A careless first half led to the Addicks only getting a point from yesterday’s clash at The Valley. KEVIN NOLAN shouted at the television.

It’s time Charlton were persuaded to let go of the wrong end of the stick when the subject of charity is raised.

Let’s face it, we all know it begins at home but it’s intended for those actually AT home, not begging-bowl doorsteppers. At least that’s how it works in football. When relegation-haunted sides show up at the door, they should exit The Valley with no more than a snack and a Thermos flask to console them on the trip back home. It’s hard enough to beat the promotion contenders without extending a helping hand to the poorer classes.

One struggling side after another has been staked to a first half lead – two goals seem to be the going rate – before being outclassed by their benefactors and belatedly pegged back. Second-from-bottom Swindon were the latest mendicants to totter away from SE7 gratefully clutching a point, after being given a torrid second half going over. Behind them they left hosts wondering how they ended up with the same reward after outclassing their visitors during 45 minutes of total domination.

For the answer to the Addicks’ disappointment, look no further than the goals they carelessly conceded before the break. Both were traceable to the chronic defensive flabbiness which threatens to sentence them to at least one more season in the living hell that is League One.

Both of Swindon’s goals were the stuff of nightmares.

Receiving Scott Twine’s pass to the left of Charlton’s goal, Hallam Hope’s intention to cut inside and try his luck on his right foot was hardly a well kept secret. Without obvious cover and vulnerable to the obvious gambit, right back Adam Matthews was left standing as Hope eased past him to fire a crisp drive inside Ben Amos’ near post, with the keeper’s positional judgement coming into serious question.

Making his first start as one of four changes made by Lee Bowyer from the Peterborough defeat, Ronnie Schwartz had already been unlucky not to put Charlton ahead. Gifted a shooting chance by Conor Masterson’s disastrous back pass, the Danish marksman’s low snapshot beat Mark Travers but rebounded to safety off the far post. The linesman who flagged him offside has been provided with a discount voucher at Specsavers. If he can find his way there, that is.

After Chuks Aneke headed Jonny Williams’ excellent cross too close to Travers, the Addicks’ luck was again out as Liam Millar also hit the woodwork. After being fouled close to the edge of the visitors’ penalty area, the Liverpool loanee clipped the bar with a ferocious free kick. It was already clear that Lady Luck’s plans for the afternoon excluded a break here and there for Charlton.

With the interval looming, the Wiltshire men doubled their lead. Picked out by Diallang Jaiyesimi in congested traffic some 25 yards from goal, Matthew Palmer brushed aside a less than hearty challenge by Millar, drew a bead and beat Amos with a helpful deflection off Deji Oshilaja. Though Millar was recruited for his pace and ball skills, his lack of defensive steel shouldn’t go unremarked.

The second half, as stated, belonged to a rampant Charlton. Their shrewd change to a diamond formation from the amphibious landing craft shape which had got them nowhere made the difference and they took the game by the scruff of its neck. Darren Pratley’s close range shot, blocked by Dominic Thompson, and the header directed straight at Travers by Pratley from Jake Forster-Caskey’s cross merely delayed what had become inevitable; Town’s lead was duly halved before the hour.

A rat-a-tat exchange of passes between Millar and Pratley carved out the space the former needed to deliver a delicious first-time cross to the far post, where Aneke plunged forward to head past Travers.

Five minutes later, Aneke’s velvet touch controlled substitute Albie Morgan’s cleverly chipped centre but his thunderous volley crashed harmlessly off the bar. When newcomer Jayden Stockley headed Forster-Caskey’s corner into Travers’ hands, time was beginning to run out on the Addicks but their tourniquet-like pressure finally told in the last minute of regular time.

After swapping passes with Millar to his left, Forster-Caskey let fly optimistically from outside the area; his shot was heading down Travers’ throat until Andrew Shinnie intervened and finished coolly past the startled keeper. Having made a hash of an earlier chance, the Scottish playmaker had redeemed himself and rescued a point for the exciting but criminally culpable home side. It might have been all three but Conor Washington, after rounding Travers, ran out of room and was unable to turn his shot into a gaping net.

