Charlton Athletic 2 v 3 Doncaster Rovers

4-4 on aggregate, Charlton won 4-3 on penalties
Friday 17th May 2019
Football League Play-Off Semi Final Second Leg
The Valley, Charlton
Admission: £21.00
Programme: £5.00
Attendance: 25,248

Unfortunately the days of visiting the Valley regularly are long gone, through a combination of moving further away, my passion for groundhopping, and my disillusionment with the club under the ownership of current Belgian owner since 2014, Roland Duchâtelet. But for me, nothing beats being at the Valley amongst a packed crowd with plenty at stake. Sadly such occasions have been very few and far between at The Valley in recent years, but this fixture fitted the bill perfectly, potentially a nostalgic evening harking back to "the good old days" around the Millennium.

Since my much more regular visits as a season ticket holder up to 2015, The Valley has not seen substantial changes, apart from more "jazzed" up refreshment outlets and various pictures on walls depicting successful scenes from the club's history. But what was new to me today was choosing a seat in the Jimmy Seed (South) Stand. For all of my close 200 previous visits to The Valley, I have sat in one of the other three stands, as the Jimmy Seed stand is usually allocated in its entirety to visiting supporters, but this evening, to satisfy demand of home supporters and with not a huge contingent making their way from South Yorkshire for this game, the stand was divided in two. It would be interesting to watch a game from a new perspective at The Valley, and it certainly made for a lively atmosphere, as I was located close to the dividing line, which was flimsy to say the least, with light sheeting placed along seating, and barely enough stewards manning the lines during the first half, and in the early stages of the game, with tensions running high and plenty of goading from both sides, some rival fans did manage to break through for some confrontations. Happily, it never got out of hand, and the arrival of many policemen in the second half finally settled things down.The programme was a rather eye-watering £5.00, for a bumper issue of 92 pages, but to be fair, it had plenty of interesting material to read, including a season review, and a look at some play-off history, as well as the usual material one would expect of a Football League programme.

Charlton very much came up on the blindside to finish in third place in League One, to the extent that they had never been as high as third all season before beating Rochdale 4-0 at home on the final day. They had won 26 and drawn ten of their 46 league games, three points adrift of the second automatic promotion berth. Doncaster Rovers had been in the play-off places for most of the season, but following 20 wins and 13 draws, they finished in sixth place, only one point inside the play-offs, and 15 points adrift of Charlton's tally. Tonight would be the fifth time the two teams have met this season, Charlton winning 2-0 at home in November, but then lost 0-2 at home in the FA Cup Second Round, in the regular season fixture in March at Doncaster, the game ended 1-1, whilst in the first leg of this play-off tie last Sunday, Charlton won 1-2 away, when after Charlton dominated proceedings and could easily have left with a three goal advantage to bring back to The Valley, a late goal three minutes from time for Doncaster ensures the tie was far from over.

 On a dry and mild evening, Charlton got off to a perfect start, when they took the lead on the night and opened up a two goal lead overall with barely two minutes on the clock. Arsenal loanee Krystian Bielik won a free kick 25 yards in light with the left edge of the penalty area, West Ham loanee Josh Cullen floated the ball in, and Bielik headed the ball into the left hand corner, to send The Valley into raptures. Charlton were looking in control of the game and the tie overall, as they continued to threaten, and it was very much against the run of play when Doncaster levelled the scores on the night, with a very good goal. Tommy Rowe ran onto the ball deftly flicked into his path, and with all the time in the world, he strode forward before lashing home a powerful low shot from 25 yards which beat the keeper's dive to nestle in the bottom left corner. And from that point on, the tables turned as the Charlton players struggled to keep possession of the ball, gave it away too freely, and were not picking their men up - fortunately for them, Doncaster were not able to make Charlton pay for far too often being allowed oceans of space, and Charlton did have what looked like a strong shout for a penalty turned down just before the interval, when a goalbound shot hit the arm of Andrew Butler.

The second half was full of intensity but lacking in clearcut chances, although Josh Parker came close to restoring Charlton's two goal overall lead, when he stabbed the ball just wide of the near post from a Lyle Taylor cross. It was looking like Charlton would hold on to win the tie inside 90 minutes, until 2 minutes from time, when Butler sent a far post header from a corner just inside the post. And Doncaster almost won it in stoppage time, when the ball just evaded John Marquis for a tap in at the far post after the ball was fired in low from the right.

