Wednesday 14 April 2010

One-Nil Is How We Do It

All of Charlton's last four games have been decided by one goal and we have won three of them. Last night Charlton put in a battling and committed performance against Colchester. It wasn't quality football from either side, and Colchester were less good than I had expected them to be, but there was no lack of passion from the Charlton players. Colchester's robust and petulant approach increasingly exasperated the rather fussy referee and a number of yellow cards were issued, culminating in the sending off of Kevin Lisbie at the end of the game.

Colchester started as if they were up for it, which no doubt they were. Randolph made a good stop but then spilled the ball and it was put in the back of the net, but the lino was familiar with the offside rule and had already raised his flag.

A Charlton corner followed good work by Borrowdale. It was taken short and I would like to know what percentage of such corners are successful compared with putting the ball in the box. Sam then picked up the ball and thumped it.

Sam had a shot from distance which I wish he would do more often. It was on target but saved by the keeper. The ball boys were throwing balls so quickly to Colchester players that they were told to calm down by Borrowdale.

A Charlton free kick in front of the D came off the wall. Sam put in a superb cross and Forster made no mistake in putting the ball in the back of the net. O'Toole had to be stretchered off and Platt came on. Charlton won another corner, but it was unproductive.

In the three minutes of time added on, Colchester put in a shot that was just inches past the post. I thought that the ball had been in the air too much in the first half which suited Colchester.

Half time: Addicks 1, U's 0

Charlton won an early corner, stopping any Colchester plans of an early strike. Then the U's won a corner, but Charlton broke and Richardson put in a strike that was not far wide. Racon put in an effort that was not far wide.

Charlton won a free kick which led to a Charlton corner and then to a second. The visitors swopped two players. Sodje went down and required treatment, possibly his knee problem again.

Two Colchester free kicks in potentially dangerous positions were well defended and I think that our defence is looking a lot more solid. Akpo Sodje burst through and shot from an angle. For a moment I thought it was going in, but it was just wide.

Colchester created some pressure through three corners in succession. Five minutes of time were added on and right at the death there was an open goal but the Addicks managed to clear.

The result put the Addicks 4th in the table and probably put paid to Colchester's play-off hopes. Millwall equalised in the 90th minute at Yeovil. Southampton maintained their challenge with a 5-1 win at Bristol Rovers.

Match analysis

Ivy the Terrible has awarded the Silver Bone to Frazer Richardson. He was always a threat and linked up very well with Sam. Darren Randolph did not have that much to do given the wayward nature of Colchester's shots on goal, but he saved well from two potentially dangerous free kicks. Sam Sodje defended well and was a potential threat in set pieces. Dailly was once again very reliable. He has contributed to four games in which we have only conceded one goal. Borrowdale does his job well. Semedo did his unfashionable and often little appreciated job well, but inevitably picked up another yellow card. Racon was in and out of the game, although he showed some occasional nice touches. But once again Steve from Sidcup was prompted to ask 'what is Racon for?' Sam had one of his better games and unsettled the Colchester defence. Bailey was active and vigorous as ever. Akpo Sodje was not that involved and one of his attempts towards the end of the first half was baffling to say the least. Forster took the winning goal well, that is what we have hired him for. Wagstaff did not really do his super sub act. Mooney once again showed himself to be lightweight. Solly had a cameo, but did his best to get involved.

Juneau the Soccer Cat has awarded the Hiss of the Match to overly fussy referee M Jones. No opportunity to blow his whistle was missed.

Crowd rating Got behind the side well, 7/10.

6 comments:

noel said...

gotta say I thought Mooney and particularly Wagstaff did an excellent job providing an outlet and relieving pressure in the last 15mins. Hiss-of-the-match surely goes to Randolf for failing to perform his 'running out of the tunnel' duties after the final whistle - luckily an on-the-ball ballboy seized the moment and should be signed up immediately.

Anonymous said...

No Comment on Lisbie's Red Card? I am very surprised!

Anonymous said...

Another poor performance lit up by a fantastic goal. And the faithful are delirious.
Why oh why do we play so many high balls (especially as Forster wants it on the ground)
Our marking at simple things like throw ins is non existant, And then when we have a throw in we tend to give the ball to the oppo.
Luckily Colchester carried little threat but are obviously a very physical team.
Lets hope for the same result on Saturday.

steveb said...

Why are all these fans so quick to critisise Mooney. He came on with not long to go & did exactly what he was probably asked to do. That is hold up a ball that had previously been coming straight back & wind down the clock.

Next you'll be saying that big lump, A Sodje, had a blinder despite hardly winning a header all night, being continually "pushed" over by players half his size & showing the first touch of a brick wall !

AC said...

I thought it was a great performance. Sometimes you just need to grind out the results. Credit to Parkinson for getting an improvement out of the team just at the right time. I was particularly impressed with Borrowdale who is solid at left back. Sam's cross that set up the goal was a touch of real class that you don't often see at this level. The whole team is looking more positive and confident. I think this will give us a real chance in the play offs.

Anonymous said...

spot on AC