Charlton welcomed Burton Albion to The Valley on Easter Monday – and what should have been a straightforward win became a nerve-jangling match, as KEVIN NOLAN reports.

The only drawback to an out-and-out winger like Jesurun Rak-Sakyi is that you never know what you’ll get from game to game. When he’s good, he’s very very good. When he’s less than good, you can forget he is on the pitch – not really bad but virtually invisible. You just have to love wingers – and take the rough with the smooth.

During the opening 20 minutes of this untidy victory over relegation-threatened Burton, the Crystal Palace loanee was very, very good. In fact, Burton’s bewildered defence found him impossible to handle. His two-goal salvo should have propelled the Addicks to a repetition of the humiliating rout inflicted on Shrewsbury Town at the start of the month. Instead, a goalkeeping error in first-half added time changed the narrative and the ensuing tension was all too familiar at The Valley.

But let’s deal with all that later. First we’ll concentrate on the mercurial Rak-Sakyi and the damage he wreaked on the visitors during those crucial opening stages. Charlton had already begun brightly and Tyreece Campbell, another fledgling wing wizard, forced a smart save from ex-Addick Craig McGillivray with a fierce, angled drive. Then Rak-Sakyi struck his first blow.

Just seven minutes had elapsed when a trademarked lateral run from right to left across the Brewers’ penalty area had Deji Oshilaja and his colleagues working diligently to deny the slimline speedster space to strike with his well-scouted left foot. They were flummoxed when Rak-Sakyi checked back on his weaker right foot and beat McGillivray with a perfectly judged shot. Their frustration was understandable after religiously following the book but still ending up outwitted.

Ten minutes later, their tormentor doubled their misery. On this occasion, a driving run through the middle by Scott Fraser scrambled Albion’s rearguard before the Scottish playmaker’s pass bounced fortuitously off a defender to Rak-Sakyi. In no mood to quibble about niceties such as luck or fate, the goalscoring wide man tucked away a close range finish – with his left foot.

Though he worked hard during an awkward second half, Charlton’s borrowed number 17 gradually faded, but not before his 12th and 13th goals of a fruitful season had left Burton critically wounded in their wake.

With the stuffing effectively knocked out of them, Dino Maamria’s battlers rallied and came close to reducing their arrears when Sam Hughes connected firmly with Conor Shaughnessy’s cross but headed straight at Ashley Maynard-Brewer.

By the time Joe Powell’s dangerous free kick was volleyed narrowly too high by Mark Helm, the visitors’ recovery was taking shape. And it was their turn for a lucky break shortly before the break through a rare error by Maynard-Brewer.

Leaving his line to deal with Jasper Moon’s optimistic up-and-under from the right touchline, the young Aussie muffed his catch while under no discernible pressure from a posse of hopeful Brewers. His fumble bounced loose for Hughes to hook into a gaping goal.

Shaken by the unexpected setback, Charlton’s anxiety was relieved by a vital third goal shortly after resumption. The hard work was provided by Campbell, whose determined run took him to the left byline and was capped by a cutback into a congested six-yard area. Though off balance, Macauley Bonne contrived to poke a typical poacher’s finish past McGillivray.
Bonne’s second goal in successive games might – but probably won’t – silence his suitably anonymous detractors. As things turned out, it became a matchwinner because the Brewers were not prepared to submit.

The Addicks’ critical two-goal lead survived precariously until Dean Holden deemed it necessary to replace George Dobson, Fraser and Mandela Egbo with over 20 minutes remaining. Dobson was running on empty and presumably needed protection from unnecessary cautions; having performed manfully, Egbo’s lack of game time dictated his removal.

The withdrawal of Fraser was rather more contentious because the tall Scot was Rak-Sakyi’s rival as best player on the pitch and his presence as Charlton’s midfield fulcrum was sorely missed. Whatever Holden’s reasons were, the effect was disastrous.

Sensing a chance of salvation, Albion redoubled their efforts and, with a quarter hour left, met with success. Powell’s inswinging corner was returned from the far post by Hughes and nodded past Maynard-Brewer by Josh Walker. A desperate defensive boot swiped Walker’s effort clear but not, according to referee Sunny Singh Gill, before it crossed the goalline.

Charlton’s comfortable walk in the park was by now a fading memory and the late dismissal of Jack Payne, one of Holden’s pivotal trio of substitutes in the 67th minute, hardly helped. Eager to do his bit as the pressure intensified, Payne’s rash foul on Oshilaja earned him an 88th-minute booking, which was quickly followed by a second booking for repeating the offence on Powell. All ten of the remaining Addicks, including no fewer than six academy graduates, dug in defiantly to secure a result they clearly coveted.

It was far from elegant but Charlton needed to bury the memory of their witless, spiritless outing in Bristol at the opening end of the Easter weekend. If nothing else, they owed as much to those pilgrims who, depending on your take on things, were unlucky – or alternatively lucky – not to make it. You might find yourself conflicted on that one!

Charlton: Maynard-Brewer, Egbo (Kane 67), Hector, Inniss, Thomas, Dobson (Payne 67), Morgan (Mitchell 89), Rak-Saki, Fraser (Henry 67), Campbell, Bonne (Kanu 89). Not used: Wollacott, Kilkenny. Booked: Payne (2) – sent off.

