Charlton Athletic 1 v 2 Bolton Wanderers

Saturday 28th January 2023, Kick-off 12.30
EFL League One
The Valley, Charlton
Admission: Season Ticket

Programme: £3.50

Attendance: 14,458 (1,511 away)

I would be returning to The Valley today, although things would be slightly different from the norm today. Kick-off was brought forward to lunchtime, and my partner was taking a day off work to join me today, motivated by the latest season ticket promotion enabling me to claim a ticket for free on her behalf, and the earlier kick-off meant that we could enjoy the rest of the day in the big smoke.

Unfortunately, Charlton's upturn in morale and fortunes since the turn of the year under Dean Holden were temporarily paused since the win at home against Barnsley a fortnight ago, as last Saturday's game at Peterborough was postponed due to a frozen pitch just an hour and a half before kick-off, much to the understandable anger of the travelling officials and fans. That, along with having no fixture in midweek, meant that the Addicks slipped back to 15th place in the table, following eight wins and ten draws from 26 league games, and were now nine points adrift of the play-offs, and sixth placed team Barnsley still had a game in hand. Charlton were 13 points adrift of fifth place, currently occupied by today's opponents Bolton Wanderers, who have played two games more. So, today would be another big game if the Addicks are to have any hope of a late run for the play-offs. Bolton have won 13 and drawn eight of their 28 league games so far, and were in good form, winning three of their last five league games since the turn of the year, and have reached the semi-finals of the EFL Trophy.

A match report can be viewed by clicking here , copied and pasted below

Brief highlights of this match can be viewed by clicking here

Kevin Nolan’s Valley View: Charlton Athletic 1-2 Bolton Wanderers

Bolton Wanderers brought a reality check to the Valley following the Addicks’ recent revival. KEVIN NOLAN was there to report.

Charlton’s three-game winning streak in League One was brought to a sobering end by tough customers Bolton Wanderers, who proved savvier than their mid-table hosts and won far more comfortably than the scoreline suggests. Dean Holden’s boys battled gamely but were put in their sub mid-table place by Ian Evatt’s more

streetwise men.

Making four changes from the side that beat Barnsley last time out, Holden fielded another bespoke starting eleven presumably geared to combat Bolton both physically and tactically. To which end, he handed a second full debut to Macauley Bonne and preferred new signing Matt Penney to Steven Sessegnon as a replacement for injured left back Todd Kane. Elsewhere, Albie Morgan took over from Jack Payne, while Corey Blackett-Taylor returned at the expense of Tyreece Campbell.

Still unsure of his best side, Holden’s latest tinkering met with mixed success. Bonne struggled to escape the ruthless clutches of gigantic Trotters skipper Ricardo Santos, his efforts to elude his no-nonsense marker compromised by a first touch charitably described as “rusty” but more unkindly as “concrete.” An eager Leaburn would surely have fared better.

Penney, meanwhile, soldiered through an awkward, nervy first appearance. His understandable desire to make a favourable impression led to errors, none of which impacted on the result but hardly inspired the confidence of his new colleagues. The excellent Sessegnon, whose presence on the bench must surely imply his fitness, is the club’s best left back and should be a regular starter until his form dictates otherwise.

In midfield, Morgan did more than enough to earn Holden’s approval. His passing was sometimes erratic, at other times spot-on but his contribution not only included a brilliant equaliser but the creation of an “on a plate” chance for Jesurun Rak-Sakyi, which the Crystal Palace loanee contrived to bungle from no more than four yards, with the scores level. If the winger had scored, as he should have done, Charlton might have stolen this game but, of course, “if ifs and ands were pots and pans, there’d be no work for tinkers.”

From Evatt’s contented point of view, the best way to begin what he agreed was a perfect away performance, was with an early goal. This was duly delivered in the fourth minute by Aaron Morley, who bent a 30-yard free kick beyond Ashley Maynard-Brewer’s reach and in off the keeper’s right-hand post. It was a strike of sumptuous quality, made possible by the arbitrary decision of referee Carl Brook that will o’ the wisp Shola Shoretire had been tripped during a mutually scruffy skirmish.

