Football League Championship
The Valley, Charlton
Admission: Season Ticket
Programme: £3.00
Attendance: 16,110 (1,967 away)
Match Rating: 3
As I travelled to this match aboard the Valley Express, there was a feeling that today could be the day when Charlton's unbeaten record in the league could be broken, considering that today's visitors came into the match in good form, and their visits to south east London in recent seasons have provided rich pickings for them.
Following Charlton's 1-1 draw at Rotherham last Saturday, when they surrendered a lead but by the end, did well to get a point, they came into this game in eighth place, two points and three places behind today's visitors, Middlesbrough. Middlesbrough had won their previous three league games, two of them away, and in midweek took Liverpool to a penalty shoot-out at Anfield in the League Cup, eventually losing 13-14 after 30 penalty kicks. In the league, they had won five and lost three of their eight games so far. Recent history of this fixture certainly gave the visitors plenty of encouragement, winning on four of their last five visits to The Valley.
On a warm, overcast afternoon, this was very much a game of two halves. Middlesbrough dominated the first half with a good brand of passing, incisive football which Charlton struggled to cope with and it only looked a matter of time before the visitors would take the lead, coming close to opening the scoring on several occasions.
Into the second half and the home side got much more of a foothold in the game, although it wasn't until the last twenty minutes when the game really opened up. On 77 minutes, Rhoys Wiggins crossed from the right and Frédéric Bulot adjusted well to hit a volley on the turn, but the ball came back off the right hand post. The game was finally really coming to life now, with some full blooded challenges going in, and it came to the boil on 82 minutes when Albert Adomah was sent off for going into a challenge with Wiggins with a very high boot. It merited a red card, although the referee, who had a really poor game throughout, missing countless clear pushes and shirt pulls in a very erratic display, awarded a second yellow card to Adomah. Even here the referee initially pointed towards a free kick to Middlesbrough, causing much bemusement, until it transpired he simply pointed the wrong way. It summed his overall performance well. The sending off really gave the initiative to Charlton though, coming agonisingly close to snatching a winner in added on time at the end of the match. First, sub Lawrie Wilson drilled a powerful low shot that the keeper did very well to push aside at his near post for a corner, and then from the resulting corner, Wiggins saw his downward header cleared off the line. But both teams had to make do with a point apiece, which was probably fair overall, but in many ways the emotions after this game were the complete opposite to those after the Rotherham game. Then, Charlton seemed to be on course for a win but did well to hang on for a point - this week, it seemed only a matter of time before Charlton would fall behind and probably lose during the first half, yet by the end there was real disappointment that they couldn't quite snatch the three points. A point against very good quality opposition who will surely make or come very close to the play-offs was most welcome, and note should be made of a very impressive away following today, considering the long journey down from Teesside.
Video highlights of this match can be found here
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