Saturday 20 April 2013

Charlton continue strong end of season surge

The Valley as seen from the Jimmy Seed stand today

Rather than the 'dreaded last ten', Charlton are offering a late season surge, but too late to get them into a play off slot. They have won fourteen points from the last eighteen available. This afternoon they beat Wolves 2-1 at The Valley, all the goals coming in the second half after a rather lacklustre start to the game.

Karl Henry's long-range shot for the visitors hit the woodwork before Dorian Dervite poked in Charlton's opener after a goal-line scramble. The Addicks once again had difficulty in holding on to a lead and Wolves equalised when Kevin Doyle headed in a Jack Robinson cross. But Charlton snatched a winner when Danny Green's deflected strike fell to Jonathan Obika, who hit the winner.

The Addicks had the first chance of the match when a drilled Ricardo Fuller shot was parried away by Dorus De Vries. However, Wolves were proving determined if somewhat desperate opponents and went close through Henry, whose effort from distance hit the crossbar before keeper Ben Hamer managed to prevent the ball crossing the line. Charlton eventually took the lead when Green's corner was not cleared and Dervite got the decisive touch to score.

Doyle did not take long to level and set up an exciting finale, which saw the Addicks win in dramatic style with Obika's late goal. Chris Powell said of Obika after the game, 'It’s the value of a player who makes an impact, he’s been tremendous since he walked through the door. He’s a good player, a good finisher, and he’s been really chomping at the bit to start. He always gets chances, that’s a good sign for any striker. I’m really pleased for him, he’s a good character and fully deserved the hero status today.'

An Addick who was there commented, 'I thought that Wolves were shockingly bad, and that was easily the worse team I've seen them send to The Valley over the years. From the first minute they didn't just go long, but poor quality, looping, scuffed really high balls and most lacked any real conviction. Their midfield just wanted to play it on in one direction even if bouncing. It was horrible stuff that didn't make the game much of a spectacle. But they were strong physically and particularly in the air.'

Elsewhere a 1-0 win at Bideford saw Leamington become Southern Premier League champions. They will play in the Conference North next season.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

How is obika playing in general? He has scored a few goals of late but I don't think he's played many mins. Glad to see he's amongst the goals anyway after numerous barren loans.

Wyn Grant said...

He has been used as an impact substitute and he has certainly made an impact when he comes on, looks promising to me.

Jack said...

Wanted to say a word about yann, saw SCP have word with him after wolves goal, thereafter he fell back covering hamer and effectively stopped their aerial threat. A difficult game for him up front but a great all round team player.
Mom performance from Dervite, solid as usual from solly, great to see green get a run out his efforts causing the chance obika scored from. Good team spirit as always.