EFL League One
The Valley, Charlton
Admission: Season Ticket
Programme: £3.00
Attendance: 16,449 (589 away)
It had been quite some time since my last visit to The Valley, over a month in fact, as I have had the altogether more enjoyable experience of groundhopping far and wide for the last three Saturdays. A fixture against Rotherham United originally scheduled for 9th October was postponed due to international call-ups, and although the game against Accrington Stanley did go ahead on the 19th, I decided to give it a miss, partly due to it being after work on the Tuesday night, and partly because I had had a late night out the night before, having been to see Rag 'N Bone Man at Worthing Pavilion theatre. Under normal circumstances, I probably still would have gone to The Valley, but decided against it as watching Charlton under the management of Nigel Adkins had become a painful experience. My decision was sadly partly vindicated, with Charlton apparently putting in yet another awful, disjointed performance, losing 2-3, a result which finally condemned Nigel Adkins to bring shown the door. A sad outcome from a nice guy and with high hopes that he could replicate his previous success in League One, but absolutely the right decision, as the team has looked directionless and lethargic under his leadership.
With club legend Johnnie Jackson taking caretaker charge, Charlton had a great start to the post Adkins era, winning 0-1 at second placed Sunderland. The Addicks were still firmly inside the relegation zone, two points adrift of safety and in 22nd place, following three wins and three draws from their 14 league games. On paper, today represented a decent chance to gain another positive result, taking on Doncaster Rovers, who came into this game a place and a point below Charlton, following three wins and two draws from their 14 league games. I had decent memories of the last time Charlton faced Doncaster at The Valley, in a play-off semi- final second leg tie in 2019, when a see-saw tie saw Charlton lose on the night, but with the tie level on aggregate, the Addicks won in a penalty shoot-out. Since my last visit to The Valley, Charlton had won 1-2 at Fleetwood Town , won 4-1 at home to Southampton U23 in the EFL Trophy , lost 1-2 at Lincoln City , lost 2-3 at home to Accrington Stanley, before surprisingly winning 0-1 at Sunderland in Jackson's first game in charge.
On a mostly sunny and mild afternoon, Charlton absolutely dominated this game, winning by a very comfortable scoreline which should really have been even more emphatic. On 9 minutes, Ben Purrington hooked the ball back from the byline for Elliott Lee to chest down just outside the six yard box and his drilled cross shot was headed off the line by Tom Andersen. But after Charlton lost Jonathan Leko to injury on 15 minutes, they opened the scoring on 21 minutes in perhaps rather fortunate circumstances, when Elliott Lee swung in a free-kick from the left wing, and the ball just evaded Jayden Stockley's head, and with no defenders anywhere near and the goalkeeper rooted to his spot, the ball floated inside the far post. And on 34 minutes, after George Dobson, who put in a superb, tireless, all-action performance in midfield, won the ball in his own half before playing the ball low forward into the path of Alex Gilbey who ran on and on, eventually into the penalty area where he went down under the challenge of Anderson, and the referee awarded the Addicks a penalty, which Conor Washington despatched, striking low into the right side of the net, sending the keeper the wrong way.
It was a comfortable half time lead, as Doncaster failed to come close to mustering a shot on target in the first half, anad Charlton continued on the front foot into the second half, with the seemingly inevitable third goal coming on 62 minutes.Eliott Lee drilled in a low free kick from just outside the left side of the penalty area, and the ball came back off the keeper into the path of Stockley, and he knocked the ball into the net from close range. And Charlton made it four on 71 minutes, when Diallang Jaiyesimi crossed the ball from close to the corner flag, for Ben Purrington to head the ball on the run 8 yards out, sending the ball across the keeper and inside the far post..Charlton had other good chances to further extend their margin of victory, but were denied by some inspired goalkeeping, most notably on 85 minutes when Stockley saw a header pushed onto the bar and out.
So, a thoroughly comprehensive result and performance against the Addicks, leaving most of us fans scratching our eyes wondering how the players put in such disjointed, dispirited and lethargic performances under Nigel Adkins, today put in a performance full of energy and desire, with pressing from the front forcing the Doncaster players into mistakes and not letting them settle into any kind of rhythm. This result lifted Charlton out of the relegation zone and into 20th place, and should give the side plenty of confidence going into Tuesday's game against fourth placed Rotherham United, looking for a third win on the spin.
Short video highlights of this game can be viewed by clicking here
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