Charlton Athetic 1 v 1 Blackburn Rovers

Saturday 29th September 2012

Football League Championship

The Valley, Charlton

Admission: Season Ticket

Programme: £3.00

Attendance: 17,169

Match rating: 4

Report of this match can be viewed here

Video of this match can be found at http://www.footytube.com/video/Charlton-Athletic-vs-Blackburn-Rovers-132723

Charlton Athletic Academy U18 6 v 1 Swansea City Academy U18

Saturday 29th September 2012
U18 Professional Development League 2 South
Sparrows Lane, New Eltham
Admission: None
Team Sheet: Free
Attendance: 100 (estimate)
Match rating: 4

Despite being a season ticket holder at Charlton for many years - apart from a recent break - I have never paid a visit to the club's training ground complex to see the youth team in action, probably deterred by the early kick-offs. However, I decided to change that today, on a pleasantly sunny day and to form part of a double bill of football action for me today, with the first team playing at home to Blackburn Rovers in the afternoon.

Sparrows Lane is located in New Eltham, about a ten minute walk from New Eltham train station and is virtually adjacent to a ground I visited towards the end of last season, the Metrogas Sports Ground. These days, only season ticket holders, invited guests or Valley Gold card holders are allowed to attend Charlton's academy games. Once inside the complex, there are unsurprisingly several pitches, with the clubhouse behind the main pitch. Unsurprisingly, spectator facilities are very limited, with spectators only intended to stand along one length of the pitch, whch is roped off. The complex has a nice leafy, tranquil feel about it, and there is a pleasant memorial garden outside the clubhouse, with a bronze bust of Pierre Bolangi, who died in a training accident in 2000. Spectators could help themselves to a teamsheet for today's game outside the main reception.

Whilst not too much should be read into youth team results, Charlton's youth team have had some very pleasing results so far and went into this game unbeaten from their four games, with three wins and one draw. Swansea have won one, drawn one and lost two their games so far.

A pattern of play quickly emerged that Swansea's higher status of their first team would count at this level for very little, as Charlton dominated proceedings virtually from the kick off, and with eight minutes on the clock, Charlton took the lead when the ball was played inside and Tom Derry passed the ball past the keeper and into the net. Charlton soon doubled their advantage when a forward made a complete hash of trying to connect with an excellent cross from the right, however he got enough of a touch for the ball to ricochet off a defender and into the net. Charlton were three up with less than half an hour played, and a wonderful goal it was too, when a cross was played from almost the corner flag, and the ball was drilled in on the volley from about 15 yards into the corner of the net by Michael Martin. Charlton then hit the post - one of countless glorious opportunities for them besides their goals - but a minute later, on 31, they did score their fourth, when the ball was passed neatly through Swansea's defence before Derry scored with a simple finish for his second of the game. Two minutes before half time and Charlton added a fifth with another fabulous goal, Harry Gerard picking the ball up just outside the penalty area before curling a glorious shot over the keeper and into the net.

So a convincing 5-0 lead to the home side at half time, and in truth it could have been double that, so was Charlton's utter dominance, other chances squandered and Swansea barely able to get out of their half. One imagined that the second half couldn't be so one sided again, and so it proved, as Swansea showed a lot more cohesiveness, looked much more solid defensively, and Charlton certainly appeared to take their foot off the gas. On 54 minutes Swansea hit the post, and a minute later were almost gifted a goal, when a Charlton defender passed the ball back firmly to his onrushing goalkeeper. The ball passed him and went agonisingly just wide just before the onrushing striker could reach it to tap it into the net. However, a couple of minutes later and Swansea did get on the score sheet, when the ball was nodded in from close range following a good cross. They almost scored a second on 75 minutes when an almost carbon copy of their goal this time was acrobatically tipped over. A couple of minutes later, Charlton were awarded a free kick right on the edge of the box, and the ball was curled onto the post. On 79 minutes, Charlton scored a sixth, when the ball was worked across the box, finally finding Harry Gerard, who found the net via a deflection. There was little activity for the rest of the game and so it was a convincing victory for Charlton after what was a strange game - Charlton could have been in double figures at half time, but Swansea will feel slightly aggrieved at scoring only once in the second half.

Ipswich Town 1 v 2 Charlton Athletic

Saturday 22^nd September 2012

Football League Championship

Portman Road, Ipswich

Admission: £34.00

Programme: £3.00

Attendance: 16,587

Match Rating: 3

A first Charlton awayday of the season for me today, to a stadium that I have wanted to visit for many years bur has proved elusive over the years. The truly scandalous ticket price strongly tempted me to give this match a miss as well, although in the end, considering that overall, a trip to Portman Road would be cheaper and more convenient than other Charlton awaydays in the north, I decided to head to Suffolk for this fixture.

Portman Road is something of a dying breed amongst Football League grounds in that it is very conveniently located little more than a stone’s throw from the town centre and about a ten minute walk from Ipswich train station, although I chose to make the journey via the official Charlton coach service. In these days of identikit stadia, Portman Road has a nice individual, intimate and attractive feel about it, with a mixture of new stands behind both goals and older two tiered stands along both lengths that have been upgraded to still have a comfortable feel to them. Away fans are housed to the end of one length of the pitch, in the Cobbold Stand, and views are good and unobstructed, and the acoustics aided by the fully enclosed nature of the stand ensures a good atmosphere is easily generated. The programme was fairly standard fare for the Championship – with an attractive layout but seemed to be light on interesting material to read.