Not for the first time recently, the timeworn “one point gained or two points lost?” question answered itself. Charlton can’t continue to surrender two-nil leads (or “two-nought” leads as Alan Curbishley calls ’em) and get away with it. The spirit is admirably strong – the flesh is treacherously weak. It’s great entertainment but it has to stop. So, Lee, get ’em to stop!

Charlton: Amos, Matthews, Gunter, Oshilaja, Maatsen (Pearce 76), Millar, Forster-Caskey, Pratley (Morgan 60), Williams (Shinnie 46), Aneke (Stockley 76), Schwartz (Washington 76). Not used: Maynard-Brewer, Harness. Gilbey.

Swindon: Travers, Freeman (Odimayo 72), Masterson, Conroy, Thompson, Palmer, Lyden, Grant (Payne 63), Twine (M. Smith 64), Hope (Pitman 82), Jaiyesimi. Not used: J. Smith, Curran. Booked: Twine, Thompson, Jaiyesimi.

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Last night’s match wasn’t short on goals – although four of them went in the wrong direction. KEVIN NOLAN, fresh from a Covid jab, despaired then was thrilled by a rollercoaster ride at The Valley.

Three days after their neighbours Accrington Stanley reduced Charlton to a demoralised rabble, Rochdale arrived at the scene of the debacle expecting to mop up the debris. Their own stock had been boosted by their stirring comeback in clawing back a three-goal deficit to draw 3-3 with upwardly-mobile Crewe.

Brian Barry-Murphy (apologies, by the way, for handing his job to Keith Hill in my Accrington report) and his relegation-threatened men knew a good thing when they saw one. Their Tuesday evening hosts have recently built a reputation as go-to opponents for needy sides or, come to that, any side. And following 20 chaotic minutes at The Valley, their obvious confidence seemed justified.

Without the suspended Darren Pratley and, it warrants repeating, irreplaceable central defenders Ryan Inniss and Akin Famewo, Lee Bowyer deployed Jason Pearce with Deji Oshilaja in what appeared to be a quasi-left back role. Ian Maatsen was deployed further upfield as Charlton tottered towards disaster in the early going. By the time order was restored, with Oshilaja and Maatsen re-positioned, the Addicks were already in deep trouble. Just as well The Valley was deserted -a people’s revolution was all Bowyer needed.

Unbalanced and seriously undermanned at the back, Charlton were close to total collapse as Rochdale got in behind them at will, tore holes in their flimsy rearguard and almost effortlessly cruised into a two-goal lead. Wide man Kwadu Baah was briefly irresistible, his astute pass playing Jimmy Keohane clear on the left to cut back accurately to Matty Lund at the edge of the home penalty area. Lund’s first time strike beat Ben Amos’s dive and clipped the right-hand post on its way into the net.

Baah had the bit firmly between his teeth and elegantly doubled ‘Dale’s lead ten minutes later. The spadework was done by Stephen Humphrys, who powered through Charlton’s tattered resistance and picked out his young colleague to his left. Without hesitation, Baah placed a powerful shot into the left corner with Amos again left unguarded by a bewildered defence.

Facing annihilation, Bowyer’s boys gamely but almost perversely made a stand. Inspired by Chuks Aneke, frequently unplayable and a consistent pain in Rochdale’s posterior, they halved their tormentors’ lead thanks to the big line leader’s brilliant solo goal. Nodding on a high clearance, Aneke won back his own header from a startled Jimmy McNulty, shook off a posse of pursuing Dalesmen and finished brutally past Gavin Bazunu.

Back in contention, or so it seemed, the Addicks were yet again sucker-punched a minute past an already-crowded half hour. And again the damage was done by Baah, who danced inside Paul Smyth’s weak challenge and, finding no cover behind his outwitted adversary, fired his second unstoppable drive beyond a shellshocked Amos.

By now it had become clear that this was a duel between two sides, neither of which was blessed with a sturdy defence. Rochdale’s own vulnerability was cruelly exposed as they failed to handle a scruffy scramble inside their penalty area, with Jake Beesley shanking a feeble clearance to Jake Forster-Caskey’s feet. The midfielder crowned an impressive contribution with a hasty snapshot which was diverted past Bazunu by Jimmy McNulty’s helpful head.

