Another last-minute goal went the wrong way at The Valley on Friday night. KEVIN NOLAN picks through what went wrong…

Now hovering perilously above the Championship’s relegation basement, Charlton again – yet again! – conceded a vital added time goal which cost them an opportunity to distance themselves from the maelstrom beneath them. And inevitably, they yielded in front of the Jimmy Seed Stand housing the away supporters. The familiar tableau of stricken Addicks falling to their knees while jubilant opponents celebrate wildly with delirious travelling fans is wearing thin. It’s time to change the dynamic.

It might help to consider a few pertinent statistics derived from 12 home games. Charlton have had 14 goals scored against them, of which no fewer than 11 have been registered in the second half at the away end. They’re impressively solid when defending the home goal. Only Stoke, Swansea and Sheffield Wednesday have succeeded in scoring before the home supporters, which means nine other teams have failed to turn the trick in front of the Covered End.

So what can we conclude from these figures? Well, they call into question Charlton’s rigid practice for attacking the visitors’ goal in the first half. Are we meant to assume they win every toss and have their choice of ends? Or is there an unspoken understanding among teams that the hosts get to choose on a turnabout basis?

On too many occasions this season, the Addicks have been called upon to defend a lead with their backs to the away end. And too often they have failed miserably to see the job through to the bitter end. Seven times now they have been caught – on the last two occasions in added time. The squandered points would already have all but secured their place in next season’s Championship. Perhaps they would offer stiffer resistance if the defence – and Dillon Phillips in particular – had a raucous Covered End ranged behind them. There’s a psychological edge to be among friends.

Friday’s hammer-blow was inflicted with the last touch of a see-saw game. Hull were throwing the kitchen sink at their fast unravelling hosts as five minutes of added time extended into a sixth minute. Unwisely, Ben Purrington, who had been drafted into the starting line-up only because Alfie Doughty reported sick, capped an indifferent contribution by committing a needless foul near the halfway line. With every available Tiger crowding the penalty area, goalkeeper George Long hurried forward to send a free kick soaring into the penalty area; Jason Pearce headed clear to playmaker Kamil Grosicki, who controlled neatly, stepped on to his right foot and crossed precisely from the left flank. Leaving Purrington earthbound at the far post, Keane Lewis-Potter directed a clever header inside the right post which Phillips, despite his frantic efforts to save, could only help over the line. The sickening setback was tougher to absorb with Tuesday’s heartbreak still fresh in Valley minds.

Defend the Covered End

There’s no point in speculating, of course, whether the Addicks – and Phillips – would have fared better at the home end but maybe there’s no harm in finding out. The Potters, the Swans and the Owls would confirm it’s harder to score down there.
Setting out in an improvised 3-5-2 formation, meanwhile, Charlton shaded an uneventful first half, from which they emerged a goal to the good. Chances had been few for both sides when Conor Gallagher, having assumed setpiece responsibility, delivered a wind-assisted right wing corner which cleared a congested goal area before being powerfully headed past Long by Darren Pratley. Skipper Eric Lichaj’s ill-starred complaint that he’d been fouled rather than overpowered by Pratley fell on referee Andy Davies’ resolutely deaf ears.

Required to protect their lead in front of the notorious away end, Charlton survived for only two minutes before it was cancelled out. Very much his side’s creative heartbeat, Grosicki found space to send over a dipping ball which Pearce and his defensive colleagues, in fear of an own goal, left untouched as it made its way to the far post. November’s Championship player of the month Jarrod Bowen gleefully bashed the Tigers’ first equaliser into a gaping net.

City’s equality lasted only a couple of minutes before Charlton forged in front again with an outstanding ensemble goal. Starting a flowing move in his own half, Naby Sarr offloaded neatly to Albie Morgan, whose measured pass sent Jonathan Leko running directly at the left side of Hull’s defence. Making mugs of both Reece Burke and Callum Elder, the mercurial WBA loanee ghosted past them and hammered over a low cross which left Sarr, who had alertly followed his initial pass forward, the simple task of finishing from a yard out.

With the second half approaching an apparently happy conclusion, Bowyer’s embattled side seemed to done enough to draw a line under their two-month slump. Phillips played his part with two shap saves from Bowen and Lichaj but otherwise there was little cause for concern which ignored, of course, Charlton’s quite extraordinary inability to see things through to the final whistle. They might possibly find it an easier proposition if they were defending the Covered End. Just saying like…

Charlton: Phillips, Matthews, Lockyer, Pearce, Sarr, Purrington, Pratley, Gallagher, Morgan (Oshilaja 67), Bonne (Taylor 80), Leko. Not used: Maynard-Brewer, Ledley, Solly, Vennings. Booked: Matthews, Leko.

Hull: Long, Lichaj, De Wis, Burke, Batty (Bowler 46), Eaves (Honeyman 76), Irvine, Da Silva Lopez, Bowen, Grosicki, Elder (Lewis-Potter 64). Not used: Ingram, Tafazolli, Kingsley, Pennington. Booked: Irvine, Da Silva Lopez.

Referee: Andy Davies. Attendance: 14,447 (624 visiting).

