as a player and is now in his 18th season across various roles. Deeply connected to the club, he will be eager to continue building his legacy. After an up-and-down season so far, his side sit nine points clear of the relegation zone and will likely need a few more wins to secure safety. Rifat also has the opportunity to bring silverware back to Summers Lane when they face Ramsgate in the Isthmian League Cup final in April.
Match Details
Date: Saturday 21st March 2026
Opponents: Wingate & Finchley
Venue: Colston Avenue
Competition: Isthmian League
Kick-off: 3pm
Admission: Adults £12, Conc £9, U18 £6, Women & Girls FREE
Tickets: Here or purchase at the turnstiles
