Football
League Championship
The Valley,
Charlton
Admission:
Season Ticket
Programme:
£3.00
Attendance:
16,202
Match
Rating: 2
After three seasons away from The Valley – bar a handful of matches – today would be my second visit to The Valley in four days, for what would be almost as difficult a game for Charlton as Tuesday’s was against Leicester. I was looking forward to this game in particular though, having spent a considerable amount of time in Hull with an ex girlfriend and visiting Boothferry Park on several occasions.
Charlton
have opened their season with four points from their first two games, whilst
Hull opened their season with a 1-0 victory at home to Brighton, before losing
by the same scoreline away at Blackburn. Last season they finished in eigth
place, seven points shy of a play-off position. They have certainly shown their
intent to return to the Premiership as soon as possible, having appointed Steve
Bruce over the summer, and signing the joint top scorer in the 2. Bundesliga
last season, Nick Proschwitz, for £2.6 million from SC Paderborn.
The game
would start off in clear, sunny conditions, although rain would arrive midway
through the first half. The first half was an even affair, both sides having
chances without ever really convincing they would score the opening goal.
Half time
heralded a dramatic worsening of conditions with a thunderstorm of heavy rain,
loud thunder and bright lightening. The heavy rain persisted, and made the
pitch conditions increasingly treacherous. No standing water was ever evident,
but the ball did not run truly along it, and players going to ground to make
tackles slid much further than usual. Unsurprisingly this made playing football
difficult for both teams, and one feared that the game could be decided by an
error caused by the conditions. Charlton had a goal ruled out for offside,
after an initial shot from Bradley Wright-Phillips was saved and Yann
Kermorgant shot into the net through a crowd of players. As the second half
wore on, it then looked increasingly inevitable that Hull would snatch a
winner, most notably in injury time when Ben Hamer made a fabulous double save.
But in the end, a goalless draw was the final outcome of an uninspiring game,
as Charlton retained their unbeaten record whilst Hull will probably be
disappointed to return to Humberside with just a point.
A match report of this game can be found here , also copied and pasted below
Charlton 0 Hull City 0
Kevin Nolan reports from The Valley.
In the aftermath of their brief, unequal struggle in the Premier League, Hull City have comfortably found their feet back in the Championship. A respectable 11th position in 2010-11 was improved by a solid 8th placed finish last season – eight points short of the play-offs. As an accurate gauge of Charlton’s credentials at this higher level, the Tigers fitted the bill perfectly.
Still unbeaten after three stern tests, the Addicks can be pleased with this hard won point. They might, in fact, have grabbed all three but for the intervention of an over-zealous linesman, whose hasty -and, frankly, incomprehensible offside flag- denied them a second half winner. In a game of inches, this boss-eyed decision was miles out.
The naked eye suggested- and subsequent TV evidence established- that Bradley Wright-Phillips was clearly onside when he bustled possession away from a startled Abdoulaye Faye before having his shot alertly parried by Ben Amos. From the edge of the penalty area, Yann Kermorgant efficently speared the rebound into the centre of Amos’ goal but had his celebrations cruelly cut short. Football’s masonic secrecy denied us an explanation at the time, while the Football League show typically tackled the issue by sidestepping the incident later on; controversy is anathema to Maniche and the gang. They were similarly reticent in dealing with Joe Dudgeon’s arms-aloft handling of Bradley Pritchard’s shot in the late going. Least said, soonest mended, that’s their watchword.
That’s not to deny that City were well worth their share of the spoils. Fluent, organised and confident, they were a different breed altogether from last season’s petrified League One sides, whose preoccupation it was to stifle enterprise in search of survival. The Humbersiders might well have won this lively game if they hadn’t encountered Ben Hamer in sparkling form.
Slow to win grudging acceptance at an initially reluctant Valley, after Rob Elliot chose lucrative obscurity at Newcastle over hard graft at home, Hamer was a vital cog in Charlton’s title-winning machine. As an English-born goalkeeper, his rich promise at this higher level will hopefully remain a well-kept secret until one of our Continent-obsessed Premier League managers comes to his senses.
Cool and composed, Hamer began a fine afternoon’s work by denying Sone Aluko at close range. Played through by Corry Evans, the elusive Nigerian drew a bead on the near corner but by “making himself big”, the 24 year-old blocked the shot, with Nick Proschwitz making a hash of converting the rebound.
In City’s goal, meanwhile, young Manchester United loanee Amos was proving equally difficult to beat. His early sprawling save from Wright-Phillips crisp drive was bettered by the effort he produced to deny the luckless Kermorgant in the 37th minute. Meeting Johnnie Jackson’s low centre on the volley, the Frenchman’s whiplashed volley was screaming inside the left post until Amos plunged full length to save. At both ends, we were being treated to goalkeeping of outstanding quality.
Acquired from Glasgow Rangers in the wake of the Scottish giants’ fall from grace, Aluko was a mobile handful. Immediately after the break, a magnificent tackle by Rhoys Wiggins was required to halt the Nigerian striker in his tracks. A minute later, the disallowed “goal” took the wind out of the Addicks’ sails but, in a torrential downpour, the exchanges between these well-matched sides continued unabated. In Wagnerian harmony, thunder crashed, lightning flashed but the action raged unabated. Betrayed by the suddenly treacherous conditions, big Leon Cort slipped momentarily but recovered to dispossess Proschwitz. With the Addicks weakening, Robert Koren’s volley slipped past the right post as the Tigers got on top.
Deep into added time, the visitors were denied twice, nay thrice, by Hamer. The double save which kept out substitute Jay Simpson and Aluko was stunning; responding to Simpson’s low point-blank effort, Hamer could do no more than instinctively beat the ball to Aluko’s feet; throwing out a reflex left hand, he miraculously diverted the dead cert follow-up past his left post. Confirmation of his heroics to a gobsmacked crowd was provided by the award of a corner; most of them were searching for the ball in the net. Hamer’s safe handling of Simpson’s last gasp shot on the turn was routine by comparison. It ensured the goalless draw which was no more than two fine young goalkeepers deserved. Charlton have stepped up in class and are coping well. Could have been even better, though, but for that interfering linesman!
Charlton: Hamer, Solly, Cort, Morrison, Wiggins, Pritchard, Hollands, Stephens, Jackson. Kermorgant, Wright-Phillips. Not used: Sullivan, Dervite, Green, Kerkar, Cook, Wilson, Smith.
Hull City: Amos, Rosenior, Faye, Chester, Dudgeon, Evans, Bruce (McShane 63), Koren, McKenna, Aluko, Proschwitz (Simpson 72). Not used: Oxley, Stewart, McLean, Cairney, Olofinjana.
Referee: Simon Hooper. Att: 16,202.
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