Boxing Day Derby As Carshalton Host Tooting
- James Barrett
- Dec 23, 2016
- 3 min read
There’s a real feast of football on offer in Surrey this Christmas time, writes James Barrett.
Carshalton Athletic will host a ding-dong derby against Tooting and Mitcham United on Boxing Day (KO 3pm at Colston Avenue) and the match is shaping up to be a belated present in the stocking of football fans.
Both clubs have rarely been outside the Ryman South top five this season as the Robins look to peg back their near neighbours whom sit six points ahead of their hosts in second place.
Carshalton boast some of the highest goalscorers in the league so far this season and the likes of Ricky Korboa and Mickel Miller will be itching to fire the Robins to victory – although they could find their path to goal blocked by defensive ex-colleagues Quincy Rowe and Adriano Moraes.
"Unfortunately we'll have (second top scorer) Tommy Bradford and midfielder Jordan Hibbert missing through suspension but we have others who can come in and cope under pressure," says Carshalton player/manager Peter Adeniyi.
"We've also been tweaking things in training recently and it's so pleasing to see the players taking to new ideas and approaches. We respect Tooting's league position but we don't fear them and I'm looking forward to an interesting game of football."
Tooting, in stark contrast, lost the league’s leading marksman Billy Dunn to rivals Greenwich Borough earlier this month, so replacement Marcel Barrington will wish to endear himself to the United faithful by finding the net in this encounter.
They have goals in their midfield however and the likes of Jordan Wilson, another ex-Carshalton man, and Chace O'Neill will by trying to their utmost to add to their tallies and spread further festive joy throughout the United fans.
In fact, as both clubs have been finding the net for fun so far this league campaign, the promise of goals is high – Carshalton have hit 56 to date, including an impressive 10-0 win over Godalming Town, while Tooting have mustered a massive 70 of their own, with eight coming in one game against Molesey.
Last season the clubs won their respective home fixtures against each other, with Kingsley Aikhionbare firing home a 90th minute winner for Carshalton in a 1-0 win, but Tooting have won five of their last eight away games and will be looking to add a sixth.
"There are plenty of points up for grabs over the Christmas and New Year period, so we've set ourselves what I feel is a realistic target to hit," added Adeniyi.
"We are simply concentrating on accumulating as many as we can but it's important not to let the teams above us pull away, so we'll be giving everything to ensure we try and cap this Christmas with three points."
Ticket prices for the match are as follows: Adults (over 18) - £10, Senior citizens (over 60) - £6, Under 18s - £3.
The Watford vs Crystal Palace match (KO 12.30pm) will also be televised in the clubhouse, which is open from 12pm and serves various real ales, lagers and an array of wines, spirits and soft drinks.
So shake off some of those holiday cobwebs down at Colston Avenue on Monday 26th December – this one is set up to be a real Christmas cracker!
Photo credit: Ian Gerrard