Urgent and elusive, Shoretire was a persistent nuisance to the home side. Soon after Morley’s opener, he skilfully set up scorer Dion Charles with the formality of finishing from point blank range, an outstanding chance which the prolific striker botched by hitting first Maynard-Brewer’s outstretched leg, then the crossbar as the ball ricocheted upward. Charles’ jaw-dropping miss rivalled Rak-Sakyi’s in waywardness but Dion wasn’t easily discouraged and would be heard from again before the end of hostilities.

Before the interval, the Trotters piled on the pressure, in search of an all-important second goal. Gethin Jones’ crisp daisycutter whizzed narrowly wide, Morley prodded Kyle Dempsey’s pass inches off target and Charles forced a smart save from Maynard-Brewer, The one-way traffic was interrupted only Rak-Sakyi’s solo run and crisp shot which James Trafford scrambled to safety at the foot of a post.

Less than a minute into the second half, the Addicks were level. And an outstanding goal it was, the result of intricate passing on the edge of the visitors’s penalty area, which culminated in a fast exchange between Morgan and Rak-Sakyi. Given only fleeting sight of goal near the 18-yard line, Morgan made the most of the brief opening by drilling an unstoppable low drive into the left corner. A dramatic change in fortunes seemed feasible but Rak-Sakyi’s clumsy miss rather dampened The Valley’s burgeoning enthusiasm.

Slugging it out on a more even basis by now, Charlton were grateful for Maynard-Brewer’s agility as their young Aussie keeper spectacularly tipped another rocket from Morley over the bar. At the other end, Trafford had the somewhat easier task of stopping a swerving free kick from Morgan. The issue was delicately balanced until an all too familiar defensive mix-up handed victory to the grateful North Westerners.

The question of responsibility for dealing with what was no more than a hopeful ball lifted over the top rested principally between an advancing Maynard-Brewer and Ryan Inniss, whose vulnerability in similar circumstances is a matter of record. The centre back’s weak header was pounced on by Dempsey, who nodded past the committed keeper. With the home defence in hopeless tatters, Charles was left with the simple task of finishing into a yawning net. Shame the league’s nosey parkers couldn’t have left well alone and banned him instead of Elias Kachunga following last week’s cock-up against Forest Green Rovers but even the most curmudgeonly of Charlton fans (and I take some beating) would have to admit justice was done.

Results like Morecambe’s demolition of Bristol Rovers, not to mention Burton’s win over Oxford, in the shorter view, leave Charlton looking anxiously over their shoulders at the relegation quagmire below them. Those three wins on the spin take on a new importance. The 2022-23 League One season… you can have my share of it. It’s a bloody nightmare! And you may quote me…

Charlton: Maynard-Brewer, Clare (Leaburn 76) Inniss, Ness, Penney. Dobson (Henry 88), Rak-Sakyi, Fraser, Morgan (Payne 88), Blackett-Taylor (Campbell 67),

Bonne. Not used: Harness, O’Connell, Sessegnon. Booked: Bonne.

Bolton: Trafford, Jones, Santos, Johnston (John 46), Toal, Lee (Sheehan 82), Morley, Shoretire (Adeboyejo 56), Bradley, Dempsey, Charles (Jerome 83). Not

used: Dixon. Isgrove, Williams. Booked: Lee, Trafford.

Referee: Carl Brook. Att: 14,458 (1,511 visiting).

