Charlton 0 Ipswich Town 1 (Noel Hunt 90).
Kevin Nolan reports from The Valley.
It comes sight unseen, drops you to your knees and leaves you with no chance of beating the count. For there’s little hope of recovery from the punch all fighters fear – the perfectly timed shot to the solar plexus.
The last minute winner in football has the same effect. Actually it’s regularly scored these days well beyond the scheduled 90 minutes as referees quite rightly extend time to fit changing circumstances. In this case, Charlton’s failure to conclusively clear a right wing corner in the third of four added minutes meant it was their turn to suffer the heartbreak of last gasp defeat. In boxing terms, they were mere seconds away from a deserved, if meaningless, newspaper decision when they walked into a paralysing body blow. In one devastating swing of substitute Noel Hunt’s right foot, all their disciplined defending and freewheeling aggression counted for nothing. To victors Ipswich Town the euphoria; to losers Charlton the ashes of bitter disappointment. That’s how it goes. That’s all she wrote.
Younger brother of Town veteran Stephen, who had himself stepped up from the bench to replace warm-up injury victim Luke Hyam, Noel Hunt joined the Tractor Boys on a month’s loan from Leeds United just two days previously. This invaluable winner for his temporary employers validated manager Mick McCarthy’s shrewd eye for a short-term stopgap. With Igor Vetokele struggling for support up front for the Addicks, an excursion into the loan market might similarly benefit Charlton boss Bob Peeters. His striker certainly needs help.
Hardbitten McCarthy more often than not calls things as most other people, with the treacherous exception of serial quitter Roy Keane, see them. A genuine Mick in more than name, he speaks his mind without descending into the stone age grunting of Fred Flintstone and Barney Rubble up at Bedrock Athletic, the club formerly known as Wigan. He also avoids the verbal excesses of roly-poly Steve Evans, Rotherham United’s choleric Fat Controller. So he was worth listening to as he claimed credit for the 83rd minute introduction of Hunt Jr. in place of Paul Anderson and the replacement seven minutes earlier of Hunt Sr. by another loanee in Derby County’s Connor Sammon. When you can call on subs like Hunt the Younger and Sammon, he observed, you have a chance. And when that chance arrived, the former was equal to it.
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Feeling the strain of injury absentees, Charlton rose to the occasion with admirable spirit, with that alarming early season tendency to play Russian Roulette across the back four sensibly modified and Callum Harriott a particular revelation. Filling in for playmaker Yoni Buyens in the hole behind Vetokele, Harriott responded encouragingly, shaking off his deficiencies to pepper the visiting goal with a barrage of accurate efforts. Unfortunately, when his side’s best chance was laid on a plate for him by Vetokele, his dreadful 70th miskick squirted the Angolan’s adroit cutback horribly wide. It was almost -but not quite – possible to forgive his miss because his improvement gathers pace. But a goal now and then wouldn’t half accelerate the process.
A game fit for its Sky audience swept from end to end during an entertaining first half. As early as the first minute, defender Luke Chambers headed Anderson’s corner narrowly wide; Harriott began his busy contribution by setting up Johann Berg Gudmundsson to scoop wastefully over the bar; Anderson’s blistering drive was well saved by Nick Pope; the impressive Francis Coquelin’s chest pass was fired just off target by Harriott, who proceeded to test Bartosz Bialkowski after Jordan Cousins’ effort rebounded to him, then accepted Chris Solly’s pass before cutting in to shoot inches wide again. New Irish international recruit David McGoldrick used a training ground free kick routine to shoot unopposed but wide from 20 yards and concluded a rollicking first period by heading Jonathan Parr’s cross towards the bottom left corner but was foiled by Pope’s scrambling save at his right post.
The all-out action resumed after the break. Hot left back prospect Tyrone Mings embarked on a meandering solo run, with home hearts in home mouths as he drove dangerously wide. Vetokele, meanwhile, worked hard but is possibly feeling the pressure of carrying the fight single-handedly up front. Sent through superbly by Harriott, then later by Lawrie Wilson, his poor control let him down and both acceptable chances were squandered. When Vetokele broke clear to repay the compliment, as already documented, Harriott’s nerve and finishing betrayed him.
So a point apiece seemed fair until Morgan Fox made a hash of clearing McGoldrick’s ordinary low cross directly to Noel Hunt, who made short work of threading a low drive through a crowd and past a despairing Pope into the bottom left corner. Seconds later, referee Bond completed the count and the groggy Addicks were helped back to their corner, their resistance and unbeaten home record at an end.
Beaten fairly and squarely by one of the Championship’s better sides, Charlton would be wise to put this reverse down to experience. They’re a solid, stubborn team capable of mixing it with any side in the division. They’ll come again. Unless they’re traumatised by this sickening knockout. We’ve been here before.
Charlton: Pope, Solly, Ben Haim, Bikey, Fox, Gudmundsson (Bulot 92), Coquelin, Jackson (Wilson 76), Cousins, Harriott (Tucudean 86), Vetokele. Not used: Etheridge, Gomez, Onyewu, Ahearne-Grant.
Ipswich: Bialkowski, Parr, Chambers, Smith, Parr, Anderson (Noel Hunt 83), Skuse, Tabb, Stephen Hunt (Sammon 76), McGoldrick, Murphy. Not used: Gerken, Bajner, Henshall, St. Ledger, Clarke.
Referee: D. Bond. Att: 16,613.