Saturday 6 October 2007

Valley of Disappointment

After going 1-0 ahead against Barnsley through a Zheng Zhi header, Charlton conceded a late goal so that the match ended in 1-1 draw. Once again the Addicks failed to hold on to a lead, but they also failed to take advantage of some chances earlier in the game, not least when Ambrose had the goal at his mercy.

So it was very much a Valley of Disappointment. Admittedly, the defeat of the Baggies at Southampton kept the Addicks 2nd in the table, two points ahead of the Baggies and also Bristol City who won the evening game. However, Watford increased their lead at the top of the table and we may come to rue these drawn games later in the season.

Maggie and I hunted around in the drawers for some shirts that did not have the name of an insolvent company on them. In the end we found a Mesh shirt signed by Keith Jones for me and a Redbus shirt for Maggie. Peter Varney had some reassuring words in the programme about Llanera and it may be that the Spanish central bank sources we have been relying on are unreliable. Given the uncertainties, I am pleased that Richard Youngs, who lives in Madrid, has agreed to act as our special correspondent on Llanera.

The pitch announcer was back, giving it large as if it was a boxing contest, 'a top of the table clash'. Interesting to see that Iwelumo and Barnsley front man Keyoda Odejayi warmly greeted each other, I don't know where they came across each other before.

Charlton started brightly and Andy Reid, who in my view was on top form, put in a great ball to Luke Varney but Barnsley's giant German keeper, Heinz Muller, whose diet clearly does not consist of yoghurt, saved easily.

Barnsley put in a shot through Grant McCann which was not too far wide, but putting them wide seems to be his speciality as we were to learn to our advantage later in the game. Barnsley's finishing was often quite woeful, particularly when Peruvian llama masquerading as footballer, Miguel Mostto, was involved. It was therefore even more frustrating that we were unable to finish them off and they got the point they came for.

Charlton broke, but then Barnsley launched a counter attack and one has to admit that they were pretty fast when they got going, but then llamas are quite speedy animals. On this occasion Chris Powell dealt with the threat well.

Good work by Big Chris led to a Charlton corner. The ball was played out to Andy Reid who rattled in a shot from distance that went off the crossbar. Iwelumo then won a free kick but it went straight to the keeper.

As the twenty minute mark passed Jose Semedo put in a great long angled ball to Danny Mills on the opposite side of the pitch. This to me showed Semedo at his best. Reid got through but was not able to take advantage of the situation. Reid then won the Addicks a corner but it was caught comfortably by Muller.

Jamal Campbell-Ryce won Barnsley a corner. He is another of our former players who many thought we should have kept and he certainly showed some agility for Barnsley. However, when he was out on of his loan spells I saw him play for Orient against Rushden and Diamonds and at that stage he failed to impress at that level. In the subsequent play after the corner, when Charlton had difficulty in getting rid of the ball, Luke Varney defended well. I think that one of his merits as a player is that he can help out in defence.

The problem in my view about Varney is this. He used to play in the league that Leamington were in last year. Leamington have some talented young players let go by academies. But, even if they had a few years at a club like Crewe, I still think it would take them a time to adjust to the Championship. (Leamington beat mighty Marlow 2-0 in the FA Trophy yesterday).

To return to the match, Danny Mills put in a rare poor ball. It was interesting to see Reid take his captain's role seriously and tell him in no uncertain terms. Set up by Iwelumo, Reid put a shot just wide.

The Tykes won a corner and for a short while the defence started to go into panic mode. There was then a crucial miss. Reid turned provider for Zheng Zhi who was just in front of goal but put his header over.

Iwelumo won Charlton a corner. Fortune had to go off, evidently ill rather than injured, and was taken down the tunnel while Sodje came on. The corner from Reid was rather a good one and flashed across the face of the goal, but no one was able to connect.

Charm merchant and persistent fouler Dennis Souza went down. A free kick led to a Charlton corner, but it all ended in a free kick for the Tykes. Semedo put in some more good play which makes me wonder why the likes of the Blokes Behind Me are having a go at him (but then they always have a go at defensive midfielders because they don't understand the role). Bougherra created needless danger by passing to a Barnsley player.

The match was getting a bit flat from the Addickted point of view, but then chants of 'Enger-land' started at both ends of the ground as the news filtered through of England's surprise victory over Australia in rugby. The Covered End saluted the egg chasers with a chorus of 'God Save Our Team'. As the half came to an end, 'Swing Low Sweet Chariot' was played over the tannoy. Although the only sport I watch live is football (or Australian rules when I get the occasional chance), it was satisfying to see both Antipodean teams knocked out of the competition by European teams.

Before the half came to an end, Barnsley were still able to apply some pressure as they sought a late goal. They won a corner and Chris Powell conceded a second one. Bougherra defended well in front of the goal. Sodje put in a good defensive header.

