Charlton made five changes for this afternoon's game against Rotherham at a sunny New York stadium. Some of them were enforced with Fraser and Lee having had knocks. Jason Pearce was captain and alongside Akin Famewo in defence. DJ was replaced by Blackett-Taylor. Albie Morgan came in with Forster-Caskey on the bench. Nile John was given a chance to warm the bench.
Rotherham showed off the pizza trophy before the game started.
Kick off was delayed because of a medical emergency in the crowd. 442 Addicks were present.
Rotherham won the first corner after four minutes. Matthews headed clear.
Pearce made an important block as the home supporters urged their team on. Pearce and Matt Smith were in a battle.
A free kick was headed away by Gilbey. A follow up strike was wide. There was not much to choose between the two sides. The impressive Smith put the ball over the bar, but he was offside anyway.
Charlton won their first corner after 20 minutes. It was headed clear by Wood. After subsequent play, Morgan sent the ball sailing into the stand.
Charlton started to struggle in terms of controlling the ball allowing the home side to take charge. A corner was conceded. The ball went to Washington, but Rotherham countered.
Charlton had an opportunity to score but Rathbone got his foot in on Washington at the expense of a corner. This was headed away comfortably.
Famewo conceded a corner, his position not being the best. Pearce headed clear. It was a brave header and he went down.
Famewo collected the first yellow card of the game after he got a tackle wrong. Peter Shirtliff said it was naive. The ball was headed away by Clare.
The home support was quieter except when they were shouting for free kicks. The half came to a rather scrappy close. Blackett-Taylor had a chance for a shot but it ended up as a cross and a Rotherham throw in. Two minutes were added on.
Old school Rotherham
Rotherham had put Charlton under pressure but only had two clear opportunities. It was a game of not many chances but Charlton had defended well. Curbs said he was not expecting Rotherham to be so direct. We couldn't get the ball up to the front two and if we did it wouldn't stick. Forster-Caskey's stepdad said that the home side were an old fashioned team. Curbs said we saw so much possession based football these days, but the Millers were old school.
HT: 0-0
Charlton conceded an early corner from the kick off. Stockley headed clear and then again. On the whole it was a quiet and indecisive start to the second half.
Clare broke away and created a chance for Charlton.
Morgan fed Dobson who scored a great goal on the volley from just outside the penalty area to make it 0-1 on 56 minutes.
Rotherham were rattled as the home supporters tried to rally them. Blackett-Taylor put the ball over the bar. The home side made a double substitution.
Dobson had to scramble the ball clear for a corner. The ball was sent over the bar. Rotherham made a third substitution. It looked as if Rotherham were going three up top.
The home side applied some pressure, trying to get the ball forward at every opportunity. Stockley headed the corner clear. Pearce had to intervene at the expense of another corner. Macca claimed it well on the edge of his six yard box.
Gilbey's ball was blocked away leading to a Charlton corner which was unproductive. Dobson's shot was gathered by the Swedish keeper.
Morgan did not give Stockley good service. Leading goal scorer Smith scuffed a shot.
The home side won a corner. There was a lot of pushing and shoving. The referee decided that Macca was fouled.
Stockley tried to chip it over the keeper but he got back in time. Dobson conceded a free kick. It was a tricky one for Macca but he caught it superbly out of the sun.
Three minutes were added on. Blackett-Taylor was replaced by Purrington. The Charlton fans started Valley Floyd Road. Rotherham were awarded a free kick, but were unable to take advantage.
Peter Shirtliff noted that Washington was always running in behind and stretching the home defence.
The pundits
Curbs said that the three centre backs dealt with Rotherham's direct play. They were magnificent and dealt with everything that came in. Gilbey and Dobson picked up a lot of the second balls in midfield. Dobson scored a cracking goal. Forster said that in the second half we took the game to them. Rotherham kept doing the same thing. We gave as good as we got. Stockley had worked his socks off, to a man they had worked their socks off.
George Dobson said he was delighted to score his first goal for the club. 'I just thought I'm going to have a swing it. When it went in the net there's no better feeling. Coming across the body it's the toughest technique. We're putting in good performances, getting ready for next season. We knew we had to stand up the battle, using Jayden and Conor on the counter attack. We've just got to use it as fuel for next season. The start of the season put us in a really tricky situation. ' [Dobson was not part of the Atkins diet].
Curbs noted he was nowhere under Nigel Atkins, not even on the bench 'he puts in everything. He's been excellent since he got in the side. MacGillivray took a lot of pressure for us today. It's a good run we're having at the moment. If we finish as strong as we can, it will make us more attractive.'
Jacko: 'It was a really good away performance, I would have liked one or two more goals. We limited the opposition to a few chances. I thought we defended brilliantly today, especially in the penalty box. We worked a lot on that, the lads implemented it brilliantly. I thought we looked really fit, really strong, full of energy. I did freshen it up a little bit. I thought everyone still looked strong in the second half. When you've got a front partnership like Jayden and Stockley it gives you an opportunity to get better results. We're in a good place, the boys are bouncing in the changing room.'
Charlton remain 15th, but they are just one point behind three teams. Charlton had five shots on target to Rotherham's one.
Charlton remain 15th, but they are just one point behind three teams.