Burton: McGillivray, Brayford (Ashworth 84), Oshilaja, Hughes, Powell, Taylor, Walker (Carayol 77), Moon, Shaughnessy, Helm, Latty-Fairweather (Kamara 84). Not used: Amissah, McCann, Ahadme, Gilligan. Booked: Moon.

Referee: Sunny Singh Gill. Official attendance: 12,788 (222 visiting).

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Charlton survived a nervy end to the match – played amid a downpour at The Valley – to record their first home win since mid-October. KEVIN NOLAN was there to see it.

Carried along for 45 minutes on the crest of a wave which began breaking at Fratton Park five days previously, a newly-confident Charlton played Lincoln City off the park, scored two splendid goals and seemed on their way to comprehensive victory. It was, of course, too good to be true and by the time seven added second-half minutes had elapsed, the Addicks were bedraggled and hanging on desperately. Plus ça change, then.

The first half was a pleasure to watch and a privilege to report. A side unchanged, with the exception of Craig McGillivray in goal for concussion-hit Ashley Maynard-Brewer, tore into their visitors with confidence boosted by their excellent – and customary – win over Portsmouth (bless their nautical hides!).

With midfield domination secured by the outstanding trio of Scott Fraser, Albie Morgan and the all-purpose George Dobson, Dean Holden’s aggressive line-up threw off a diffident start and hardly gave the Imps a look-in until the interval came to their rescue. Holden’s front three, featuring the tricks and pace of wide men Corey Blackett-Taylor and Jesurun Rak-Sakyi on either side of Miles Leaburn’s precocious self-assurance, gave City all they could handle.

In the early going, Morgan’s terrific diagonal pass gave Blackett-Taylor the space he needed to cross to the far post, where Rak-Sakyi shot tamely into Carl Rushworth’s hands.

With the pressure mounting, Fraser’s free kick was headed narrowly wide by Leaburn, before shots from Fraser and Rak-Sakyi curled inches off target. Charlton’s breakthrough was surprisingly delayed until the 35th minute, when the bang in-form Scot started and finished a move which broke Lincoln’s weakening resistance.

Bursting through the centre circle, Fraser picked out Leaburn, unmarked on the right flank, with a sweeping pass and continued his run through the inside left channel. Blackett-Taylor’s challenge in the middle proved a useful distraction as Leaburn’s deep cross from the byline proceeded, untouched, to Fraser, who directed a deliberate header back across Rushworth. The keeper managed a touch but couldn’t prevent its flight into the far corner.

Three minutes before the break, the Addicks doubled their lead, with Fraser again heavily involved. Sent away by Dobson’s perceptive pass, he delivered an inch-perfect through ball which Blackett-Taylor took seamlessly in his stride. Moving wide of a struggling Joe Walsh, the portsider hammered an unstoppable drive past Rushworth, who curiously shouldered arms as the shot whizzed past him.

A third goal would clearly have finished off Mark Kennedy’s men and a golden chance to do so was squandered by Charlton shortly after the resumption. Cutting inside Harry Boyes, Rak-Sakyi forced a smart parrying save from Rushworth.

Flying in to meet the inviting rebound, Leaburn shovelled it haplessly over the bar from four yards. At the time, his miss seemed no more than a blip in an otherwise smooth performance by the Addicks. But for the relieved Imps, a small and apparently insignificant corner had been turned. They had nothing more to lose – and possibly a point or better to gain.

A tame effort scuffed tamely at McGillivray by substitute Charles Vernam hardly dripped with menace but, with a quarter of an hour remaining, City reduced their arrears and dramatically changed the momentum.

Charlton’s previously-untroubled defence was reduced to rubble as Danny Mandriou emerged from a hectic penalty-spot scramble with clear sight of McGillivray’s goalposts. His first effort was heroically charged down by Steven Sessegnon, his second brilliantly blocked by Dobson. At the third time of asking, Mandriou found the net off the underside of the bar and filled three sides of The Valley with a familiar sense of foreboding. You could say it goes with the territory.

By the time seven added minutes were announced, the Addicks were falling apart but lurching toward an important home win, their first since Portsmouth (put your hands together for good old Pompey, so often Charlton’s help in ages past) came to the rescue back on October 17th last year.

But Kennedy’s Imps had one last shot in their locker and hearts leapt into mouths as Mandriou, set up cleverly by Teddy Bishop, drilled it heart-stoppingly wide of the left post. It’s a game of inches, so they say, and all of Charlton’s earlier superiority would have counted for nothing – or next to nothing – if Mandriou’s drive had passed to the right rather than the left of McGillivray’s far upright.

But when you catch a wave, it makes sense to ride it. We’re coming for you next, United…

Charlton: McGillivray, Clare, Inniss, Ness, Dobson, Rak-Sakyi (Kirk 85), Morgan (Payne 70), Fraser, Blackett-Taylor (O’Connell 90), Sessegnon, Leaburn (Stockley 90). Not used: Harness, Henry, Chin. Booked: Payne, Sessegnon, Dobson.

Lincoln: Rushworth, Poole, Boyes, Sanders (Vernam 61), Hopper, O’Connor, Walsh (Makama 88), Mandriou, Sorensen, Eyoma, Diamond (Bishop 46). Not used: Wright, Oakley-Boothe, Bann, Kendall.

Referee: James Oldham. Attendance: 12,165 (634 visiting).

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