Only a goal down despite their calamitous defending, Charlton seemed almost at pains to take a two-goal deficit into half-time sanctuary. Ryan Gilbey’s rash foul on Lund conceded the free kick, by means of which Humphrys restored the visitors’ two-goal lead. His superb delivery from 20 yards gave Amos no chance. Before the break, Aneke headed a good chance over the bar and Jonny Williams made a hash of converting Gilbey’s perfect pass from close range. If nothing else, the misses served notice that this game was surprisingly far from over.

Bowyer’s interval replacements of a limping Paul Smyth and Gilbey by Ronnie Schwartz and Albie Morgan were astute moves which shifted momentum Charlton’s way. So did a new mood of urgency which saw the Addicks first to the ball, more assured in possession and newly determined in the tackle. Rochdale were driven back by the intensity shown by their first half victims.

They had shot their bolt and saw their lead vanish along with the initiative they had torn from them. It was their turn to struggle. And unsurprisingly, Aneke was at the heart of their downfall. The skilful big man started the move which flowed through him to Schwartz and out to Chris Gunter, overlapping rapidly on the right flank. The veteran’s precise cross was headed home by Aneke, who had alertly continued his run and the Lancastrians felt the heat being turned up under them. Just two minutes later, it became intense.

Aneke was inevitably involved in Schwartz’s first goal for Charlton. But it was Gunter and Williams who laid down the groundwork, which he carried on by nudging a short, square pass into the Danish predator’s stride. From inside the penalty area, Schwartz’s fierce, rising drive finished the job. It was obvious he expected to score.

Bazunu’s fine save denied Aneke a match-winner but the psychologically important point was imperilled by the late dismissal of Jason Pearce, correctly awarded a second yellow card by Valley favourite Trevor Kettle for following in recklessly on the brave keeper.

The closing stages were anxiously negotiated, with Amos producing two fine saves to preserve equality. And if an untidy but thrilling draw against lowly opposition such as Rochdale seems an odd result to celebrate, it should be viewed in the context of Charlton’s recent dismal form.

Had they lost this game, as it seemed certain more than once they would, the consequences might have been terminal to their promotion prospects. As it is, it might have bought them the time they need to re-group. But make no mistake, the return of Inniss and Famewo to a sorely tried back four holds the key to their chances.

Charlton: Amos, Gunter, Pearce, Oshilaja, Maatsen, Forster-Caskey, Gilbey (Morgan 46), Williams (Washington 80), Smyth (Schwartz 46), Millar (Matthews 90), Aneke. Not used: Maynard-Brewer, Purrington, Bogle. Booked: Gilbey, Morgan. Sent off: Pearce.

Rochdale: Bazunu, McLaughlin, McNulty, Roberts, Keohane, Beesley, Morley, Rathbone, Baah (Dooley 65), Lund, Humphrys. Not used: Lynch, Brierley, Done, Dunne, McShane, Newby. Booked: Humphrys, Bazunu.

Referee: Trevor Kettle.

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A Friday night match on the telly brings little but dread to Addicks fans – and so it proved. KEVIN NOLAN wisely stayed on the sofa for a sharp reminder of Charlton’s current status…

Nothing more acutely reminds a club like Charlton where they stand in English football’s league pyramid than a visit from Accrington Stanley. No disrespect should be inferred in remarking that the lower division stalwart has toiled away without ever suggesting they had it in them to break into the upper echelons of the system.

If Stanley are part of your fixture list, then you’ve probably fallen from grace. As Charlton did recently from the Championship, a division in which they seem incapable of securing a foothold.

No strangers to trouble themselves, Charlton have tasted success more obviously than Friday evening’s TV visitors. They are, however, currently rivals in the same division and no amount of smug “back where we belong” rhetoric cuts any ice. The Addicks are exactly where they belong and will stay there they until they prove otherwise.

Already beaten this season by erstwhile minnows Lincoln City and Burton Albion, this sound defeat by yet another of League One’s perennial underdogs hardly inspires confidence that they will be leaving it by way of promotion. Lincoln top the table, Burton are bottom which at least implies that Charlton are equal opportunity patsies.

Crisp, confident and sure of themselves, John Coleman’s boys won this televised encounter with consummate ease. A goal in each half by young striker Colby Bishop proved enough to see off their outclassed hosts and despite goalkeeper Nathan Baxter being called upon to make several competent saves, the result was never in doubt.

