Lowestoft Town 5 Carshalton Athletic 0

Att 500

Teams:-
Lowestoft Town: Jones, Williams, Gleeson, Gaughran, Adam Smith, Fisk, Jack Ainsley, Lee Smith (Stuart Ainsley 63 mins), Jarvis, Henderson (Eagle 24 mins), Reed (Frew 51 mins)
Subs; Eagle, Frew, Stuart Ainsley, Okay, Jessup

Carshalton Athletic: Snedker, Males, Hamilton-Downes, Ashton (Murphy-McVey 46 mins), Bonsu, Price, Bradford, Odametey, Aikionbare, Addai (Smith 75 mins), O'Toole (Rose 75 mins)
Subs; Murphy-McVey, Smith, Rose

Lowestoft Town put in an exemplary performance of football to dispose of Carshalton Athletic with a 5-0 thumping. Home debutant Jake Reed scored four of the goals, to make himself an instant hero with the Lowestoft supporters.

Midfielder Rossi Jarvis also made his home debut for the blues with both players having signed Ryman forms to play for Lowestoft and the club hoping to agree contracts with both players this week.
A crowd of exactly 500 supporters had barley taken their positions for the match before Lowestoft grabbed an early lead. Adam Smith was found down the left and his deliver to Jake Reed was headed down and past the keeper for 1-0 (2 mins).
Moments later Henderson was fouled just outside the box, as Lowestoft looked sharp and were stretching the Carshalton defence right from the off. The blues had the look of a team who were desperate to make up for the disappointment of Tuesday night and it wasn't long before they doubled their lead. A superb searching ball from deep by Williams was controlled brilliantly by Henderson on the left and with him then finding Adam Smith, he got to the by-line and sent the ball across for Jake Reed to make it 2-0 from close range (14 mins).
Lowestoft were really playing some lovely football and were using the full width of the pitch to pull the Carshalton team apart and to create the gaps that Jake Reed in particular was exposing.
Two goals then became three, with Jake Reed firing himself to instant hero status by sealing his hat-trick. A great cross from the right by the attacking full-back Williams, saw Jake Reed leap incredibly to send a great header past the keeper for 3-0 (20 mins).
Lowestoft had the look of a side who were playing with twelve men and the football they were serving up was of the finest order, with Carshalton simply not being able to live with it.
Lowestoft have spent the last few seasons looking for a sharp, innovative and predatory striker and with the long term injury to Jack Defty and the current knee injury for Woods-Garness, Lowestoft may have finally found their man.
Lowestoft were in no mood to take their foot off the pedal though and with Lee Smith putting in another impressive performance in the centre, he sent a delivery into the box from the middle and with a group of players going for it, Jake Reed was first to the ball and made it four for him and four for Lowestoft; 4-0 (24 mins).
The balance of the Lowestoft side was really working with every cog looked well oiled and performing to its ultimate. Henderson was looking sharp and lively after looking a bit off colour of late but with him coming over unwell and having blurred vision, Eagle was introduced into the fold.
Adam Smith had set up the first two goals for Lowestoft and nearly got his name in the goals column with a free-kick just missing the postage stamp by a matter of millimetres.
Carshalton were having to get numbers behind the ball to deal with a rampant Lowestoft and as a result, Aikionbare was winning a few headers up top but had nobody alongside him for support.
Lee Smith sent a side footed effort too close to the keeper but was not to be denied a goal just before the break. Williams was yet again marauding down the right and with him picking out Eagle on the left, his drive at goal was pushed out by the keeper into the path of Lee Smith, who had the easiest of tasks to tap home for a fantastic 5-0 halftime lead (44 mins).

