About Kevin Nolan

FC Halifax Town 0 Charlton 4 (Taylor 40, Jackson 80, Hollands 82, Pritchard 90).

Kevin Nolan reports from The Shay.

The conditions were ideal for a Cup upset in Halifax at lunchtime on Sunday. A chilling mist hung over the old mill town, the battered stadium offered little comfort and a slippery, treacherous pitch, the locals practically licked their lips at the prospect of getting stuck into a bunch of over-privileged posers from the South. Not only that, TV was on hand to document their humiliation. We’ve been there before.

Two years ago, Charlton made laughing stocks of themselves at Northwich Victoria, again in front of a national TV audience. The only survivor from that fiasco is Scott Wagstaff, an academy graduate who departed Cheshire on that dismal day with no apology necessary. Wagstaff was part of the starting line-up at The Shay and duly did his wholehearted bit among a hardbitten group of Addicks, most of them Southerners, who put Halifax and their loquacious manager Neil Aspill in their place. History was not about to be repeated.

Not that it was easy and not that the West Yorkshiremen didn’t emerge with credit from a tie which remained competitive until the visitors broke it open with three goals in the last ten minutes. But it was hard to escape the impression that the Addicks always had something in hand on their way to winning with the least possible fuss. It’s tough to dispute 4-0, though Aspill, an ex-Leeds player with previous against Charlton, did his myopic best.

Urged on by their hardy faithful, the Shaymen shared the first half, emerging from it slightly unlucky to be a goal down. It’s true, though, that their situation might have been far worse had Charlton converted one or two more of the chances they created. Home goalkeeper Simon Eastwood performed heroically in denying the first of them, his outstretched left leg blocking the close range header, with which Matthew Taylor met Johnnie Jackson’s outswinging corner.

That nugget of a right back, Chris Solly, was combining intuitively with his mucker Wagstaff, their quickfire exchange of passes setting up the winger to cross from the byline. Shooting on the turn, Paul Hayes was bravely blocked by Ryan Toulson. Hayes should have done better minutes later but stabbed tamely wide after Cedric Evina, an impressive deputy for Rhoys Wiggins, cut through to centre from the left.

Having earned promotion in their last two campaigns, Town are clearly a club on the rise. They kept the ball on the ground, passed and moved intelligently, made chances themselves. Mobile striker Lee Gregory curled a clever effort narrowly wide then, moments before the interval, their influential skipper Tom Baker shaved the bar from 30 yards. Unfortunately for Aspill’s sturdy side, they had already fallen behind a minute before Baker’s near miss.

A careless foul by Baker on Danny Hollands in the centre circle sent Taylor up to try his luck. Still upfield as the free kick was partially cleared, the centre back was positioned at the far post to meet Hayes’ deep cross and claimed his first goal for the club by looping a perfectly aimed header back over Eastwood into the opposite corner.

Possibly nettled by the setback, Halifax began the second period brightly, with Jamie Rainford’s quickwitted snapshot sending John Sullivan into full-length action to save. Hayes replied for the visitors but sent an improvised chip inches over the bar.

The 62nd introduction of speedy left winger Jason St. Juste (fine old Yorkshire name that one, possibly one of the Castle Howard St. Justes) in place of Danny Holland, boosted home prospects. On his lively duel with the imperturbable Solly rested the outcome of the tie and he started by skinning his rival and crossing on the run but Gregory was unable to make telling contact at the near post. Solly wasn’t having any more of that, of course, his marvellous tackle on St. Juste and subsequent key interception keeping the newcomer comparatively quiet. No offence intended to ITV’s excellent man-of-the-match Taylor but Solly quite clearly stood out.

The Shaymen, meanwhile, were still in contention until, with 10 minutes remaining, they collapsed. Worn down by Charlton’s painstaking possession, they were easy prey to Jackson’s typically crisp low drive and Hollands’ point blank flick but it was the Addicks’ fourth goal which pleased the bench most. Mind you, their hosts were down to 10 men by that time, defender Danny Lowe having seen red for a vicious challenge on Wagstaff.

Brought on as part of a flurry of substitutions, among them the 86th minute arrival of Bradley Wright-Phillips which neatly cup-ties the coveted goalscorer, Bradley Pritchard made up for time lost to untimely injury by turning sharply on to a low pass from fellow replacement Michael Smith to shoot through Eastwood’s legs. Both he and Smith show promise.

So the Addicks sauntered to the line and a second round clash at home to Carlisle United. Maybe the scoreline flattered them but that quibble rather misses the point. There was no way they were about to lose this game, not this Chris Powell-inspired side. FC Halifax, fair play to them, were ruthlessly seen off. Simple and cold-blooded as that, really.

FC Halifax: Eastwood, Toulson, Hogan, Lowe, McManus, Rainford (Anderson 87), Baker, Hardy, Garner (Winter 73), Holland (St. Juste 62), Gregory. Not used: Senior, Needham, Foster, Scott Hogan.

Charlton: Sullivan, Solly, Taylor, Morrison, Evina, Wagstaff, Hollands (Pritchard 87), Hughes, Jackson, Hayes (Wright-Phillips 86), Hayes (Smith 87). Not used: Hamer, Doherty, Wiggins, Green.

Referee: G. Elringham. Att: 4,601.

Charlton 5 (Jackson 16,26, Morrison 22, Wright-Phillips 38, Hollands 69) Preston North End 2 (Morgan 85, Daley 90).

Kevin Nolan reports from The Valley.

Injury ravaged, out of form and devoid of confidence, Preston North End will find it all too easy “to remember remember the Fifth of November”. This sound spanking at the vengeful hands of high-flying Charlton will be hard to forget though two late goals, the second of them an absolutely stunning strike from substitute Keammar Daley, distorted the scale of their humilation. It was a long haul back home.

On the other hand, Charlton hardly put a foot wrong for 85 minutes. Three up before the half hour, they added a fourth goal before half-time, then a fifth through Danny Hollands’ best of the bunch, midway through the second period. Their corporate lack of concentration, with the winners’ enclosure in sight, allowed their outclassed victims to salvage a little pride but by then the damage had been done.

Visiting manager Phil Brown was correct to point out that his side began brightly, “played some good stuff” and held their own during the opening quarter hour. He will be alarmed, though, at the manner of the abject ten-minute collapse which effectively sealed their fate.

Their first concession will give him nightmares. No fewer than three defenders hemmed in Danny Green as he made positive tracks for goal but the winger held them all at bay before unleashing a swerving 25-yard drive, which keeper Andreas Arestidou found too hot to handle. Alertly beating David Gray to the rebound, Johnnie Jackson made expert work of netting what was actually a tricky chance.

While the Addicks have been rattling in goals this season, it hadn’t escaped Chris Powell’s attention that neither Michael Morrison nor Matt Taylor, had contributed to the total. Morrison duly broke the centre backs’ duck by firing home from close range after Jackson’s inswinging right wing corner was half-cleared to him.

Already out on their feet, the shellshocked Lilywhites were polished off by a third blow, this one self-administered, four minutes later. Under pressure from the outstanding Yann Kermorgant, left back Paul Parry’s weak backheader lured Arestidou from his line to upend the determined French striker. Mercifully spared the ultimate red-card punishment by erratic referee Gibbs, the stricken keeper could do no more than motion Jackson’s brutally struck penalty past him on its net-bursting way into the right corner.

Kermorgant has blossomed alongside cool finisher Bradley Wright-Phillips to form a partnership which, in Powell’s neat appraisal, terrorises opposing central defences. Shortly before the break, the Breton climbed high at the far post to meet Green’s deep free kick and headed deliberately back across goal for Wright-Phillips to quietly nod in his 13th goal of the season.

It was breathtaking stuff, which couldn’t quite last. But the interval provided pause for evaluation of an irresistible 11-man performance. Ben Hamer had done his bit with two competent saves from Barry Nicholson and Paul Coutts and deserved the luck he received when Coutts nearly punished his poor clearance from over 40 yards. A little wobbly at times, Hamer was a helpless bystander as Nicholson’s fine volley, immediately after Jackson’s penalty, sent David Gray’s right wing cross inches over his bar.

Charlton’s settled back four must be among the best in the division. Chris Solly and Rhoys Wiggins are unflappable full backs, Morrison and Taylor uncompromising, ruthlessly efficient central defenders. On the right of a four-man midfield, Green at last demonstrated the undoubted talent which sent Powell in dogged pursuit of his signature; inside him, Hollands destroyed and created with equal proficiency, Andy Hughes a model of professional responsibility at his elbow; wide left, skipper Jackson has contributed seven goals so far and inspires the side with an insatiable appetite for work; all eight of them gang-tackle, cover and defend with manic intensity.

Though their foot came noticeably off the pedal after the break, the Addicks stayed comfortably in control and it was no surprise that they increased their lead in magnificent style on 69 minutes. And what a beauty it was, initiated by the trickery and turn of speed, with which Wiggins skinned Gray en route to the left byline. His perfect cross on the run was matched by the timing of Hollands’ run and the power of the header which flew past poor Arestidou into the right corner. Wiggins simply can’t stop making goals, Hollands can’t stop scoring them, his third in the last four games increasing his total to five for the season.

With football very much a matter of timing, Charlton might consider it a break that they didn’t face Preston earlier on in the campaign, when North End strung together seven league wins in a row and knocked the Addicks out of the Carling Cup for good measure. Since then, the Lancastrians have imploded, with Brown under severe threat of the sack. It’s an unforgiving business and it will be of little consolation to the beleaguered manager that his side re-grouped with two late replies.

Centre back Craig Morgan’s header from Brian McLean’s corner accounted for the first but paled into insignificance alongside the marvellous spinning turn and venomous volley with which substitute Daley claimed the second. Powell’s irritation was palpable but soon melted into purring satisfaction at a job so well done. Then the other results trickled in and his cup ran over. He’s a hard taskmaster but he’s no WWI general. He leads from the front.

Charlton (4-4-2): Hamer, Solly, Morrison, Taylor, Wiggins, Green (Wagstaff 70), Hughes, Hollands, Jackson (Euell 81), Kermorgant, Wright-Phillips (Hayes 70), Not used: Sullivan, Cort.

PNE (4-5-1): Arestidou, Gray, Morgan, McLaughlin, Parry, Coutts, McLean (Daley 46), Nicholson, Alexander, Smith (Mayor 46), Tsoumou. Not used: Ashbee, Barton, Zibaka.

Referee: P. Gibbs.

Attendance: 17,486.

Hartlepool 0 Charlton 4 (Wright-Phillips 9,37, Hollands 55, Wagstaff 84).

Charlton fans are really beginning to warm to the cut of Chris Powell’s managerial jib. He comes across as balanced and mature, exactly the qualities that stood him in good stead during a lengthy, distinguished playing career.

Powell’s measured reaction to recent defeat at Stevenage was revealing. Not for him the sour ugliness of Neil Warnock, the strawberry-veined ranting of Alex Ferguson or the quasi-psychological superiority of Arsene Wenger. Instead, his thunderous brow spoke of a determination to look within himself and his players for its cause and to avoid the easy option of blaming officials. There’s no doubt he’s a gentleman but he’s also a complete professional with an aversion to losing but also an ability to maintain perspective in an otherwise triumphant campaign. Simply stated, he has his head screwed on.

There was little chance of the Addicks suffering their second loss of the season at chilly Victoria Park, where Hartlepool United were comprehensively beaten. A quickfire double from the insatiable Bradley Wright-Phillips placed United squarely behind the eight-ball, a daunting position from which they were never likely to recover.

Currently hotter than a pistol, Wright-Phillips has rattled in twelve goals in fifteen league starts, the last five of them notched in his last three games. An instinctive awareness of space carries him into the right place at invariably the right time, while uninhibited finishing does the rest. An occasional touch of luck also comes in handy, as was the case when Charlton’s sureshot opened his account after nine minutes.

The build-up was smooth enough, Yann Kermorgant’s chipped pass playing Rhoys Wiggins in behind outwitted right back Neil Austin. The rampaging Wiggins drilled over a low cross for Wright-Phillips to bobble a first-time shot which deceived Scott Flinders on its bouncing way into the bottom right corner.

With strapping centre backs Matt Taylor and Michael Morrison in commanding form, Danny Hollands bossing midfield and fullbacks Wiggins and Chris Solly their usual dependable selves, ‘Pools prospects were already bleak. Adam Boyd did force a fine save from Ben Hamer but it came as little surprise that Wright-Phillips doubled his account and his side’s lead before the break.

The irresistible left-sided partnership forged between Wiggins and Johnnie Jackson did the spadwork this time, their sharp exchange of passes sending Wiggins rampaging to the left byline. His clipped cross was hooked into the roof of the net, with practised ease, by Wright-Phillips, making simple work of what was actually a difficult skill.

From time to time this season, Charlton have wobbled in possession of a two-goal lead, most recently while working out an awkward midweek win over Wycombe Wanderers. A tendency to sit back on their advantage and invite the opposition on to them has encouraged apparently beaten sides to stage unlikely rallies. It seems the thoughtful Powell has addressed the problem because there was to be no miracle revival for the outclassed ‘Pools who found themselves adrift at three down shortly after resumption.

Kermorgant had been regularly targeted for rough stuff by United’s outgunned defenders. Five minutes into the second period, his quick turn eluded Peter Hartley, who responded by chopping down the Breton striker a yard outside the penalty area to the right of goal. Hartley’s inevitable yellow card was only part of his punishment because Jackson’s wickedly inswinging free kick was bulleted home by the onrushing Hollands from five yards. There’s no better way to defend a two-goal lead than by making it three.

As the Addicks relaxed, Wright-Phillips came within a whisker of claiming his first-ever senior hat-trick but failed to toe-end Jackson’s low centre past Flinders. At the other end, meanwhile, Taylor demonstrated Charlton’s professional ruthlessness by heroically blocking James Poole’s point-blank shot. Much earlier, Hollands had set the example with a ferocious, but eminently fair tackle on Andy Monkhouse.

There was still time for a final flourish provided by late substitutes Scott Wagstaff and Paul Hayes. Wagstaff had replaced the enigmatic Danny Green, a rare disappointment in the visitors’ solid team performance but a player with so much to offer. Pulling back in anticipation of an alertly cutback pass from Hayes, the indefatigable winger crisply drove home the Addicks’ fourth goal.

So the Stevenage blip, though still a sore point, has been answered by three successive victories within eight days. It’s still early days – a fact of which nobody is more aware than one of League One’s up-and-coming managers – but Charlton are the real deal. There’s more to them than mere style. They’re a hardbitten lot, very much cut from their guvnor’s mould. He won’t mind us saying so.

Stevenage: Flinders, Austin, Collins, Hartley, Horwood, Murray, Poole, Liddle (Luscombe 55), Monkhouse, Nish, Boyd (Brown 55). Not used: Rafferty, Humphreys, Wright.

Charlton: Hamer, Solly, Taylor, Morrison, Wiggins, Green (Wagstaff 69), Hollands (Euell 86), Hughes, Jackson, Kermorgant (Hayes 81), Wright-Phillips. Not used: Sullivan, Cort.

Referee: D. Mohareb. Attendance: 5,333.

Wycombe Wanderers 1 (Beavon 63 Charlton 2 (Wright-Phillips 6,41).

Treading the finest of lines again, Charlton completed the third leg of their Home Counties odyssey with a bitterly earned victory over dogged Wycombe Wanderers.

Before Tuesday’s vital win, the Addicks hadn’t fared too well in the leafy shires. A creditable 1-1 draw with MK Dons was followed by the disappointing surrender of their unbeaten league record at Stevenage. But with results elsewhere favouring them, they put daylight between themselves and their pursuers at the top of League One. All in all, it was a satisfactory, if harrowing, night’s work.

In the cold light of day, however, the perfectionist in Chris Powell will focus as much on the flaws in his side’s performance as on its undeniable merits. At half-time, Charlton were full value for their 2-0 lead after dominating their outplayed hosts and seemingly on course for a win as comprehensive as their effortless dismissal of Carlisle three days previously. During an increasingly torrid second half, however, their superiority began to fray to the point where the addition of four extra minutes arrived as an intolerable burden. They crawled over the line but that’s what champions do sometimes.