But with the overall scoreline locked at 3-3 when the referee blew his whistle for the end of 90 minutes, extra time was required to try to separate the sides. Charlton started much better than they had played for most of normal time, on the front foot, and Charlton were denied another penalty, when the ball hit the hand of Marquis, who certainly moved his arm towards the ball. But it was Doncaster who would score next, to take the lead in the overall tie for the first time. A quick break from their own penalty area culminated in a cross from the right edge of the area by Malik Wilks, and Marquis was all alone at the far post to head the ball into a virtual empty net. But within two minutes, Charlton pulled a goal back on the night, and levelled the scoreline overall, when Lyle Taylor crossed the ball low from the right, the keeper should have claimed the ball but slipped, allowing substitute Darren Pratley to tap the ball home. There were no further real chances for the remainder of extra time, and so penalty kicks were required to decide who would progress to the final at Wembley.

The first seven penalties were executed expertly, with Charlton's Chris Solly, Josh Cullen, Lyle Taylor and Joe Aribo finding the back of the net, and Doncaster's Ben Whiteman, Kieran Sadler and Ali Crawford doing likewise for Doncaster, but their fourth penalty, by Marquis, was saved by the Charlton keeper Dillon Phillips low to his left. Advantage Charlton, but that was wiped out when Naby Sarr had his penalty saved by Marko Marosi to his left. But Rowe sent his penalty wide of the left hand post, and that was enough to ensure Charlton's progress to the final, and cue a mass, but very good natured pitch invasion by the Charlton fans.

A very harsh way to decide a play-off tie, and harsh on Doncaster, who did play really well tonight, and Charlton so very nearly were left to rue not killing the game in the first when they had the opportunity, nor closing the game out when they went ahead on the night. But Charlton can now look forward to their first visit to the "New" Wembley, and an encounter with Sunderland, whom they famously beat on penalties after a 4-4 draw in 1998. A quite remarkable achievement by Lee Bowyer, having had to contend with such difficult circumstances behind the scenes, with the club still up for sale by a disinterested owner, who sanctioned the sale of top scorer Karlan Grant in January without an adequate replacement.

Video highlights of this match can be viewed by clicking here.

Metropolitan Police 2 v 3 Tonbridge Angels (aet)

Saturday 11th May 2019
Step 3 Super Play-Off Final
Imber Court, East Molesey
Admission : £10.00
Programme: £2.00
Attendance: 1268

I had long since planned to take in a couple of ladies games today. However, when this so-called "Super" play-off final was set up, at a venue I had wanted to revisit for some time as my previous visit was back in 2006 on a midweek evening, when Sittingbourne came back from two goals down to draw 3-3 thanks to a late equaliser by their goalkeeper, and with today's visitors being a club I used to watch fairly regularly when I lived in the area, I altered my plans to head for this showdown with a place in the National League at stake.

Imber Court is about a ten minute walk westwards from Thames Ditton train station, and access is gained by walking through a corridor of a very large clubhouse building for the entire sports complex, passing by a large bar area en route, leaving the building to walk through a grass area, which today had a beer tent placed on for the expected bumper crowd, before arriving at a brick turnstile block in one corner of the football ground. Programmes and golden goal tickets were available from a table just past the turnstiles, and behind the end closest to the main entrance, a stand covers a few steps of terrace stretches between the corner flags. Along the length closest to the main entrance, there are two steps of uncovered terracing, which continues behind the other end, whilst along the remaining length, an all-seater stand straddles the half way line and offering elevated and unobstructed views. A tea bar is situated to one side, and towards the other corner flag, where a second turnstile block was in operation today but is often not, hot food was served from a small gazebo. A very nice feature of the ground is imposing old fashioned floodlight pylons in three corners, with a much more understated one in the remaining corner, and although the ground could do with a little TLC in places in terms of its appearance, it is generally a tidy ground, with a bit of character and one that unsurprisingly has a different feel to it than most grounds at this level. The 28 page programme, which sold out well in advance of kick off, was decent, with a well designed front cover, and plenty of information to digest inside.

In any other season, both of today's clubs would (and certainly should) have done enough to secure promotion. After finishing in third place in the Southern League Premier Division South, Metropolitan Police won the divisional play-offs after beating Salisbury 3-2 and then Poole Town 1-0, both at home, while Tonbridge Angels finished in fourth place in the Isthmian League Premier Division, and won the divisional play-offs by beating Haringey Borough 1-2 away, and then Merstham 2-0 at home. Due to league restructuring, winning the play-offs of their own division was not sufficient to earn promotion this season, as with only six promotion spots available but four feeder divisions, two "Super Play Off" matches were required to decide which two clubs would be promoted alongside the four champions. In the other super play-off match, Northern Premier League Premier Division play-off winners Warrington Town would play Southern League Premier Division Central play-off winners Kings Lynn Town. It's a far from ideal system, but still infinitely better than the shambolic, bordering on disgraceful system at Step 4, when several teams contested the play-offs knowing that they could not be promoted, as their points-per-game record would disqualify them - for this reason, for example, Isthmian League Division One North Play-Off winners Heybridge Swifts were denied promotion. Tonbridge will be looking to return to Step 2 football after an absence of five seasons, whilst Metropolitan Police were aiming for Step 2 football for the first time in their history, and victory for them would cap a sweet ending to a season that started so acrimoniously when the FA forced Metropolitan Police to switch from the Isthmian League to the Southern League, to the dismay of the club - it is fair to say that the club was not relishing trips to the likes of Tiverton, Merthyr and Weymouth, and this was the main reason that their long serving manager Jim Cooper stood down at the end of the season, with a number of players also moving on, not fancying the extra travelling, and the playing budget was significantly reduced. Under the circumstances, it has been an impressive achievement for the club to have reached the play-offs, and also the First Round Proper of the FA Cup, when they hosted Newport County and far from disgraced themselves with a 0-2 defeat.