Little Common 0 v 3 Newhaven

Tuesday 24th January 2023, Kick-off 19.30
Southern Combination League Premier Division

Little Common Recreation Ground , Little Common

Admission: £6.00

Programme: £1.00

Attendance: 81

I was itching to get to a game this evening, as I had not been to a local non-league game in midweek since 2nd November, mostly due to weather conditions -either with all games postponed, or not feeling inclined to stand out in the cold and/or wet. There was little certainty that games would go ahead this evening, with temperatures only slightly increasing now combined with a minimum of sun. However, fortunately for me, Little Common's location close to the coast ensured that this game would indeed go ahead, with the club tweeting confirmation of their absolute confidence in that during the day.

Little Common have been one of the worst affected teams by weather conditions in the Southern Combination League, as they have not placed a competitive game since Boxing Day - which was their only league fixture played in December. They have played between two and seven games less than all over teams in the division, and came into this fixture in 14th place in the 20 club division, following seven wins and four draws from 17 league games. This match would be a tough assignment though, with (recently) perennial title challengers Newhaven up in second place in the table, following 15 wins and three draws from their 23 league games, but are three points adrift of leaders Crawley Down Gatwick, and have played two games more. In the reverse fixture played in mid September, Newhaven won 2-1, and a week before that, Newhaven won 1-5 at Little Common in the Peter Bentley League Cup.

On a cool night, although not as cold as I had feared (possibly due to my multiple layering), and in front of a sparse crowd which contained a sizeable contingent from Newhaven, it soon became clear that Newhaven would be playing a more possession based brand of football, whereas Little Common preferred the more direct route. Newhaven almost had a dream start in the very first minute, when Lee Robinson forced the home keeper into a good parry at his near post, but they continued in the ascendancy, with the home keeper having to make a string of excellent saves to keep the scoreline level. It looked like being only a matter of time until they opened the scoring, which they did on 20 minutes, when the ball was intercepted in midfield and Callum Connor strode forward before coolly lobbing the onrushing keeper to send the ball gently bouncing into the empty net. And the visitors were awarded a penalty in the 43rd minute, when one of their players was bundled over in the box after sprinting into the box from the left and Charlie Bennett converted emphatically into the bottom right corner.

The home side never really threatened to get back into the game after the break, all the more so when Newhaven scored their third just after the hour mark, when the ball was played across the edge of the penalty area for Connor to run onto before striking the ball low back across the keeper and inside the left hand post. Newhaven saw the remainder of the game out quite comfortably, with the win sufficient to lift them to the top of the table thanks to a substantially better goal difference, but have now played three games more than Crawley Down, who are not playing this midweek.

Stanway Pegasus 3 v 1 Newbury Forest

Saturday 21st January 2023, Kick-off 15.00
Eastern Counties League First Division South
Stanway School, Stanway
Admission: £5.00
Programme: £2.00
Attendance: 103

Being in the grip of a prolonged spell of freezing weather conditions, with temperatures plunging well below zero every night, immediately following a very wet spell, options were severely limited today, with the vast majority of non league games on grass being postponed with frozen pitches as early as yesterday afternoon, or subject to relatively late pitch inspections. A substantial number failed those late pitch inspections just an hour or two before kick-off - including one of my shortlisted options at Northampton ON Chenecks. I certainly didn't want to take any chances with my intended game being off today, as I had not visited a new ground, for various reasons, since 3rd December, and fortunately I had already decided to play it safe and head for this game with its 3G pitch, with the added attraction of it recompleting my visits to all grounds in the Eastern Counties League First Division South.

 

I had planned to arrive in Colchester a few hours ahead of kick-off, to make a day of it, but those plans were thwarted by major disruption on the trains getting out of Sussex due to multiple points failures on the Brighton Main Line, delaying my journey by a couple of hours, but at least I did still arrive at the ground about half an hour before kick-off. To get to the ground, after arriving at Colchester station and armed with a Plusbus ticket, I then caught a bus for about a half hour journey westwards, to be dropped off virtually outside of the ground. 

