The Addicks offered little resistance yesterday when Storm Oxford blew into The Valley. KEVIN NOLAN picks up the pieces.

Arriving in the capital just outside the promotion play-off places, Oxford United cruised effortlessly into the top six by becoming the fourth team (Wycombe, Bolton and Wigan are the others) to complete a league double over Charlton.

They barely drew sweat in shrugging aside puny opposition which is rapidly earning a reputation as League One’s softest touches. It will take a dramatic reversal of current form to prevent in-form Milton Keynes from joining the two-timers when they visit on Tuesday evening.

Not that The Valley isn’t a fun place to visit on match days. There’s an abundance of entertainment not only inside but outside the stadium, alongside which the actual game seems almost an afterthought.

On a more clement day than Saturday, you’ve got your trampolining, bouncy castle, disco music and photo ops with a couple of furry mascots. Step inside and Charlton’s starting line-up is announced by a little moppet and a seemingly never-ending list of cuddly birthday dedications is unrolled.

Then just prior to kick-off, you’re treated to the owner’s dreadful heavy metal dirge (self-penned, we assume), which assures fans that it’s “do or die” out there on the pitch. Edge? You want an edge? You’d come across more edge at the Women’s Institute AGM or, as Basil Fawlty famously put it, “the Nell Gwynn Tea Rooms”.

Charlton’s fabled old ground is more playgroup than fortress these days. And don’t get me started on the Crossbar Challenge when you’re two down at half-time!

Well, that’s me done. Rant over. Back to the football, overwhelmingly most of it supplied by Karl Robinson’s smooth, well-organised side.

They calmly weathered a false early storm, during which Alex Gilbey failed crucially to control Jonathan Leko’s dangerous cross and Diallang Jaiyesimi drove an expertly delivered ball from Adam Matthews into the sidenet, before clicking into gear and putting their uppity hosts firmly in their place.

Charlton’s misery began on 21 minutes when prolific marksman Matty Taylor fastened on to Gavin Whyte’s precise pass and from a difficult angle to the right of goal, drove unerringly over Craig McGillivray into the far corner.

The Addicks’ keeper briefly kept the deficit to one by brilliantly saving Sam Baldock’s point-blank diving header after Cameron Brannagan’ s fierce effort rebounded off the bar. Both Baldock and Brannagan set the record straight later on.

Confident and cohesive, the Us and Taylor both doubled their account before the half hour. A bewildering exchange of passes was rounded off by the pass from Ryan Williams which filleted the home defence and set up Taylor to finish precisely across McGillivray and into the far corner. The prowess of Oxford’s number 9 was a chastening reminder for Charlton that all three of the senior strikers were injured and unavailable for selection, an unhappy circumstance out of Johnnie Jackson’s control.

Stepping up to solve at least one of his manager’s headaches, 18 year-old prodigy Mason Burstow replaced the ineffectual Jaiyesimi at the interval and while there was no fairytale ending to this particular story, the kid did OK.

He showed a shell-shocked crowd that spirit and tenacity back up the obvious talent which persuaded Chelsea to add him to their bloated roster. Shortly after the re-start, he supported Elliot Lee as the midfielder brilliantly controlled George Dobson’s ball over the top under severe defensive pressure.

An instinctively toe-poked shot spun off Herbie Kane and inches wide of a post. On an afternoon when visiting goalkeeper Jack Stevens was seriously under-employed, it was as close as Charlton were to come.

As though in direct reprisal, the white-clad visitors proceeded up field and increased their advantage. Another of Whyte’s perceptive passes reached Baldock, who cut inside from the left and curled a beauty inside the right hand post.

It was clear by now that Robinson’s rampant side had an answer for everything, a point they forcibly made by adding a fourth goal near the end. Further rapid-fire passing was finished off by Brannagan, whose 25-yard missile gave McGillivray no chance. By that time, Sean Clare had sheepishly departed the debacle after clashing with Taylor in what is known colloquially as a “coming together” – or what used to be known as a bit of a punch-up.

And that was that, except to be reminded, with relentless cheerfulness, that the Addicks are home again, on Tuesday as already mentioned, then again against Sunderland next Saturday week.

When you’ve been embarrassed 4-0 by Oxford United, it might have been more sensitive to understate forthcoming attractions but then again, that’s a trifle curmudgeonly. So expect me at The Valley on Tuesday. No sense, no feeling, that’s me. Open the cage… play the music.

Charlton: McGillivray, Purrington, Dobson, Jaiyesimi (Burstow 46), Morgan, Gilbey, Matthews, Lee (Campbell 88), Leko (Famewo 65), Inniss, Clare. Not used: Harness, Pearce, John, Lavelle. Booked: Purrington, Morgan, Leko, Inniss. Sent off: Clare.

Oxford: Stevens, Long, Moore, Williams, Brannagan, Taylor (Winnall 77), Sykes, McNally (Brown 56), Baldock (McGuane 72), Whyte, Kane. Not used: Eastwood, Forde, Holland, Seddon. Booked: Moore, Sykes, Taylor.

Referee: Carl Boyeson. Att: 14,029 (1,987 away).

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The Addicks overcame south London rivals AFC Wimbledon at The Valley yesterday – leaving KEVIN NOLAN with a sense of relief.

A frantic, see-saw shootout, in which four of the five goals were direct results of setpieces, saw Charlton banish, once and for all, irritating worries about relegation.

Over the last few weeks, with three consecutive league victories, they have pulled themselves together and proved that they are too good to go down. They are, in fact, a match for any team in the division but have left themselves too much ground to make up. Their inconsistency has probably sentenced them to another exhausting season in the quagmire that is League One.

Narrowly beaten, meanwhile, Wimbledon face an uphill, though far from impossible, task to finish above the dreaded drop. They showed spirit and togetherness in taking the Addicks to the wire and will have a chance to avenge this defeat when the sides clash again at Plough Lane on March 22nd in the rearranged Boxing Day fixture.

And though it doesn’t take much to see that the problems of two little clubs don’t amount to a hill of beans in this crazy world, it’s a matter of urgency in the blinkered world of football. Not to mention parochial pride. Full of confidence and unchanged from their excellent midweek win at Portsmouth, Charlton made an already tough chore that much tougher by handing their visitors a 3rd minute lead. Ryan Inniss’ foul on Anthony Hartigan allowed his victim to deliver a deep free kick beyond the far post, where Will Nightingale headed back into Craig McGillivray’s briefly safe hands.

Under modest pressure from Ethan Chislett, unfortunately, the normally reliable keeper fumbled possession to Ayaoub Assal, who set up Chislett to shoot into a vacated net. Protest was inevitable but referee Brett Huxtable was unmoved. The goal stood and Charlton were on the wrong end of it.

It says much for the character of Johnnie Jackson’s evolving side that within 28 minutes of the setback, they had not only equalised but taken the lead themselves. The visitors had enjoyed their lead for only a quarter of an hour when substitute Diallang Jaiyesimi combined with Alex Gilbey to earn a right wing corner, which Albie Morgan sent hard and head-high to the near post. Inniss nodded down and in off a wrongfooted Hartigan, with Nikola Tzanev helpless to intervene.

Jaiyesimi had been an early replacement for the desperately unlucky Cory Blackett-Taylor and no disrespect for the latter is implied in observing that the Addicks were galvanised by the newcomer’s impact. Just past the half hour, Charlton’s mercurial No 7 produced a visionary pass which will be unrivalled as the assist of the season.

Caressed with the outside of his right foot from a position just near the halfway line, it sent Conor Washington sprinting through a shredded defence with only the advancing Tzanev to beat. Frequently criticised for his “unclinical” finishing, the Northern Irishman calmly slotted past the despairing keeper; his record of 20 goals from 48 starts plus 16 substitute appearances disproves the theory that he lacks coolness under pressure.

A rip-roaring first half, which delighted the few neutrals among another bumper Valley crowd but was the despair of Jackson and his opposite number Mark Robinson, had a last twist in its tail before the break.

Yet another free kick conceded in front of the East Stand was lofted to the far post by Hartigan, cleared even Inniss’ commanding brow and was headed back and in, a la text book, by visiting skipper Ben Heneghan. Before delivery, Heneghan was being monitored by Chuks Aneke; at the point of impact, he was completely unmarked. A Sparrows Lane post-mortem will no doubt sort out defensive culpability.

A more sedate second period was almost inevitable. It featured a winning goal for the Addicks on the hour mark, scored by Akin Famewo and duly celebrated by fans and players as his first for the club. Another of Morgan’s whiplash corners from the left was met at the far post and emphatically bulleted home by the no-nonsense centre back.

The rest was relatively routine, or as close to routine as Charlton get in protecting a lead and managing a game. McGillivray made his only save from Nightingale, George Marsh shot uncomfortably wide and Heneghan headed off target as the Dons optimistically sought an equaliser.

For the victorious Addicks, George Dobson and Sean Clare maintained their recent excellence but were edged out as Charlton’s man of the match by Jaiyesimi.

Quick feet, adhesive touch and decent defensive work, the tricky winger has the tools; all he needs is a shot of acceptable arrogance and his name could be the first on Jackson’s team sheet. Mind you, Bolton on a cold Tuesday night can separate the men from the boys.

Make ’em have it, DJ… here’s looking at you, kid!

Charlton: McGillivray, Matthews, Inniss, Famewo, Clare, Dobson, Morgan (Fraser 73), Gilbey, Blackett-Taylor (Jaiyesimi 12), Washington, Aneke (Burstow 69). Not used: Henderson, Pearce, Lee, Purrington Booked: Clare, Inniss, Gilbey, Jaiyesimi.