The Accies called the shots from whistle to whistle and Charlton were second best throughout to a sharp, hungry side. “Accrington Stanley?!” “Exactly!” Those mickey-taking Scouse kids couldn’t justify it these days.

Showing four changes from the side which lost in similarly depressing fashion to Hull City a week previously, the Addicks began brightly enough with Baxter saving smartly from new boy Liam Millar and Jake Forster-Caskey. The early promise quickly dwindled as the visitors settled into their work and the signs became ominous. Another decent strike from Forster-Caskey, to which Baxter again reacted smartly, signalled an end to Charlton’s opening edge.

As the Addicks began to fade, Stanley took over and it was no surprise when they moved ahead ten minutes before the break. The goal was a personal purgatory for skipper Jason Pearce, who forgot the coaching dictum that long, high clearances should not be allowed to bounce. Caught too far under the dropping ball, he attempted to head Baxter’s huge punt back to Ben Amos but succeeded only in setting up Bishop to flick it over the flailing keeper before nodding the gift into an empty net.

It was an honest mistake by an honest player but it served to emphasise Charlton’s wretched luck in losing both Ryan Inniss and Akin Famewo so early after an initially promising start to a rapidly crumbling season. Like Pearce, Deji Oshilaja gives his all but, frankly, lacks the commanding presence offered by Inniss and Famewo. As expected, Chuks Aneke appeared off the bench after the break and made a big difference. Apparently unable to complete 90 minutes, however, it seems Charlton have signed a part-time performer.

Omar Bogle, meanwhile, was conspicuous by his absence and is probably on his way out of The Valley. Aneke’s hold-up play improved Charlton’s chances which were effectively quashed by Bishop’s second goal. Neat ball play and a calm, composed finish inside the penalty area did the job and allowed the impressive Lancastrians to stroll through what remained of a comfortable assignment.

A disgruntled Lee Bowyer reserved his post-match ire for 62nd-minute substitute Marcus Maddison, who clearly lacked the stomach for what was hardly a full-blooded fight. Maddison’s embarrassing concession in a 50-50 tackle was followed promptly by an injury sustained in no-man’s land which led to his immediate withdrawal.

Asked whether Maddison was seriously injured, the quietly fuming gaffer responded with ill-concealed anger. “I don’t know. I don’t care. You’ve got a player who is jumping out of tackles and then he says he got a knock before that. If you do that again, you’re done. They had more fight, more determination. It summed it up when Maddison jumped out of a tackle.”

Bowyer’s displeasure was palpable; it could mean Bogle holding the exit door open for Maddison.

As Accrington departed with all three points, they leapfrogged Charlton into sixth place and lead the Addicks by a point with no less than three games in hand. Arriving hot on their heels on Tuesday evening will be Rochdale, another of those humble Lancashire clubs overshadowed by the giants surrounding them.

Managed by Coleman’s alter ego Keith Hill Brian Barry-Murphy, ‘Dale will be looking to mop up what Stanley left behind them. Let’s hope that’s an end for a while to these pugnacious iconoclasts who punch above their weight but land painfully on the nose.

Charlton: Amos, Gunter, Pearce, Oshilaja, Maatsen, Forster-Caskey, Morgan (Williams 63), Gilbey, Millar (Maddison 63, Purrington 90), Smyth (Schwartz 77), Washington (Aneke 46). Booked: Morgan, Maatsen

Accrington: Baxter, Nottingham, Hughes, Burgess, Pritchard, McConville (Roberts 83), Conneely, Butcher, Rodgers (Cassidy 66), Bishop, Charles. Booked: Pritchard.

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The new owner was there, 2,000 socially-distanced fans were there, and – praise be – the Addicks rose to the occasion to thump their south London rivals. KEVIN NOLAN was there too.

A tumultuous change of fortunes in the second half of this old-school thriller catapulted Charlton ahead of AFC Wimbledon and restored order to incipient chaos. Their visitors’ two-goal response to Conor Washington’s 37th minute strike had sent them in for the break shaken and suitably chastened.

As perennial underdogs, these authentic Dons have made a habit of bloodying noses, particularly those turned up in distaste at their pedigree. But on this occasion, their opponents were having none of it. They were in undeniable trouble but were primed to handle it. More about that later.

