Carshalton Athletic stunned National League opponents Barnet on Saturday as they rescued their FA Trophy adventure from the jaws of what looked like certain defeat, writes James Barrett-Sterling.

The Robins, who currently sit 44 places below Barnet in the football pyramid, found themselves two-down at half-time in this third round tie, but captain Bobby Price held his nerve to convert a 89th minute penalty as a topsy-turvy second-half saw the game finish 3-3.

And, while details for next week’s replay will be revealed soon, the eventual winners will then travel in the quarter-finals to the victor between Ramsbottom United and AFC Flyde.

The game on Saturday began with Barnet predictably on the front foot and they bossed the majority of the opening 45 minutes.

Carshalton worked extremely hard when out of possession but, whenever their backline was breeched, either goalkeeper Patrick Ohman or wayward finishing kept the scoreline blank.

But it all fell apart for the Robins just before the break – Ohman caught Ephron Mason-Clark inside the box and Barnet top scorer Shaquille Coulthirst hit his tenth of the season from the spot.

Then it went from bad to worse as Jack Taylor burst onto a long forward ball before the break and his lob over an oncoming Ohman was nodded in by Mason-Clark at the back post.

“We were comfortable in the first-half, got ourselves in front and deservedly so,” said Barnet manager Darren Currie.

“But we didn’t manage the game well enough after the break and some sloppy decisions cost us. Carshalton had a real go in the second-half and certainly caused us more problems.”

A change of formation and the introduction of a fit-again Ricky Korboa injected life back in Carshalton as they became more of an attacking force.

And on 68 minutes Ola Sogbanmu rose to powerfully head a corner kick past Will Huffer to ignite a spark of hope on the terraces.

But Barnet snuffed that out just two minutes later as Coulthirst cut in from the left and bent a shot beyond Ohman from just outside the area.

Carshalton kept plugging away however and, with 15 minutes to go, a Jordan Cheadle corner hit Barnet sub Byron Harrison, who used to play for the Robins, and the ball rolled past the despairing dive of Huffer.

And the comeback was completed when Korboa was barged over by Craig Robson on 89 minutes and Carshalton captain Bobby Price held his nerve to slam the penalty past Huffer and send the home fans wild.

“We had a game plan that was working perfectly, but we lost concentration for five minutes in the first-half and that almost cost us,” rued Carshalton player/boss Peter Adeniyi.

“The spirit we showed in the second-half, against a very good Barnet side, was immense however and we could’ve ended up scoring five or six. I’m proud of the boys and we need to keep to this standard moving forwards.”