Charlton 0 Millwall 0.
Kevin Nolan reports from The Valley.
Forced to settle for yet another goalless draw, Charlton’s much-trumpeted quest for their first victory over Millwall since March 1996 drags on. It will be Good Friday 2015 before another opportunity presents itself at the Den. Nineteen winless years make grim reading, of course, but the figures are just a little deceptive. After all, the Addicks spent nearly half that time in the Premiership, an experience which continues to elude the Lions.
It might have been special -glamorous even – to share an anniversary on November 22nd, a date forever linked with the infamy of President Jack Kennedy’s assassination, but Charlton deserved no more than the point they took from this fairly contested clash. Their near neighbours gave as good as they got and given their dangerous position just above the relegation dogfight, were understandably more pleased with the outcome.
As injuries begin to bite, Bob Peeters could have done without the loss, due to a training ground injury, of experienced goalkeeper Stephen Henderson. Fans arriving at The Valley to the news that Henderson would be replaced by Nick Pope were allowed a groan of apprehension that the 22 year-old deputy would be up to the task of stepping up in such daunting circumstances. They had no need to worry. Although the visitors were largely toothless up front, Pope performed flawlessly in silencing not only the doubting Thomases in the home stands but also the toilet-mouthed abusers doing their best to distract the young, athletic keeper from the away end. With excellent old hand David Forde again blanking Charlton, it became clear that this local derby would not be decided by goalkeeping deficiency.
Already without outstanding left back Rhoys Wiggins, Peeters was chagrined to lose influential playmaker Yoni Buyens after only 27 minutes due to a hopefully mild hamstring strain. Replacing the Belgian midfielder, left-sided programme poster boy Callum Harriott pushed up behind Igor Vetokele to offer his usual mixture of off-the-cuff brilliance and infuriating ineptitude. Jordan Cousins moved infield to join the stylish Francis Coquelin and insatiably busy Johann Berg Gudmundsson as the depleted Addicks almost seamlessly re-grouped. Peeters has an impressively resilient group on his hands.
In a game of few chances, danger man Vetokele managed a first half header which sent Cousins’ left wing cross whistling wide and a skilfully improvised volley near the end saved capably by Forde. Though he worked willingly throughout, Charlton’s sharpshooter was kept quiet by the firm, fair handling of Mark Beevers and Byron Webster. The word is out on the razor-sharp striker. And when he fails to score, as Ian Holloway presciently pointed out during the midweek build-up, Charlton struggle.
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Solid across the back, Millwall were also well served by veteran right back Alan Dunne. Holloway might have overegged it a bit in fulsome praise of his skipper but he had a point. The desperate goalline clearance, in partnership with Webster, which denied substitute George Tucudean a last gasp winner, was typical of the Dubliner’s all-out commitment. It would have been churlish to alert the discursive Holloway (there was probably a thrust to his rambling Charlie and the Chocolate Factory story but it eluded me) to the fact that his skipper wasn’t actually the better right back on show. Not while Chris Solly was around to stick tricky former Addick Lee Martin in his pocket and demonstrate, not for the first time, that he has no peer in the Championship. Funny how the diminutive defender goes under the radar of rival managers. Until, needless to say, Huddersfield arrive at The Valley in February when the visiting manager, for whom he was once the first name on his teamsheet, will have few illusions about his quality.
Pope, meanwhile, stayed impressively focussed. An early save from Ed Upson, whose header met Lee Gregory’s cross, was relatively routine but as the Lions began to edge the closing stages, he came into his own. In the 81st minute, Martin set up Jermaine Easter for a crisp, low crosshot which was bound for the bottom left corner until Pope, at full stretch, fingertipped it to safety. If that save owed everything to agility, his nimble adjustment of feet to smother a treacherous deflection off Easter’s artful fellow substitute Ricardo Fuller was all about instinct and concentration.
After Pope’s competence had kept his side level, there was still time for Tucudean to come within a whisker of stealing the points for the Addicks. Vetokele’s persistence and Harriott’s chipped pass enabled the ballplaying Rumanian to elude Forde but a backtracking defiance of Webster and Dunne denied him the touch he needed to force the ball over the goalline.
Holloway was again right on the money in describing this spirited, no-quarter given, no-quarter asked game as a splendid advertisement for the Championship. What it lacked in quality it made up in honest commitment and uncomplicated endeavour. Now it’s down to Charlton to crank it up a notch, score a long overdue goal and remove an irritating monkey from their back next April. Good Friday – let’s face it, they won’t get to co-opt a more significant anniversary than that.
Charlton: Pope, Solly, Ben Haim, Bikey, Fox, Coquelin, Gudmundsson (Wilson 88), Buyens (Harriott 27), Jackson (Tucudean 83), Cousins, Vetokele. Not used: Phillips, Gomez, Bulot, Onyewu. Booked: Bikey.
Millwall: Forde, Dunne, Beevers, Webster, Malone, Williams, Upson (Easter 63), Martin, NcDonald, Woolford (Gueye 85), Gregory (Fuller 66). Booked: Beevers, Gregory.
Referee: Graham Scott.
Att: 19,189 (3,125 visiting).