Carshalton started the half with an immediate change, as Murphy-McVey replaced Ashton.
Lowestoft were still full of tempo and ambition though and with Fisk threading a lovely ball through to Lee Smith, he got right underneath the ball and sent it soaring high over the goal.
Moments later Adam Smith was in the mix again, pulling the ball back to Jake Reed but from ten yards out he proved that he was human, by missing a simple chance to work the keeper.
The game was effectively already won for Lowestoft and with injuries still proving to be an issue, the star of the show was treated to a round of applause by the supporters and replaced by Frew.
Lowestoft continued to get joy in behind the Carshalton defence and with Jarvis and Lee Smith combining well, another ball was pulled back from the by-line but this time nobody was at hand and the keeper Snedker claimed the ball.
Eagle and Williams were charging down the flanks regularly and with Eagle delivering from the left, Frew got the lightest of touches but not enough to send it the right side of the post.
It's always hard to keep momentum going when you're in such a strong position and on top of this Carshalton were now working hard to try and restrict Lowestoft.
Williams picked up the first and only booking of the game for Lowestoft and shortly after Lee Smith was holding his back and moving a bit tentatively, resulting in him being replaced by Stuart Ainsley.
The sun had now started to burst through on what had been a pleasant day but with the exception of the opening fifteen minutes of the half, the game was now becoming a little flat.
Frew had been introduced for Reed and had the chance to shine but unfortunately on too many occasions he was looking lacklustre in his efforts to show for the ball and to work the defence.
Carshalton were now seeing a bit more of the ball and with them spilling forward, an untroubled Jones was forced into making a great save to keep the clean sheet intact. As Price shaped well and bent a good effort in on goal, only for Jones to tip over.
As the final fifteen minutes approached Carshalton made their two remaining substitutions.
The one player who had stood out for Carshalton, especially in the second half was Odametey. He was looking lively in the centre of the pitch and was trying to get something going for his team.
The game was now running its course though and with the exception of a long range effort from Williams, the game came to a close with Lowestoft running out 5-0 winners and putting in a performance that left the whole place buzzing.

The second half was always going to struggle to match up to the first half, with Lowestoft effectively sealing the result by the break and Carshalton looking to restrict the damage. There were also a couple of changes to preserve players and this disrupted the tempo and cohesion a little.
However, it was a performance right out of the top draw from Lowestoft and a half of football which was a pleasure to watch.
It was a real team performance but there were a few outstanding individual performances within that. Up until his back injury, Lee Smith was putting in another mesmerising performance in the centre of the pitch and Fisk put in a shift that was up there with his best efforts for Lowestoft. Williams put in a barnstorming performance at right back, getting forward regularly and delivering some magnificent passes and crosses. Considering he's not played much lately, Adam Smith had a fantastic game, getting in behind the defence regularly and setting up the two opening goals.
However, when it comes to the Man of the Match award, it's a bit of a no brainer. Jake Reed scored four of the five goals and put in a fresh and exciting strikers performance. Well done Jake and well done Lowestoft on a superb result and performance.

After the match I caught up with a delighted Ady Gallagher:-
A brilliant response after Tuesday?
"Yeah, I thought we put in a very good performance today. To be fair our form and football has been decent in two or three games, without getting the results we deserved but today everything came together".
We've spent the last couple of season looking for a sharp and innovative striker and Jake seems to have the full package?
"We need someone who's a willing runner, can hold it up and can also find the net. On that performance today he's proven to be that and some of the goals he scored today were tremendous but let's not take away the whole teams performance today. It's great that we've got a striker in there who's scoring goals but the team performance and work rate was tremendous".
Second half it kind of went a little flat and I guess it's difficult when you're going in at halftime 5-0 up?
"It's always hard to maintain that type of performance and I felt that for the first ten minutes of the second half we did and we probably should have added to the total. I thought Adam Smith was tremendous today and we had three great opportunities with him getting in round the back but people couldn't quite finish them off. I think we went a little bit flat and the movement stopped up front, with us becoming lesser of a team than we were for the first hour. It's something to build on but there were a lot of positives out there".
Another key player was Lee Smith, who was forced off holding his back. Is he okay?
"Hopefully it's a just a minor thing, as he just twinged his back and it was painful to run on but we're hopeful that it's just a nerve thing and will pass but obviously we will assess it".

Attentions now turn to the FA Trophy, with Lowestoft travelling to Enfield Town next Saturday.

Terry Bullen