AFC Wimbledon: Tzanev, Nightingale, Marsh, Hartigan, Cosgrove (Cosgrave 62), Assal, Chislett (McCormack 76), Rudoni (Ablade 76), Osew, Brown, Heneghan. Not used: Broome, Csóka, Guinness-Walker, Mebude

Referee: Christopher Pollard Official attendance: 22,486 (1,233 visiting)

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It wasn’t the most entertaining of matches, but the Addicks notched up an important win yesterday, as KEVIN NOLAN reports.

Charlton’s vital win over improving Fleetwood Town helped to ease their lingering fears they might be sucked into a late season relegation battle. Second-half goals from Mason Burstow and Albie Morgan were enough to see off the Cod Army, who paid the price for failing to turn their early superiority into an interval lead.

The win, however unevenly it was achieved, was gratefully savoured but a bumper crowd needed no reminding that both scorers were products of the club’s impressive academy system.

Fans enjoy little more than to watch youngsters make it through the various age levels on their way to the first team, and serenaded Burstow, then Morgan, as “one of our own”.

Mason, not 19 until August, tapped into the euphoric mood by turning his 82nd-minute replacement by Conor Washington into an innocently improvised lap of honour; Albie, 22 next week, went quietly berserk after crowning an impressive contribution with an all-too-rare goal in time added on by Billy Bunter-shaped referee Brett Huxtable.

(Billy Bunter? Ask your grandad. Or your grandma, who might get you up to speed about Bessie Bunter, Billy’s sister.)

In the accepted way of things, meanwhile, you’ll find the names of Charlton’s goalscorers at the head of this report. And rightly so. Goals are how games of football are decided.

But there’s more to it than that. There’s the exhausting but ultimately decisive battle to control midfield, the engine room where small battles are won and lost which inexorably influence the outcome.

And at the heart of Charlton’s midfield on Saturday, as he has been since Johnnie Jackson reinstalled him following Nigel Adkins’ departure, was the indefatigable George Dobson.

Hardly a veteran himself at 24, Dobson ploughed through a prodigious workload, which included momentum-changing interceptions, razor-sharp tackles and conscientious tracking.

Most of his unglamorous graft was followed by the appropriate choice of pass to turn defence into attack. Hunch-shouldered, urgent and hardly the most elegant player on the pitch, Dobson had a horse of a game, which won’t have escaped the all-seeing eye of his manager.

Back to the whirlwind start made by Stephen Crainey’s in-form Fishermen’s Friends. As early as the first minute, setpiece expert Danny Andrew sent an ideally placed free kick harmlessly over the bar, Paddy Lane clipped the woodwork with an deceptively drifting cross, then Lane cut inside Aki Famewo but fired tamely into Craig McGillivray’s hands.

The Addicks briefly raised the siege with Diallang Jaiyesimi sending Sean Clare through to sting Alex Cairns’ palms at his near post. Their respite was short-lived as Andrew used a short corner to pick out an onrushing Tom Clarke beyond the far post, but the centre-back headed inches too high.

With the pressure mounting, another free kick conceded just outside the penalty area saw Andrew improve on his earlier effort by shaving the bar. But under the towering influence of Ryan Inniss, the Addicks stayed in the game and significantly came closest to scoring before the break. A subdued Chuks Aneke fashioned a shooting chance for Elliot Lee, which was blocked back to Lee, whose second effort was brilliantly saved by a full-length Cairns.

There was no way of knowing it at the time but the visitors had already blown their best chance of a useful result. Within eight minutes of the restart, they fell behind to Burstow’s second league goal and fifth of a hugely promising career. Jay Matete’s foul on Corey Blackett-Taylor near the left touchline set up Morgan to launch a free kick, which was returned from the far post by Inniss and nodded past Cairns by Burstow.

The kid’s bashful, foot-scuffing departure past the North Stand some 30 minutes later was saluted by his doting fans. The Leaving of Liverpool was only slightly more emotional.

Before Morgan applied the coup-de-grace, Lane came within a whisker of spoiling the party when he failed – by exactly that whisker – to toe-end Shayden Morris’ teasing cross past McGillivray. Morgan responded by quickstepping nimbly through a tiring defence but inexplicably missed a yawning target.

It hardly mattered because less than a minute later, Albie finished clinically from the penalty spot after Zak Jules could only turn Alex Gilbey’s cross from the right into his path.

Great work from Gilbey, by the way. His 20-minute cameo might have earned him a place in the starting line-up at Hartlepool on Tuesday evening, if he’s lucky!

Charlton: McGillivray, Clare, Inniss, Famewo, Dobson, Lee (Gilbey 69), Morgan, Jaiyesimi, Blackett-Taylor (Purrington 86), Burstow (Washington 82), Aneke. Not used: Henderson, Pearce, Leko, Watson. Booked: Dobson, Aneke.

Fleetwood: Cairns, Andrew, Jules, Clarke, Harrison, Camps, Matete, Batty (Pilkington 75), Lane, Johnston (Nsiala 81), Hayes (Morris 62). Not used: Donaghy, Johnson, Biggins, Boyle. Booked: Matete.

Referee: Brett Huxtable. Att: 21,811 (192 visiting).

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