Molesey legend James McShane scored his 100th goal for the club, becoming the first midfielder in the club's history to do so, but it could not prevent the Moles falling to an unlucky 3-2 defeat at Carshalton Athletic.

McShane's penalty put the ten men of Molesey 2-1 up midway through the second half, but their five game unbeaten league run was ended with late goals from Billy Marshall and Ricky Korboa.

The Moles had looked the livelier side prior to Ollie Robinson's dismissal for a professional foul early in the second half, with Tom Windsor's strike cancelling out Greg Andrews' early goal for the hosts.

The drive to Carshalton took in the Grumpy Mole pub in Cheam, however, there is very little to be grumpy about from the Mole's point of view following a fine start to the season that saw the club go into the game in fourth place knowing that three points would take them second.

It was the Moles' first ever competitive match on 3G, and the first half in particular was played at a blistering pace. Both McShane and Korboa had opportunities to open the scoring before Andrews finished off a quick Robins counter-attack by sweeping beyond Liam Allen from just inside the box.

McShane combined smartly with James Cottee and looked like he'd found the bottom corner but Luke Colquhoun pulled off the first of a number of fine stops.

Cottee could have had four first half goals, but was twice thwarted by Colquhoun, and saw another couple of efforts drag agonisingly wide of the far post. Ross Chalke then hit an effort from distance that just cleared the crossbar.

The Moles were on top, but it wasn't all one-way traffic, with the Robins posing a threat on the break. Korboa mistimed a header, whilst Dan Summers saw a speculative effort from distance drift just over the bar.

Windsor notched his first goal of the season following a flowing team move involving Luke Elliott and Reis Stanislaus, finishing smartly into the bottom corner from 25 yards.

Craig Lewington fired a dangerous ball across goal and hit an effort into the side netting moments later as the Moles finished the half the stronger.

The complexion of the game changed five minutes after the re-start when the Moles lost possession and the Robins broke with lightning pace and men over. The unfortunate Robinson, who has been outstanding for the Moles this season, hauled down Summers inside the box, and the ref had no choice but to brandish the red card.

However, the Moles were given a lift when Allen kept out Summers' weak penalty.

With no recognised central defenders on the pitch up against two players who have top scored in the division in previous seasons in Summers and Andrews, the visitors were up against it, but soon re-took the lead when Cottee was bundled over in the box by Luke Pigden, and McShane fired the spot kick past Colquhoun.

The lead lasted ten minutes, but the Moles were undone when one of their own counter attacks again resulted in them giving the ball away and Carshalton counter attacking themselves. A cross was half-cleared but fell to Marshall, who hit a sweet effort with the outside of his foot that went in off the post.

It was a game of fine margins, and shortly afterwards the woodwork again favoured the Robins, as McShane latched onto Sam Robinson's ball and Colquhoun's fingertips diverted his effort onto the underside of the bar.

The winning goal was another fine effort, with Korboa's quick feet evading three Molesey challenges on the edge of the box before he fired past Allen.

The Moles threw men forward in the closing stages but could not force an opening. The hosts understandably look to kill the game off after the Moles had, again understandably, attempted the same trick when leading.

There was a dash more empathy for the Grumpy Mole on the way home, but despite the disappointment of losing in such a manner there is still plenty to be optimistic about as the Moles look to get back to winning ways in the FA Trophy against Fleet Town on Saturday - 3pm Kick Off.