Today’s game would be between two of the strugglers in the division. Both teams have won one and drawn two of their opening six league games, although Charlton’s better goal difference meant that they were one place better off than Ipswich, in 22^nd place. Both clubs’ pattern of results have been similar too, drawing their first and winning their second games, before picking up just one point from their next four games.

A feature of Charlton’s recent play has been that they have started games poorly, however this was not the case today, as they did most of the attacking in the early stages, and certainly did not give the ball away as frequently as in previous games. However chances were at a premium, perhaps not surprisingly for two teams desperately out of form, and half time arrived with the scoreline goalless.

The game exploded into life in the second half though, as Charlton took a stranglehold on the game within five minutes of the restart. Firstly Danny Green whipped in a cross from the right which eluded striker Bradley Wright-Phillips, but the ball was retrieved by Salim Kerkar, who crossed low back into the box, and Johnnie Jackson timed his run to perfection to powerfully shoot high into the net from just inside the six yard box. Two minutes later and Charlton doubled their advantage when Ricardo Fuller stole possession from a defender, strode forward with the ball, evaded a rather half-hearted challenge before firing low across keeper Scott Loach and into the net. There was a strong feeling that that goal would prove decisive, particularly considering the current morale of Ipswich, however just seven minutes later they were back in the game. Jason Scotland seemed to have a shoot on sight from distance policy all game, and it paid off when he shot from outside the penalty area, a shot which looked innocuous until it took a large deflection off of defender Michael Morrison, wrongfooting keeper Ben Hamer and the ball bounced gently into the net. This certainly buoyed the home side, although they rarely convinced that they could score, although Nathan Ellington blazed over from 8 yards in the closing minutes and hearts really were in Charlton’s mouths when Ipswich were awarded a free kick just outside the penalty area for what would be just about the last kick of the game, but the ball sailed over the bar. So it was Charlton who claimed a valuable three points to lift themselves away from the relegation zone and keep Ipswich firmly in the mire and heap yet more pressure on manager Paul Jewell.

US Boulogne 1 v 1 Amiens

Tuesday 18th September 2012
French Championnat National
Stade de la Liberation, Boulogne
Admission: €3.00
Programme: N/A
Attendance: 4311
Match rating: 3

A visit to watch Boulogne for a foot passenger is extremely difficult indeed, as they play most of their games in the evening and ferry foot passenger fares only to Calais usually reach an exorbitant level if one does not return to England on the same day. So I could scarcely believe my luck when the P&O website allowed me to book an overnight foot passenger return trip for just £1.00

Tonight would be a revisit for me to the Stade de la Liberation, and my stadium description from my previous visit can be found here. Having last time chosen to sit along the touchline, in the Franck Ribery stand, this evening I chose to sit behind the goal, in the "Kop Boulonnais", where the more vociferous supporters call home.One used to be able to buy tickets for Boulogne matches on their website, however this option no longer seems to be available following the club's relegation to the third tier of French football, and so I bought my ticket for a bargain €3 from the ticket office just outside the main gate before kick-ff. One could choose to sit anywhere in this stand, which offered surprisingly good views, as it is placed on top of, not behind, the running track. Only a small central portion towards the rear is covered, although cover was not required on an evening that was fine and warm to start with but turned chilly once the sun went down.

This evening's match would be the battle of the two relegated clubs from Ligue 2, and it could also be descrbed as something of a derby, between the two most northerly clubs in the Championnat National. Both sides were quite comfortably relegated, Amiens finishing rock bottom, 19 points adrift of safety, whilst Boulogne finished one place and ten points higher. Amiens have regrouped the better of the two sides in the quest to return to the second tier, and they went into this game in third place with 14 points from their opening seven games. Boulogne have had a reasonable start as well, in seventh place with nine points from their seven games.

It has to be the said that the first half of this game was pretty dreadful, particularly from the Boulogne point of view, as they gave the ball away time and again, misplaced passes and invited pressure. And so it was indeed Amiens who spent much of the time in the opposition third, but rarely looked clinical enough to score the opening goal. It was Boulogne who probably had the best chance to score in a forgettable half, when on 8 minutes, the ball was played in from the wing and was headed goalwards from the 18 yard line, which the goalkeeper acrobatically saved.

