Tuesday 16 November 2010

Job done: Charlton through

Charlton started at The Valley against Barnet with a 4-3-3 formation reports Philippa Nicholson. With Anyinsah injured with a groin problem and Martin ineligible, Abbott started up front supported by Reid and Wagstaff. Semedo was getting his suspension out of the way and McCormack appeared in the middle of the park, while Doherty was replaced by Fortune. 16-year old Harriot was on the bench.

Izale McLeod was on the bench for the visitors, while Grant Basey was playing for Barnet in central defence.

Barnet won an early free kick and Francomb's effort went over the wall with Elliot having to stretch to put the ball out for a corner which was cleared at the near post by Jackson. The Bees then followed with an effort which hit the woodwork before going out for a throw in.

Jackson took the first Charlton corner, Dailly put in a header, but the keeper got there first.

Reid put in a powerful effort from the edge of the 'D' with his left foot, but it went over the crossbar into the 250 or so Bees fans in the Jimmy Seed stand.

Reid advanced again, but he was blocked by Uddin. Basey put the ball out for a Charlton throw in and received ironic cheers. Wagstaff made a run down the right and he put a ball into Abbott. A shove by Kabba was ignored by the referee.

Reid advanced down the right, shrugged off Devera covering as left back, cut inside and placed the ball past the keeper to make it 1-0 on 18 minutes.

Barnet won a free kick and the referee had a chat with Francis. Francomb's free kick led to a corner. Wagstaff cleared at the near post. Reid advanced, but Marshall raced back to deal with the threat.

Racon conceded a corner. Marshall took the corner and got the ball back. Charlton cleared, but Barnet kept possession. Elliot made a good save under pressure. Kabba had a chance, but Dailly blocked well.

Charlton won a corner after Abbott advanced. Barnet dealt well with Jackson's ball.

The referee booked Barnet's Mark Hughes, presumably for dissent as he was away from the action.

McCormack gave the ball to Jackson who drew a great save from former QPR shot stopper Cole in the Barnet goal. Barnet mounted a late attack and Elliot had to come off his line to smother the ball.

One minute of time was added on, Kabba tried a shot from distance and Elliot punched it away at the expense of a corner. The corner came in and Basey nearly put it in at the near post, leading to a second corner as Charlton cleared.

Half time: Addicks 1, Bees 0

Benson was brought on after half-time in place of Wagstaff as Charlton switched to a 4-4-2. After an initially clear start to the evening, the rain came down, producing a slippery surface.

Barnet won a corner as their fans called for something more. Barnet took another corner very quickly, Marshall's effort went all the way across the six yard box, but the move ended in a goal kick. Jarvis had an attempt from a good position, but Elliot made himself big pushed it away for a throw in.

Kabba went down and made a meal of it, the idiots from North London called for a red, but Dailly received a yellow. The free kick was almost touched in by Francis for an own goal, but Elliot was alert and touched it away for a corner.

The Bees received a free kick to the left hand side of the 'D'. The Charlton wall was pushed back by referee Wright. The effort from Basey went over the wall and Elliot made a finger tip save over the bar. The corner was cleared.

Gallen was stopped by Fortune. Jarvis was taken off and forward Ricky Holmes was brought on. It wasn't clear what Jarvis had done wrong.

Fry intercepted well just outside the penalty area. Fortune was taken off and Doherty came on. Abbott and Benson combined well, but Uddin took the ball away as the 20th minute of the half approached.

Barnet won a free kick taken by Basey. It went out of play for a Charlton goal kick to ironic cheers. Kabba had an attempt from distance which went wide. The referee took exception to something that Doherty said and produced a yellow card.

Benson advanced well, could have been selfish but turned provider for Abbott who just played the ball into the hands of the keeper. Matt Fry received a yellow card for what was supposed to be a foul.

McCormack advanced, he had a number of options in support, but he lifted it well over the bar. Abbott, who had been disappointing, was withdrawn and Akpo Sodje came on to partner Benson.

Kabba got past Dailly, but Fry mopped up. Reid went down, holding his left knee. It looked as if it was cramp and received treatment off the pitch. A shot by Marshall was blocked by Doherty.

Boos rang out as £1.1m player Izale McLeod came on to replace the veteran Gallen up front. An effort by Sodje went wide.

Basey controlled the ball with his hand, leading to a Charlton free kick. McLeod advanced, but Elliot was there to push the ball away at the near post at the expense of a corner. Doherty had to clear frantically more than once.

Kabba came off and was replaced by Charlie Stimson, previously at the Gills. Stimson put the ball out for a Charlton throw in.

Four minutes were added on, goodness knows where they came from. Francis turned provider for Sodje who made a good effort from just outside the 'D' but it went over into the empty Covered End. Jackson went down with cramp.

The whistle was blown and the bulk of the 4,803 crowd were satisfied to see the Addicks go through to the 2nd round.

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

I would say 'job done badly'
Players like Abbot, Cormack are given the opportunity and they failed miserably. That was a very poor performance save for Rob E in goal. Four fantastic saves and MoM. How he smothered the ball from their No9 (15mins from end) is beyond me.
Barnet were much the better team and at least played Football. We just didn't participate. On that viewing Luton (or Corby) have nothing to fear. The fact is a Non league team at home must be winable and a plum 3rd draw awaits.
I just wish the management would get that message across to the team.

Wyn Grant said...

It's evident that Abbott was very disappointing and this is a concern. Hopefully, Anyinsah will be fit by Saturday. I think that what we needed to do last night was to win without over exerting ourselves which is what we did (and I think that was the message to the team). We have two important league matches coming up from which we need six points.

Anonymous said...

Like many it seems, I didn't go yesterday. In some ways rather reminiscent of one of the recent championship seasons when someone (Pedro?) wrote about the fact that only Andy Reid turned up, under the heading "target 11".
The way it is going I can see us drawing a premiership team and asking to switch the venue.

Abbott appears to have become the latest target, but really, we are deluded if we think this side has the self belief to get into the championship. Ability, well there are some very decent players in the team, but the level of consistency and the speed with which we resort to "plan" B is just as much of a concern as under Reed and Pardew.
Wyn, the very fact that you are 'hoping' that Joe will be fit by Saturday only serves to illustrate how poor our recruiting has been - Burton, Mooney and Bailey go, we bring in Benson, Sodje and Abbott. It sounds as though we might as well have played half our reserves. It works for Arsenal.

Wyn Grant said...

What has to be remembered is that the other sides in this division are not special either. The real challenge would be staying up if we went up.

Anonymous said...

I agree Wyn. Not a great performance last night but we won. This season it will be tought to go up but we are in with a shout. Staying up if we go up would depend on new additions to the squad.

Abbot really is a nothing player though. I have no idea what he was playing like when we scouted him (assuming we did) but from what I've seen of him, I'm surprised he's a professional footballer.

Anyway it is win and roll on the league.

Anonymous said...

Anon - our recruiting has been good. Benson has been a good signing, the likes of Sodje, McCormack and Llera are the type of quality you get as squad players in this league. Anyone better expects regular football and bigger wages.

The wage budget was halved for the second year in a row. I think Parky and his staff have generally done a good job building a squad on half the wage budget they had last season.

We are second after all with this squad. It's from perfect and could clearly be improved, but it's also one of the better squads in this league.

Plan B - if you mean switching formation well that was simply down to the players available. Wagstaff wasn't 100% fit, Martin, Anyinsah, Semedo weren't available. We had limited options up front and in midfield.

Just seems a strange time to talk about a lack of consistency and switching to plan B too quickly. We've just won 6 out of 7, scored several goals and kept 5 clean sheets.