EFL League One
The Valley, Charlton
Admission: Season Ticket
Programme: £3.50
Attendance: 11,972 (154 away)
The latest instalment of a season I just want to end now, in terms of following Charlton, was a visit by Accrongton Stanley, althoigh after a tough run of fixtures for the Addicks, this game certainly looked, on paper at least, a much more winnable game.
The Addicks have picked up just a point from their last four league games, failing to score a single goal in those games, and since a 0-1 home defeat against Sheffield Wednesday a fortnight ago, a point was gained in a goalless draw at Peterborough United, followed by a 2-0 defeat at second placed Plymouth Argyle last Saturday. That left Charlton don in 16th place, following ten wins and eleven draws from 34 games played. Today’s visitors Accrington Stanley came into this game down in 20th place, just one place and one point clear of the relegation zone, but they do have four games in hand all all four clubs below them. They have won eight and drawn ten of their 33 league games, and lost 0-3 in their last game at Ipswich, and after having their keeper sent off in that game, he would not be playing this afternoon. The reverse fixture of todays game took place on the opening day of the season, back in late July, and in a crazy finish to that game, Charlton took the lead in the fourth minute of added on time at the end of the game, only for Accrington to score themselves in the eighth added on minute to secure a 2-2 draw.
A match report can be viewed by clicking here, and copied and pasted below.
Brief video highlights can be viewed by clicking here
Kevin Nolan’s Valley View: Charlton Athletic 1-1 Accrington Stanley
The Addicks’ limp season stumbled on with a draw against relegation-threatened Accrington Stanley. KEVIN NOLAN was at The Valley.
Fighting for League One survival one place above the four-team drop zone, Accrington Stanley were good value for the point which keeps their hopes alive. That might, in fact, be damning them with faint praise because there were spells during this lopsided game when they looked likely to comfortably trouser all three points. Only inspired goalkeeping from Ashley Maynard-Brewer and their own faulty finishing thwarted that ambition.
A club that admirably defies predictions that see them relegated before the start of every season, Accies feature significantly in the sorry story of Charlton’s lacklustre campaign.
They were opening day opponents back on July 30, 2022 and shared a 2-2 draw which ended explosively. A healthy contingent of nearly 900 wayfarers were still raucously celebrating what seemed to an added time winner headed in by substitute Miles Leaburn when they were silenced by an almost instant equaliser from Stanley stalwart Sean McConville. As a harbinger of the disappointment in store over the next seven months, this fall from grace took some beating. On Saturday, even without the suspended McConville, John Coleman’s irreverent coupon-busters came very close to going one better.
To be honest, there was little in the opening exchanges to suggest that the visitors would be such problematic opposition. With Corey Blackett-Taylor terrorising right-back Mitch Clark along the left touchline, it promised to be a matter of time before the Addicks forged in front and the winger’s accurate cross, which a panic-stricken Mo Sangare headed against Toby Savin’s crossbar, seemed only a temporary reprieve for Stanley. Blackett-Taylor shot tamely at Savin before the tide turned and, not surprisingly, Accrington took the lead.
It was the besieged Clark who made the early running, with a perfect cross to pick out an unhindered Tommy Leigh at the far post. Leigh’s alert header back across goal left Shaun Whalley the simple task of nodding past Maynard-Brewer from six yards.
His rare goal marked his 100th appearance as an Accie but was promptly countered by an Addick, who not only scored his first ever senior goal, but made it one few onlookers would forget.
There was no logic or apparent justification behind the blockbuster unleashed by wing-back Steven Sessegnon from fully 35 yards and an unpromising angle. More than one home fan silently implored him not to shoot but the kid wasn’t having any of it. No deceptive dip or swerve but simply raw power propelled the right-footed screamer, which was still gathering pace as it ended its journey into the top right corner of Savin’s net. The keeper’s positioning might have been faulty but was also irrelevant. This one was unstoppable.
The smart money was on Charlton to draw inspiration from Sessegnon’s heroics and move out of reach in the second half. Which just shows how dense the smart money can be sometimes because Accrington were clearly unwilling to knuckle under. Leigh’s sharp overhead effort was alertly stopped by Maynard-Brewer but they were fortunate that Jack Payne’s low free kick passed untouched through the six-yard area when the slightest of touches would have restored Charlton’s lead. But the better chances began to fall to Coleman’s uninhibited, enterprising chaps.
It required a stunning double save from Maynard-Brewer, midway through the second session, to maintain parity. His full-length dive to his left kept out Whalley’s fierce drive but left him grounded as Aaron Pressley closed in on the rebound. The Scot’s follow-up effort was on its way past Maynard-Brewer until the instincts denied to us mere mortals enabled him to turn the dead cert over the bar. Given his chance by the freak injury suffered by Joe Wollacott, the young Aussie is undroppable right now.
Completely on top by now, Accrington came looking for the winner they desperately needed. Clever combination between substitutes Matt Lowe and Korede Adedoyin set up an opening which Harvey Rodgers turned past Maynard-Brewer but which was inelegantly cleared off the line by George Dobson.
The skipper’s determination not to be beaten was, as always, infectious. He was part of the defensive posse which closed around Adedoyin who, when clean through, inexplicably hesitated and disappeared under the weight of numbers.
In added time, the final chance fell to Dean Holden’s men. Sent through by Dobson’s fine pass, 62nd minute substitute Daniel Kanu failed to finish past the advancing Savin, who swatted his attempted dink aside and preserved a precious point for the battling Northerners. It had its value for Charlton also – defeat by Accrington would have furrowed brows in SE7 and made trickier next week’s trips to relegation-haunted Morecambe and Cambridge.
And that’s what this ungainly mess of a season has come down to. It makes a sound case for the benefits of amnesia.
Charlton: Maynard-Brewer, Clare, Ness (Thomas 85), Hector, Sessegnon, Dobson, Payne (Kanu 62), Kilkenny (Morgan 62), Rak-Sakyi (Campbell 71), Leaburn (Bonne 85), Blackett-Taylor. Not used: Wollacott, Henry. Booked: Dobson, Morgan.
Accrington: Savin, Clark, Whalley (Adedoyin 78), Leigh, Longelo (Nolan 87), Sangare, Rodgers, Pressley (Lowe 78), Martin, Conneely, Tharmer. Not used: Isherwood, Nottingham, Butler-Oyedeji, Fernandes. Booked: Rodgers, Conneely, Tharme.
Referee: Darren Drysdale. Official attendance: 11,972
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