There were some raised eyebrows last summer when Stanway Pegasus were granted promotion from the Essex & Suffolk Border League, as the ground then was basically just a 3G cage with no seating or any other spectator facilities, but a lot of work has been put in since then to enhance the facilities sufficiently to enable the ground to host Step 6 football. A small club welcome board is placed by the roadside entrance, and a short walk through the car park, to one side of school buildings, with toilets in a portakabin to the other, leads to the entrance in one corner of the cage, with plenty of signage around giving the ground identity. A wooden hut is located just outside the entrance serving a basic range of drinks and snacks, while a kiosk is located immediately inside the cage, where admission is paid and programmes can be obtained. Only one length and one end is accessible for spectators, with the length having only spacious standing room, while the end had a small 50 seat stand installed earlier in the season, of the identikit metallic variety but is decorated in club colours of yellow and black. A portakabin is located behind the cage in one corner, with signage suggesting that it is a clubhouse with a refreshments hatch, but it is not operational yet. The club has certainly made the most of what it has to work with, and is above expectations for what one would expect from a 3G cage in school grounds.

Stanway Pegasus were promoted into Step 6 for the first time in their history this season, and have adapted very well under Rosi Webb who is, as far as I am aware, the only female manager in senior football. They came into this game in second place, following 14 wins and five draws from 25 league games, and were in good form too, winning their last three games and were unbeaten in their last five overall. Newbury Forest came into this game down in 15th place in the 19 club division, following six wins and two draws from their 20 league games played. Rustiness could well have been a factor for them though, as they have not played a competitive game since 3rd December. When the two clubs met in the reverse fixture back in early September, Stanway came away from east London with a 1-3 win.

Stanway Pegasus were promoted into Step 6 for the first time in their history this season, and have adapted very well under Rosi Webb who is, as far as I am aware, the only female manager in senior football. They came into this game in second place, following 14 wins and five draws from 25 league games, and were in good form too, winning their last three games and were unbeaten in their last five overall. Newbury Forest came into this game down in 15th place in the 19 club division, following six wins and two draws from their 20 league games played. Rustiness could well have been a factor for them though, as they have not played a competitive game since 3rd December. When the two clubs met in the reverse fixture back in early September, Stanway came away from east London with a 1-3 win.

On a very chilly but gloriously sunny afternoon, the game started off quite evenly, but the home side opened the scoring on 11 minutes in rather bizarre circumstances. The Newbury keeper passed the ball a defender, who then passed the ball into his own empty goal, with the keeper standing out of position. And Stanway came close to doubling their lead in the 18th minute, when a looping shot from the edge of the area was parried over the bar, and from the resulting corner, a goalbound header was cleared on the line. Newbury then created a couple of good chances themselves, before Stanway scored their second on 28 minutes when a goalbound header was blocked on the line, with plenty of protests that the ball had gone over the line, but the loose ball was hooked home anyway. On 34 minutes a dribble towards the edge box with a shot being unleashed from just outside the area, with the ball hitting the bar. But in the 44th minute, Newbury Forest pulled a goal back, when an aerial ball was played diagonally towards the back post, was then crossed low, and then tucked home from close range by Danny Edmead, to set up an intriguing second half.

As it turned out though, Stanway mostly dominated the second half. On 51 minutes, a lovely curling shot from the edge of the area came back off the far post, before the game settled down with few chances created, until Stanway virtually sealed the three points on 71 minutes, with a lovely curling shot around the keeper and inside the far post. Stanway had a great chance to add some gloss to the scoreline when their forward sprinted clear from the half way line to bear down towards goal, but the eventual shot was well parried by the keeper. But Stanway secured a deserved, and in the end, comfortable win, which saw them rise to the top of the table by a point, with previous leaders Frenford having their game postponed today, but Stanway have played four games more. 

My fun and games on the train were not over for the day though, as a broken rail on the final leg of my journey meant waiting about an hour and a half at the train station, before completing my journey home by taxi. So a heavily disrupted day out, but to look on the bright side, at least that meant that I had virtually all of my travelling expenses refunded.