Happily, the second half was a much livelier affair, with the home side showing much more attacking intent and were no longer giving away possession so readily. On 63 minutes, a Boulogne free kick went just wide of the goal, but five minutes later, against the run of play by now, Amiens were awarded a penalty when the defender brought down the attacker from behind. The defender might have been lucky to remain on the pitch as he was the last defender, however the converted penalty was punishment enough, converted low by Oumar Pouye to the right of goal with the keeper diving the other way. Five minutes later and Boulogne were awarded a penalty, slightly more debatable, when a defender rather clumsily leant into the forward, who went down quite easily. As the keeper danced around and encroached quite far out before the penalty was taken, Chris Gadi showed terrific composure in gently passing the ball into the net to the right of the keeper. The game assumed much greater intensity after the two penalty goals, and soon after Boulogne's goal, the Amiens defence somehow managed to scramble the ball clear, and if there were to be a winner, it now looked much more likely to be Boulogne. However, there was no addition to the scoreline at the end of a game very much of two halves - Amiens on top during the first with Boulogne looking disjointed, Boulogne on top in the second half, and so probably a point each was the fair result in the end, although it is hard to imagine either team making an immediate return to Ligue 2 at the end of the season.

United Services Portsmouth 0 v 3 Swanage Town and Herston

Saturday 15th September 2012
FA Vase 2nd Qualifying Round
Victory Stadium, Portsmouth
Admission: £4.00
Programme: £1.00
Attendance: 15 (head count)
Match rating: 2

Fancying a trip to the south coast today for the first time in quite a long time, I bought my train ticket to Portsmouth without knowing for sure where I would end up. Portsmouth versus Walsall in Football League One was tempting, although having witnessed Football League action the night before, with Charlton's bitterly disappointing home defeat to Crystal Palace last night, I chose a more tranquil affair instead and pay a visit to a club that has aroused my curiosity for some time.

The Victory Stadium is about a ten minute walk from Portsmouth and Southsea rail station and whilst the vast complex of sports pitches is easy to find - particularly for me, as I had watched county cricket here back in the nineties, access to the football ground within it is not, with no specific signposting and one has to walk past a security hut to enter the complex, walking past various sports buildings, rugby and hockey pitches to finally get to the football ground. Spectators are distant from the action due to an athletics track circling the pitch, with hard standing available around the outside of the track apart from behind one end, although this grassed area is still accessible to spectators. There is a 500 seater main stand that has comfortable seating that is well protected and offers excellent views of the action, although it certainly would not win any design awards. Although the ground is rather open with some rather unattractive, functional buildings close by in the complex, facilities far exceed what one usually encounters in the Wessex League Division One, grass banks with sporadic trees add a nice touch, as does the presence of Landport Gate, the original main entrance gate to the city, to the side of the stand. In the background one can see some of Portsmouth's taller buildings, including, most notably, the Spinnaker Tower. The friendly gateman roves around spectators collecting admission and offering programmes, which were a pretty good effort considering the level of football and perenially very low quantity of readers.

Today's match would provide the opportunity for a minor giantkilling, with a club from the Dorset Premier League visiting a club from a step above, the Wessex League Division One. Swanage Town and Herston have already successfully overcome a club from the Wessex League Division One in the previous round, beating Andover New Street 3-0 at home, their first win the FA Vase for 21 years.League form has been poor though, picking up just one win and one draw from their opening six games. Today would be United Services Portsmouth's first game in this year's competition, and form would be difficult to guage, as almost unbelievably in mid September, they are yet to begin their league campaign, although they did beat Cowes Sports in the League Cup last week.

On a beautifully warm and sunny afternoon, the game had a quick start, with the visitors opening the scoring with barely a minute on the clock. The ball was floated over from the right, and a defender, in plenty of space, bizarrely chose to chest the ball across his own area, allowing Liam Currell to take a touch before driving low into the corner. That did not seem to wake up the home side, and the first half was quite a tepid affair with few chances, with United Services playing some good passing football without ever really threatening apart from one fierce shot which dipped just over the bar, as Swanage looked comfortable with their lead.

In the second half, although Swanage had an opportunity to double their advantage when they had a shot cleared off the line, United Services looked slightly more threatening than they had in the first half, but it wasn't until the 68th minutes when they came close to scoring, when a player who looked a long way offside strode forward for a one-on-one opportunity, but he delayed and delayed waiting for the keeper to commit, but he took the ball wide and his eventual shot hit the post. Within the next couple of minutes and United Services also had a shot cleared off the line and then when the ball was played inch perfect from wide low into the box, the forward could only scuff his shot, with the ball tamely hitting the goalkeeper from barely six yards out. Swanage still had the odd chance and one felt the game really could go either way, until fourteen minutes from time, when Swanage scored a second. The ball was played to the edge of the box, and Currell took the ball forward, sidestepped the keeper before passing the ball into the net for his second of the game. As the game entered added on time, Swanage really put some gloss on the scoreline with a real contender for goal of the season - I doubt I shall witness a better goal at any level of football this season. Paul Best gained possession in his own penalty area, strode forward, jinking past numerous players and evading challenges before bursting into the box for a one-on-one opportunity with the keeper, and he showed terrific composure after such a long run at the end of 90 minutes to shoot the ball past the keeper and into the net. And so another Wessex League club was emphatically dispatched by Swanage, who now go on to meet yet another Wessex League club, Newport (Isle of Wight), at home in the next round.

Charlton Athletic 0 v 1 Crystal Palace

Friday 14th September 2012
Football League Championship
The Valley, Charlton
Admission: Season Ticket
Programme: £3.00
Attendance: 21,730
Match rating: 2

A match report of this game can be found here