Charlton failed to impose themselves on the game in the first half. One of the problems was that long balls were sent to Iwelumo who then got lumped down by a Tyke with the referee taking no action. As Peter Varney observed in the programme, Premiership referees observe the letter of the law. In my view Championship referees seem to take the 'it's a man's game' perspective which means that Australian rules type tactics are permissible.

Half time: Addicks 0, Tykes 0

Luke Varney was replaced by Todorov at the beginning of the half which was a good move by Pardew. Todorov had his shirt pulled in the box right in front of the lino who took no action and the referee waved play on. The lino received considerable advice about how to find details of his local branch of Specsavers on the internet.

Big Chris won Charlton a corner which was taken by Reid. It was a good one, but unfortunately Zheng Zhi's header skimmed along the top of the bar. Chris Powell went down and required quite extensive treatment. If he had had to go off, Semedo would have been switched to left back and Holland brought on.

Charm merchant Souza committed another blatant foul, but the referee took the view that such things are routine in the fourth division of the Newark Alliance from whence he came (or at least if he did blow he might not have a safe journey home). Barnsley put in a speculative shot from distance which was only just over.

Danny Mills won Charlton a corner which was taken short and was ultimately unproductive. Reid passed to Ambrose but his effort was saved. Then with an open goal before him, Ambrose put the ball just wide. Instead of blasting the shot in, when the worst case would have been a rebound from which someone else would have scored, he used the outside of his foot.

Shortly afterwards the hapless Ambrose was replaced by the sulky but silky Jerome Thomas. He quickly won a corner for the Addicks. Dominik Werlng, a German who was most recently playing in Turkey, and somewhat oddly was wearing the No.55 shirt, was booked for a foul on Mills. The charm merchant then had to be bandaged round his head as unfortunately a part of Danny's anatomy had inadvertently made contact with him. We were all very sorry to see a Tyke get a taste of their own medicine.

Reid won Charlton a corner. An effort by the tireless Mills went over. A Reid free kick led to a Charlton corner. A Sodje header looked as if it was going in, but somehow it was cleared off the line.

The pressure was mounting and on 86 minutes Zheng Zhi headed the ball in the net. It's a long time since I have enjoyed a goal so much. Unfortunately Davey decided to take off the hapless llama Mostto, who could have a taken a southern cone for all I know so useless was he, and brought on Dane Kim Christensen who proved to be our nemesis.

The referee was finally waking up to the fact that he was supposed to regulate the game and booked charm merchant De Silva for going in with his studs up. The resultant free kick led to a Charlton corner. This was taken short, but despite good work by Zheng Zhi the decisive second goal failed to come.

Barnsley won a free kick in a dangerous position on the West Stand side. Weaver saved on the line, but he came closs to spilling it. Then on 90 minutes a decent cross allowed Christensen to put the ball in the net to make it 1-1.

Five minutes on time were added on. A Charlton corner was wasted. There was also the risk that Barnsley could take all three points and McCann found himself one on one with Weaver, but put the ball wide. Todorov had a half chance, but sent the ball straight to the keeper.

The visiting fans, who had been noisy all game. went beserk at an away draw (whereas our draw at Coventry was greeted by warm applause but nothing more). It's all about expectations, but when Barnsley did have a season in the Premiership they didn't take it seriously and were hammered.

Barnsley are a well organised side, but we should have imposed ourselves on them more in the first half. Some people think that we are a bit too much like Arsenal, spending too much time on slow build ups and fluent passing. However, I am not sure that speculative shots would get us anywhere. As we know, it's a tough league and we are seen as a team to draw against or even beat.

Match analysis

Ivy the Terrible awarded the Silver Bone to Andy Reid for his excellent passing throughout the game. Indeed, he nearly scored once when he rattled the crossbar. Weaver could not do very much about the Barnsley goal, but until then he had only really been tested once. Bougherra and Fortune always make me nervous when they have the ball and although they were generally solid today, it would be interesting to look at Bougherra's positioning in relation to the goal, Fortune having gone off injured (or ill) in the first half. Bougherra has a strange habit of slipping up on the pitch which he did twice yesterday at crucial moments, can someone have a look at his studs? Chris Powell generally positioned himself well and made some good contributions. Danny Mills was once again one of the better players on the pitch, often posing a menace in attack. Semedo busied himself and, apart from a couple of errors, made some good contributions. Zheng Zhi came into the game much more in the second half and was looking increasingly threatening in the period leading up to his goal. Ambrose once again disappointed and didn't look too comfortable in his assigned position. Varney lacked a real edge and it was no surprise when he was withdrawn at half time. Iwelumo tried to get himself in promising positions, but was constantly being fouled. Sodje was generally solid and nearly scored, although he also made one or two errors. Todorov displayed some excellent ball control but never looked threatening. Thomas made some good runs down the wing, but had insufficient time to make a decisive impact.

Hiss of the Match This was given by Juneau the Soccer Cat to inept referee Mr Joslin. He was very reluctant to punish persistent fouling by Barnsley. He should go back to the Newark Alliance from whence he came.

Crowd rating: Took a time to get going, but better as the second half went on. 6/10.

No comments: