Millwall 0 Charlton 0.
Kevin Nolan reports from The Den.
As this desperate Championship season drags to its conclusion, Charlton are taking pigeon steps to safety. Their second successive 0-0 draw painstakingly hauled them off the foot of the table to the relatively nosebleed-inducing position of third from bottom. Their healthy goal advantage over their rivals, reliant on stubborn defending but feebly supported at the other end, might well prove decisive. What they need now is the giant step which the winning of at least one of their games in hand would give them. There’s no time like the present, with inconveniently on-form Bournemouth visiting The Valley on Tuesday.
Despite hints by Ian Holloway to the contrary, neither side did enough to win this earnest if uninspired derby. Chances were evenly distributed in a game seemingly destined to finish goalless. And there weren’t many of those. The best of Millwall’s fell to lively 17 year-old Fred Onyedinma, who headed Shaun William’s perfect 8th minute cross agonisingly wide.
Holloway was right to big up the kid’s uninhibited full debut and to lament his failure, by mere inches, to crown it with the winning goal. He also sung the praises of several other up-and-coming cubs coming through the Lions’ system.
Managers are, though, notoriously myopic when it comes to the opposition and the home supremo could be forgiven for failing to notice that in 18-year old Diego Poyet the visitors boasted this grimly contested game’s outstanding player One of three recent Sparrows Lane graduates (Callum Harriott and interval substitute Jordan Cousins being the others) on show, Poyet’s special talent, one bound for Premier League glory, stood out.
There’s nothing remotely flashy about the sturdy, two-footed defensive midfielder. He simply gets the ball down, plays it short or long, makes the right choices between both and positively enjoys a tackle. Probably born no farther than a goalkick from a football pitch, he has already made himself the side’s engine room heartbeat while on his precocious shoulders rests much of the responsibility for Charlton’s survival hopes. Then he’ll be on his way to more lucrative employment elsewhere. Bit ironic, really, given the new owner’s enthusiasm for youth development, that the club seems unconcerned about securing the immediate future of Poyet and others. More the fault of the previous regime to be fair, but do whip out the old cheque book, Roland, and at least have a go at keeping hold of him.
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On a glorious Spring afternoon, meanwhile, these relegation haunted sides battled through a stalemate, the result of which might be marginally more pleasing to the visitors. Understandably disappointed but anxious to accentuate the positive, Holloway sounded quite convincing in claiming that Millwall’s three-point advantage meant more than Charlton’s four games in hand. It’s a tough call and he may be proved right but the initiative just might have switched from SE 16 to SE 7 following this stand-off. A relieved Jose Riga clearly thought so and hailed Charlton’s resilience. Chris Powell will be sorely missed, of course, but the new gaffer is polite, courteous and deserving of respect. It’s Ch-arlton, not Sh-arlton by the way, Jose, but that’s a mistake any newcomer could make. Nothing personal.
Following young Fred’s close shave, Harriott took up the slack for the Addicks. Unfortunately, his indecisive shot at the end of a three-on-two break was too weak to seriously worry David Forde and did much to explain Charlton’s miserable record of 24 goals in 32 games. A deflected riposte from Simeon Jackson, saved alertly by Ben Hamer, was fiercer but Millwall themselves have scored only 32 times in 36 games and are undermined, in the significant statistical duel, by the 62 they have conceded.
With his usual eye for an opening, Johnnie Jackson found space for a stooping header from Astrit Adjarevic’s outswinging corner but Forde collected capably. At the other end Steve Morison, though less mobile than in his palmy days, during which he scored four times in two games against Charlton, needed supervision close to goal. Chesting down Alan Dunne’s centre in surprising space, he swivelled to scuff wide, then hacked away like a circular saw at a loose ball on the six-yard line, growing ever closer before Dorian Dervite hurriedly cleared. Before the interval Ed Upson’s 30 -yard volley was awkwardly scrambled away from his right post by Hamer.
Shortly after the break, Harriott missed Charlton’s best chance. Meeting Bradley Pritchard’s cleverly curled cross beyond the far post, he got the better of Williams but clumsily bundled the ball wide. Substitute Reza Ghoochannejhad was at least on target but hardly more effective with the weak effort he topped at Forde. But it was 6’8″ beanpole Stefan Maierhofer who squandered the second period’s clearest opportunity with 20 minutes remaining. Picked out by Owen Garvan’s wickedly delivered corner, the goal seemed at his mercy but if it’s possible to snatch at a header, that’s what he did and sent it soaring over the bar.
With the Lions closing more strongly, an untidy free-for-all, triggered by Ryan Fredericks’ up-and-under and featuring the inevitable Morison, was hastily resolved by the ubiquitous Johnnie Jackson In added time, Hamer pawed away Garvan’s free kick leaving honours, if that’s the right word, even. We reconvene on Tuesday for the next chapter in the saga.
Millwall: Forde, Dunne (Fredericks 72), Robinson, Lowry, Williams, Upson (Maierhofer 51), Onyedinma, Woolford, Garvan, Jackson (McDonald 56), Morison. Not used: Bywater, Beavers, Malone, Marquis. Booked: Dunne, Lowry, Williams.
Charlton: Hamer, Wilson, Morrison, Dervite, Wiggins, Pritchard (Church 78), Poyet, Jackson, Adjarevic (Cousins 46), Harriott, Sordell (Ghoochannejhad 66). Not used: Thuram, Green, Wood, Nego. Booked: Pritchard, Jackson, Sordell.
Referee: Phil Dowd. Att: 16,102 (2431 visiting).