Fleetwood Town 1 v 3 Charlton Athletic

Saturday 30rd September 2017
EFL League One
Highbury Stadium, Fleetwood
Admission: £22.00
Programme: £1.00
Attendance: 3,009
Match Rating: 3

With only two grounds left for me to tick off in League One, this was a match I pencilled in as soon as Charlton's fixtures were released.

In many ways, Highbury Stadium is something of a breath of fresh air in the Football League, with a strong non-league feel about it, but is more than adequate, neat and tidy, with a refreshingly relaxed and friendly feel. Although there has been a football ground on the site since 1934, it was been completely redeveloped in the last ten years, to coincide with their rapid climb up the pyramid from the Northern Premier League in that time. It is quite remarkable that Fleetwood Town where members of the North West Counties League as recently as 2005. By far the stand out feature of the stadium is the main stand, a really attractive all-seater stand with a crescent shaped roof, and hospitality boxes along the rear in two levels, with the top level having another few rows of seating. Away fans are given an end section of this stand, as well as a stand covering a terrace behind a goal. Good incline between steps ensures good unobstructed views. The stand only stretches to just beyond the goal, with the rest of the space taken up with a toilet block, refreshment outlet and standing area. A further covered terrace is situated behind the opposite goal for home fans, with a similar look but stretching virtually between corner flags and with some windows along the back wall. Along the remaining length, there is a fairly small and modest all-seater stand stretching for about half of the length. Immediately behind it is the original main stand still in place for some reason. Along the rest of the length, there is the back wall of a social club, some other buildings and empty, inaccessible space. The programme was remarkably only £1.00, and with 24 pages and smaller than usually  I found in the Football League, it was more than adequate, indeed it made a really nice change to buy a programme that was easy on the eye, interesting to read, all of the necessary stats and facts, but without the endless drivel usually found in Football League programmes.

The league table suggested that this would be between two closely matched teams, with Charlton in seventh place, having won five wins and drawn two of their 10 league games, while Fleetwood have won five and drawn one of their nine games. Charlton had only picked up two points from their last four games, while Fleetwood had an excellent 0-3 win away at Bradford, after losing their previous two games.

On a mainly overcast afternoon, this match started cagily as both teams felt their way into the game, until the visitors opened the scoring on 13 minutes when Ricky Holmes cut back out wide and crossed the ball to the far post, and an unmarked Tarique Fosu-Mensah headed home from close range. On 25 minutes, the hosts were level, George Glendon passing a low diagonal ball into the box which Devante Cole allowed to pass through his legs for Bobby Grant to run onto and shoot the ball first time across the keeper and into the net, and to cue the rather bizarre sound of Captain Pugwash  blaring out of the tannoy in celebration. After both teams traded good long-range shots, it was Charlton who retook the lead five minutes before the break. Again it was Holmes with the assist, firing a cross from the left wing which fell at the feet of Fosu-Mensah by the far side of the penalty area, and he dribbled the ball into a good position past a couple of defenders before drilling the ball inside the near post.

he next goal in the second half would clearly be crucial, but Fleetwood never looked likely to get it and it was the visitors who extended their lead on 71 minutes, and what a goal it as by Fosu-Mensah to seal his hat-trick. Running from deep inside his area, he just kept running and running, and despite stumbling as he approached the penalty area following a defender's challenge, he just about kept on his feet to roll the ball past the keeper. Fleetwood looked a beaten team for the rest of the match, and Charlton thought they had added a fourth in stoppage time when Jake Forster-Caskey tapped the ball in from Josh Magennis' drilled ball into the box, but the goal was ruled out for off-side.

So an excellent result and a really good, controlled away performance from Charlton, which certainly made the long trip home a lot more enjoyable than it might have been. But not only did watching my team win make it enjoyable, but the Highbury Stadium ranks right up there as one of the best lower league grounds for an all-round matchday experience

Video highlights of this match can be viewed by clicking here