On a mild afternoon, Tonbridge started in the ascendancy, creating the first three decent chances. On 5 minutes, a free kick was fired in low and was well saved by the keeper's foot, on 9 minutes, a goalbound header following a corner was blocked by a defender, and on 14 minutes, a far post header from a corner went just wide. So, it was against the run of play when the hosts took the lead on 17 minutes with a fine goal, Ethan Chislett curling the ball from outside the area into the top right corner of the net, giving the keeper no chance. The Met Police then went onto have a very good spell, creating some decent chances, although Tonbridge had a gilt edged chance to equalise on 27 minutes, when Chinedu MacKenzie struck the ball first over well over the bar from barely 6 yards out. But at half time, it was the home side who held a narrow lead, but with all very much still left to play for.

But it would not take long for Tonbridge to equalise. On 50 minutes, they were awarded a handball just outside the outer corner of the penalty area, and Arthur Lee fired the ball low, taking a deflection off a defender to guide it just inside the near post. Three minutes later, Tonbridge peppered the goal in quick succession, but the ball stayed out of the net, but on 56 minutes, the Met Police went back into the lead, Ollie Robinson poking the ball home after an initial attempt at goal was blocked. The visitors then pushed hard to get a second equaliser, which finally came on 83 minutes, and it was another wonderful goal scored by a Tonbridge player, this time D'Sean Theobalds, who kept on running and running with the ball, through midfield and then along the penalty area, eventually firing the ball from the edge of the area through the keeper's legs. They should have won it with 3 minutes left when the ball was flashed across the goal line, and a block on the line ensured that extra time would be required.

Within a minutes of the restart, the Met Police came close to taking a lead for a third time, when Jack Mazzone curled  shot from the edge of the area which forced  a fine finger tip save over his head by the Tonbridge keeper. But on 97 minutes, the visitors went into the lead for the first time, sub Jared Small raced down the right on the counter attack, eventually crossing the ball to the far post, for Tom Derry to head the ball home from close range. Although the Met Police did manage to create a couple of good chances, their players looked very tired by now, and the final ball lacked conviction, and so it was Tonbridge Angels who held on to earn promotion, with the final whistle the cue for hundreds of Tonbridge supporters to invade the pitch to celebrate with the players.

It was quite fitting that Tom Derry would score the winner, an ample reward for the club's fans that had funded his arrival in February. The outcome was really tough on the Metropolitan Police, who more than played their part in a most enjoyable and high quality game of football. Losing in the play-offs is always a cruel way to miss out on promotion, particularly after extra-time, and all the more so that this was probably the only season when winning their divisional play-off was not sufficient to earn promotion. In the cold light of day though, perhaps National League South would have proved a step too far for the Metropolitan Police anyway, and Step 3 football is more their natural level with their limited resources and support. In terms of resources, next season will probably be a struggle for Tonbridge Angels in the National League South, but such concerns are the future, as they bask in the glory of promotion for now.

Highlights of this match can be viewed by clicking here

FC Dieppe 0 v 3 FC Rouen

Saturday 4th May 2019

French Championnat National, Group J Normandie
Stade Jean Dasnias, Saint Aubin Sur Scie
Admission : €7.00 (seating)
Programme: Free
Attendance: 1,700

With competitive games drying up in England, and the games that were being played today were either at grounds I had already visited, or I would be at the mercy of intermediate clubs being able to field teams for dead-rubber fixtures, I decided to go abroad for my football fix today, for this derby game in the fifth tier of French football.