Charlton fans turned up at The Valley on Saturday to celebrate the end of Roland Duchâtelet’s reign as club owner – but Sheffield Wednesday spoiled the party by beating the injury-ravaged Addicks, as KEVIN NOLAN reports…

Already sapped by the rash of injuries that have destroyed their promising season, Charlton were kicked while they were down by a mischievous virus which robbed them on Friday of first team regular Ben Purrington and deputy goalkeeper Ashley Maynard-Brewer. Centre back Tom Lockyer, though also affected, recovered enough to play but will miss next week’s trip to Middlesbrough after irresponsibly picking up a fifth booking for dissent mere minutes before judicial amnesty kicked in. Meanwhile, teenage midfielder Albie Morgan was, according to beleaguered manager Lee Bowyer, sick before kick-off and again at half-time.

Expert by now at making a little go an impressively long way, Bowyer handed lively left wingback Alfie Doughty his full league debut, named 19-year-old Nathan Harness as Maynard-Brewer’s deputy and completed a depleted bench of only five substitutes with further untried youngsters in Josh Davison and James Vennings. Possibly sent out with an inter-denominational prayer rather than a team talk, the walking wounded made a fair but unsuccessful fist of coping with Sheffield Wednesday. A lack of spirit was not their undoing but they were unable to halt a sequence which has earned them just two points from seven games since they demolished Derby County on October 19th.

Charlton’s nemesis on Saturday proved to be Wednesday’s canny Scot Barry Bannan, a midfield dynamo with an unfortunate Crystal Palace pedigree. Hitting the big 3-0 the day after this game, Bannan covered every inch of The Valley’s lawn-like pitch, his will-to-win undimmed by the advancing years. His first contribution was the precise fifth-minute free kick which Atdhe Nuhiu headed emphatically home from a marginally offside position.

Sarr’s costly lapses

Turning up a little later on the opposite flank, Bannan curled a cross which all but begged Steve Fletcher to glance an artful header inside the right hand post. The less said of Naby Sarr’s sluggish reaction to danger the better, except to ruefully note that he was taught a harsh lesson by Fletcher, whose movement and anticipation belied his 33 years. Fully ten years his junior, Sarr continues to undermine frequently sublime passing with costly defensive lapses. But he cares – nobody denies he cares.

Supporting Fletcher and Nuhiu up front for the visitors, feisty Fernando Forestieri announced his presence with a raking low drive narrowly wide of the target. Shortly thereafter, he claimed responsibility for a warm favourite as “miss of the season.” Arriving at the far post after Fletcher’s header, from Kadeem Harris’ right wing centre, was brilliantly saved by Phillips, Forestieri seemed a cinch to score but contrived to blast the loose ball wildly wide from three yards. His interval replacement by Jacob Murphy might have been a direct consequence of Garry Monk’s ill-disguised displeasure: the manager’s irritation was justified because the Addicks’ prompt response to Forestieri’s howler was to equalise.

Picking up Sarr’s pass on the left touchline, Doughty disposed of Moses Odubajo’s marking by the simple expedient of knocking the ball wide of his bemused marker before skinning him on the inside by a searing turn of pace. Doughty’s hard, low cross was controlled by Macauley Bonne, then prodded past Cameron Dawson, with the keeper wrongfooted by a deflection off Tom Lees. Phillips promptly did his bit to preserve interval equality with a brilliant one-on-one block on Bannan, which left the indefatigable Caledonian in a painful heap. Unhappily, as far as Charlton’s chances were concerned, he made a full recovery.

The second half developed into an unremitting slog for Charlton as they battled bravely for the valuable point their unstinting effort arguably deserved. With the visitors in control, Phillips again earned his corn by saving smartly from Bannan, then sparing Deji Oshilaja’s blushes by sprawling to turn aside Harris’ low crosshot after the speedster was gifted the ball by the absentminded Addick.

Progressively weary troops

Bowyer’s progessively weary troops were eyeing the finishing line when the pressure told on them. Pursuing Murphy to the right byline, Erhun Oztumer’s tired, ill-considered lunge from behind on the Newcastle United loanee left referee Tim Robinson with little alternative but to award a penalty which Fletcher efficiently converted.

The hulking Nuhiu’s stoppage time header did justice to Adam Reach’s perfect delivery but merely garnished Wednesday’s victory on a chilly afternoon which featured the Charlton debut of young Vennings. Good luck to the kid but the 19-year-old’s appearance in the first team hardly featured in Bowyer’s plans for a season still considerably short of its halfway mark.

There was little evidence of “new owners’ bounce” but plenty to suggest that the Addicks, as soon as the medical room begins to empty, are a match for any side in the Championship. Remind me of that remark come next May if you like. I’m not usually hard to find.

Charlton: Phillips, Matthews, Lockyer, Sarr, Oshilaja, Pratley, Morgan (Vennings 61), Oztumer (Davison 81), Doughty, Leko, Bonne. Not used: Harness, Pearce, Solly.

Wednesday: Dawson, Odubajo, Lees, Hutchinson (Luongo 77), Iorfa, Fox, Harris (Reach 80), Bannan, Forestieri (Murphy 46), Nuhiu, Fletcher. Not used: Jones, Lee, Pelupessy, Winnall.

Referee: Tim Robinson. Att: 18,338 (2,680 visiting).