A rousing first half, meanwhile, at the start of which the Addicks were indebted to Chris Gunter for popping up behind a beaten Ben Amos to clear Joe Pigott’s effort off the goal line, had somehow remained scoreless until Washington struck. Sent clear by Jason Pearce’s raking pass through the left flank, the Irishman turned abruptly inside Terell Thomas and let fly from distance. Aided by a faint deflection off the straining Thomas, his splendid curler left Connal Trueman helpless on its way into the far top corner.

Charlton were on their way, it seemed, to routine victory over plucky but slightly outclassed visitors. But there were awkward bumps in the road ahead. A former academy student at Sparrows Lane, Pigott reacted to his rejection by Charlton by forging an impressive career as a lower-league striker. He had a point to prove and duly proved it with a breathtaking equaliser as half-time loomed. Using a feathery touch to control Steve Seddon’s pass with his back to goal, a soft-shoe shuffle sent the home defence heading west while he turned sharply to the east. A glorious 18-yard drive beat Amos and overshadowed Washington’s impressive opener.

In added time, Glyn Hodges’ spirited Wombles went one better and turned the game on its head by grabbing the lead. A right-wing corner delivered by Anthony Hartigan caused chaos inside Charlton’s penalty area and was scruffily scraped clear to an unmarked Alex Woodward on the opposite wing. Another Don with boyhood Charlton connections, Woodward clipped a perfect cross to the far post, where Daniel Csoka rose unopposed to nod the visitors ahead. With no visiting supporters on hand to celebrate, a pin dropped inside The Valley was heard to reverberate in Woolwich.

The second half’s riotous assembly belonged totally to Bowyer’s Buccaneers. Trueman’s fine save to keep out Ben Watson’s volley staved off the inevitable, but the sheer intensity of Charlton’s onslaught began to overpower their bewildered victims, whose fate was sealed by the 53rd-minute introduction of substitutes Jonny Williams and Chuks Aneke. Williams performs with the enthusiasm of a football-daffy kid pleading for “next goal wins it” at twilight in a public park; Aneke was impossible to handle.

With considerable help from others, they tore Wimbledon to shreds. It took Charlton 20 unfeasible second half minutes to draw level through Jake Forster-Caskey, whose recent return to form was continued by his excellent contribution to this come-from-behind win. The busy midfielder was on hand to tap in the rebound after Aneke’s low shot was saved by Trueman, the spadework having been provided by Watson and Gunter.

One more minute and the Addicks were ahead to stay. a shrewd pass from the sublimely gifted Marcus Maddison sent Gunter to the right byline, where he provided a perfect cutback which the onrushing Williams swept into a gaping net. The Wombles were a wobbling mess by now but hung on until they were finished off by a pair of late goals. It was Aneke who dispelled fears of a second comeback by firing home the third goal from close range.

The coup-de-grace was applied when Ben Purrington became the third of Bowyer’s substitutes to score, scuffing home another rebound after Williams had hit the post. With due deference to its obvious flaws, this exhilarating performance stiffened the sinews and stirred the blood.

With that annoying horsing around at the back chucked in a bin, Charlton set about Wimbledon from whistle to whistle. The ball was moved quickly, they were direct when necessary, their finishing was uncharacteristically clinical.

The likes of Gillingham and Shrewsbury would have been brushed aside had this freewheeling attitude been unleashed on them. It’sall very well to respect your opposition, blah blah blah, but when that opposition is clearly inferior, token respect and a good hiding should be all they have coming.

Charlton are a good – potentially very good – League One side. They seem ready to impose their class and pedigree on the rest of the division. No sense in hiding lights under bushels. The secret’s out.

Charlton: Amos, Gunter, Pearce, Pratley, Maatsen, Watson, Forster-Caskey, Gilbey (Williams 53), Maddison (Purrington 84), Washington (Oshilaja 89), Bogle (Aneke 53). Subs not used: Maynard-Brewer, Matthews, Levitt.

AFC Wimbledon: Trueman, Csoka (Palmer 84), Woodyard, Thomas (Nightingale 71), Hartigan (Chislett 70), Rudoni (Reilly 70), McLoughlin, Heneghan, Longman, Pigott, Seddon. Subs not used: Tzanev, Alexander, Guinness-Walker.

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