After catching the 9 o'clock ferry from Newhaven to Dieppe, and then spending some time along the seafront and the town centre, I then embarked on the 45 minute walk, up a steep hill for part of the way, to the Stade Jean Dasnias, which is located at the far south western extremity of the Dieppe conurbation, with countryside immediately beyond. After passing through quite a long car park, tickets are purchased at a separate small building just outside the entrance gate. Opened in 2006, it is a neat and today ground dominated by an all-seater stand along one length, offering excellent unobstructed views. Small kiosks serving drinks and a small range of club merchandise are located on the concourse above the seating in the outer third sections, while the middle third has cushioned seats, and a hospitality area inside. Outside this stand there is a hot food tent, and around the rest of the ground there is just uncovered hard standing, flat standing behind both goals, and four steps of terracing along the other length, apart from by the half way line, where a basic electronic scoreboard is situated. A ticket to stand anywhere around the ground costs €5.00. Segregation seemed to be in place, with half of the ground and a third of the stand officially designated to visitors, however away fans seemed to be in the majority even in the home area today. Programmes are not commonly produced for games in France, but FC Dieppe certainly come up trumps in this regard, with their 16 page publication available for download from the website, with hard copies seemed to be mainly available only in the hospitality area. It provided a decent preview of the match, in full colour and with photos, messages from the management team and all of the necessary stats.

FC Dieppe have had a fair season overall, coming into this game in seventh place, following ten wins and three draws from their 22 league games, with four league games left to play. They were not in good form though, losing four of their last five league games, although they did beat AS Cherbourg 4-0 in their last home league game, and a good finish to their season could see them finish as high as third - they were only three points adrift before today's games. Only the champions are promoted from this division, and the strong favourites for that berth is today's visitors, as they led the table by eight points with four games remaining, following 15 wins and six draws from their 22 league games. They are in terrific form too, having not lost a league game since the start of November, a run that has yielded 11 wins and four draws. They could clinch the title and promotion today, if they win and second placed Évreux fail to win away at US Avranches B. When these two teams met in the reverse fixture in early January, FC Rouen won 1-0.

On a very chilly, changeable afternoon weatherwise - a heavy hail shower greeted my arrival at the ground, and a couple of showers during the match made me glad to have chosen a seat in the stand, but with prolonged bright sunny spells as well, there was quite a bit of niggle between the players before the match even started, apparently in the tunnel, and then as the Dieppe players moved along the line to shake hands with the Rouen players, there was some pushing and shoving between the players, with the stadium announcer eventually pleading with the players to behave themselves - the officials took no interest in calming things down. There were further similar skirmishes just before kick-off, and during the game. The opening exchanges looked quite promising for Dieppe, but Rouen took the lead with 6 minutes on the clock. Adama Sidibé laid the ball off for Kader N'Chobi, who showed almost unbelievable pace to race past a covering defender, leaving him for dead before running towards the keeper, and then striking the ball past the keeper. And within a couple of minutes, the visitors doubled their lead. Following an attacking free-kick by Dieppe, a quick counter attack saw Abdeljalil Sahloune race forward down the middle, before passing to his left to an unmarked Sidibé, and he slotted the ball past the keeper. And it was virtually game over with just 16 minutes on the clock, once again N'Chobi raced down the left wing, eventually crossing the ball low to Sidibé, who tapped the ball home from a close range, central position. Unsurprisingly, the Dieppe right back was then substituted, after having a really torrid time against the pace of the Rouen forwards. Dieppe had a great chance to equalise on 33 minutes when Cady Pandi intercepted a back pass, passed to Damien Plisson at the edge of the penalty area in a central position, but he fired the ball over the empty goal. No further real chances were created before half time, and so Rouen retained their three goal advantage at the break.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, the second half dropped in intensity somewhat, and although Rouen had a few sights at goal, their final shots lacked conviction, and Dieppe kept battling without looking likely to pull a goal back. As the game entered injury time, the visiting supporters broke out in cheering and chanting, as news came through that Évreux had lost at US Avranches B, confirming FC Rouen as champions and with it promotion to National 2, the fourth tier of French football. After the final whistle, the Rouen players celebrated wildly on the pitch, in front of the Rouen fans celebrating in the stand. They were by far the better team today, quicker in every respect than the hosts, for whom this was a rather chastening experience. They do have an opportunity for quick revenge though, as the two clubs will meet here again on Wednesday in the Coupe de Normandie, but that looks a tall order, as there seems to be a real gulf in quality and pace between the two teams. Apparently there were a lot of absences from the Dieppe team today due to injuries and suspensions - they must hope that some of their first teamers return on Wednesday.

And so after spending some time in the hospitality area listening to club president Patrick Coquelet thanking the club's fans and sponsors, and expressing his displeasure at the conduct of some of the Rouen players, I walked back to the town, taking a meandering amble around the town and seafront, eventually arriving at the ferry terminal, to catch the 23.59 ferry back to Newhaven, getting home at just before 5am. This was a most enjoyable day out, and although very long one, at least I was able to get plenty of sleep during the 5 hour crossing home, and it is a journey I would like to do again, to visit other clubs in Upper Normandy region in the future.