Saturday 24th August 2024, Kick-off 15.00
EFL League One
The Valley, Charlton
Admission: Season Ticket
Programme: £3.50
Attendance: 14,385 (1,337 away)
A match report can be read by clicking here , also copied and pasted below
Brief video highlights can be viewed by clicking here
Kevin Nolan’s Valley View: Charlton Athletic 2-0 Bolton Wanderers
The Addicks have begun their season with three wins out of three in the league – suddenly the good times have returned to Floyd Road. KEVIN NOLAN reports from a giddy Valley.
Victories over Wigan Athletic and Leyton Orient, both somewhat airily tipped to be among League One’s makeweights this season, provided an encouraging start for Charlton but were no more than was expected. It was Bolton Wanderers’ visit for their third league game that would provide more reliable evidence of their promotion credentials.
The Addicks would need to step up big-time against one of the division’s heavyweights. That was the general consensus.
It’s an undiluted pleasure to record that Nathan Jones’s hungry side picked up the gauntlet and answered each and every question they were asked. They produced an outstanding performance to which they added the perfect result, bookending it with two superlative goals: the first settling an admittedly shaky start, its successor the combined work of three substitutes deployed by the manager in the second half. It was an afternoon for Charlton fans to cherish.
The visitors from Lancashire were outthought, outplayed and when push literally came to shove, outmuscled. It has been their habit in recent encounters to boss the physical exchanges or, to put it less delicately, to “bash up” their Southern softie hosts. Small chance of that on Saturday, not while there was a tackle to be won or a second ball to pick up.
Clearly a useful side, the Trotters were simply blown away by a more resolute team – one that could also play a bit, it should be noted. Their coolness in tight defensive spots was particularly impressive.
From Will Mannion’s calm, competent goalkeeping to the boundless enthusiasm of Gassan Ahadme up front, the Addicks were superb. It seems invidious to name one of them as their best player but it’s impossible to overlook the box-to-box contribution made by Conor Coventry. Only an occasional misdirected setpiece marred his otherwise flawless performance in central midfield. He was stoutly supported by his skipper Greg Docherty and streetwise veteran Luke Berry.
It’s in defence, however, that Charlton’s dramatic improvement over last season has raised eyebrows. Once prone to schoolboy howlers, not to mention the concession of late match deciders, this pragmatic gang of hard cases are a different proposition.
Alongside the uncompromising Lloyd Jones and Alex Mitchell, full-backs Kayne Ramsay and Macaulay Gillesphey complete a rearguard unready to be bullied or intimidated. The recent loss of the increasingly impressive Josh Edwards created a vacancy into which Thierry Small manfully stepped.
Speedy Small made a hesitant start against Bolton, his error allowing John McAtee an opportunity, which the new signing fired wastefully wide. And when Coventry was rightly booked for “professionally” impeding an otherwise clear Aaron Collins near the halfway line. the Addicks were hardly off and running. On 20 minutes, however, Small’s alertness abruptly put things right.
Pouncing on Bolton captain Ricardo Santos’ careless pass out of defence, the quicksilver wingback stole the ball and transferred it to Docherty’s feet. One touch was used to set up a rising drive which gave Nathan Baxter no chance on its journey into the top-left corner of his net. An already noisy Valley went berserk.
Neat in their approach, meanwhile, the visitors remained outwardly unruffled. Two shooting chances were created, the first of them a low effort on the turn from Dion Charles, the second a near post drive from Collins. In both instances, Mannion saved without undue fuss.
At the other end, Ahadme was a persistent nuisance to Ian Evatt’s defence. Chesting down Small’s long cross to Docherty, he made space for the goalscorer to produce a hastily blocked volley, with the Scot’s second effort collected by the scrambling keeper.
After the break, Wanderers added additional urgency and got briefly on top. Interval substitute Victor Adeboyejo took up the slack left by a subdued Charles and forced a smart save from Mannion. Mitchell cleared a dangerous cross from Jordi Osei-Tutu over his own crossbar before Eoin Toal headed the resultant corner narrowly too high. In response, Chuks Aneke, along with Matt Godden, an inspired introduction by his restless manager, headed Coventry’s outswinging corner over Bolton’s bar.
With three minutes remaining, the confident Addicks sealed the issue with a goal to celebrate and savour. All three second-half substitutes contributed, with Karoy Anderson’s first touch winning possession for Aneke to bend an exquisite cross from the right flank. Darting behind Bolton’s ballwatching defenders, Matty Godden made the most of Aneke’s excellent cross with a powerful, diving header.
It was a final flourish added to Charlton’s most satisfying afternoon in recent memory. If you wanted your cockles warming, an exuberant, euphoric Valley was the place to be on Saturday. Unless, of course, you were part of an oddly passive party of pilgrims in the Jimmy Seed Stand!
Charlton: Mannion. Ramsay, Gillesphey, Mitchell, Jones, Coventry, Campbell (Aneke 66), Berry (Anderson 87), Ahadme (Godden 66), Docherty, Small. Not used: Maynard-Brewer, Edmonds-Green, Watson, Kanu. Booked: Coventry, Mitchell, Berry.
Bolton: Baxter, Thomason (Mateta 72), Santos, Johnston (Arfield 88), Sheehan (Dempsey 66), Charles (Adeoyejo 46), Dacres-Cogley (Osei-Tutu 46), Toal, Collins, Schon, McAtee. Not used: Southwood, Forino. Booked: Mateta, Toal, Schon.
Referee: Lee Swabey.
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