Carshalton Athletic had a bad day at the office last Saturday as the club slipped to a first defeat in six, writes James Barrett-Sterling.

It was a mouth-watering clash at Colston Avenue as fourth hosted third in the Isthmian Premier, but it was visitors Hornchurch that left smiling after a comprehensive 4-1 victory.

That ended the Robins’ run of five straight wins in all competitions ahead of an FA Cup tie against Harrow Borough whom play in the Southern League Premier South.

And head coach Keith Boanas has warned his players they can ill-afford to play like they did against Hornchurch again.

“We told the boys to go home and take an honest look at themselves because we need to do all we can to avoid this kind of result in the future,” said Boanas.

“Credit to Hornchurch, who did their homework, but we let them put their plan into action. We didn’t show enough spirit at the right moments because we could’ve scored two or three before half-time.

“But we can’t afford to perform like that again, it was sorely disappointing.”

Hornchurch were two-up before the half-hour mark through Matt Johnson and Lewwis Spence, but Jerry Amoo grabbed his fourth goal of the season to reduce the arrears on 32 minutes.

The same player then fluffed a golden chance to equalise for Carshalton, while Ricky Korboa, Omar Koroma and Daniel Pappoe also had efforts off target before the break.

The Urchins took advantage of some slack home defending in the second-half as goals by Chris Dickson and Dan Uchechi put the game beyond Carshalton’s reach – only Margate have scored twice against Hornchurch in a single match so far this season.

The Robins will hope to bounce back in the FA Cup second qualifying round this weekend as they travel to North London.

They dispatched lower league opposition in the previous round – a 2-0 win at Bracknell Town – but Harrow Borough will be a stern test as they have only lost two games since the start of the season.

Harrow Borough vs Carshalton Athletic is on Saturday 21st September (kick-off 3pm).