There were only six minutes on the clock when Bradley Wright-Phillips (who else?) fired the visitors in front. His part in the goal might have been negligible but his instinct for being in the right place at the right time is an art in itself. A superbly flighted pass from old pro Andy Hughes sent Rhoys Wiggins marauding clear of right back Danny Foster to cross on the run but slightly behind Yann Kermorgant. The Breton’s enterprising overhead effort hit the right post, before bouncing back to the predatory Wright-Phillips, whose finish past Nikki Bull was clinical.

Neat and constructive, meanwhile, Wycombe kept their nerve. A fine strike from Stuart Lewis skimmed the bar before Ben Strevens shot accurately but too close to Ben Hamer. The Chairboys were still in touch until Wright-Phillips’ second goal knocked the wind out of their sails.

Set up by a magnificently judged pass from Danny Hollands, Wright-Phillips stole a key yard off his outmanouevred marker Dave Winfield, stumbled under the impact of the centre back’s desperate challenge but recovered to drill a crisp low drive in off the left post. Ten goals in only fourteen starts this season is the return of a top notch marksman.

It was too easy to be true but reality bit after the break, The dominant visitors were served warning by tricky wide man Kadeem Harris. whose rising drive was nimbly turned over the bar by Hamer. Wanderers sniffed a switch in momentum, their growing confidence bolstered by Hamer’s sudden nervousness in handling a couple of high balls. Midway through the second period, they deservedly reduced their arrears.

In Stuart Beavon, Wycombe have an in-form forward of their own. Scorer of seven of his side’s fourteen league goals, he made it eight from fifiteen games by resolving an untidy goalmouth mess, during which Harris shot cannoned off Hamer’s chest, with a no-nonsense close range shot.

Their comfortable ride no more than a memory now, the Addicks lived on their nerves as Strevens cut in from the left to curl a fine crosshot wide of the far post. Matt Taylor’s miscued header which conceded an unnecessary corner was a sign that the times they were a-changin’ but when they were asked to dig in, Powell’s men answered the call. Centre backs Taylor and Michael Morrison headed ball after ball clear as the Chairboys adapted their ground-based tactics to include a steady barrage of high balls; full backs Wiggins and Chris Solly provided further evidence that their partnership is unsurpassed in the division. In front of them, Hollands superbly organised the first line of resistance, with the staunchness of Hughes at his elbow. Though Wanderers pressed relentlessly, they produced few chances.

When you’re top of the league, as Charlton’s marvellously vocal support reminded the locals they are, you find ways to win. And bloodymindedness has its place alongside elegance. There’s more than one way to skin a Wanderer.

Wycombe (4-5-1): Bull, Foster, Johnson, Winfield, Basey, Harris, Bloomfield (Ibe 87), Strevens (Ainsworth 82), Lewis, Grant (Bignall 65), Beavon. Not used: Tunnicliffe, McCoy.

Charlton (4-4-2): Hamer, Solly, Morrison, Taylor, Wiggins, Green, Hollands, Hughes, Jackson, Kermorgant, Wright-Phillips (Wagstaff 85). Not used: Sullivan, Hayes, Euell, Cort.

Referee: Andy D’Urso. Attendance: 5,406.

Charlton 4 (Kermorgant 13, 37, Wright-Phillips 21, Hollands 48) Carlisle United 0.

Kevin Nolan reports from The Valley.

It’s a long, weary road from London back to Carlisle after you’ve been outclassed 4-0. You’re entitled to wonder whether, in the nagging words of the World War II poster, “your journey was really necessary.” And it only adds to the misery to reflect that your performance included a player sent off, a penalty missed and a goalkeeping catastrophe of heroic proportions. So let’s be kind to the Cumbrians.

Just 12 miles short of Scotland, United plough a lonely furrow as the solitary league representative of their remote county. For evidence of just how lonely it is look no further than the bleak reality that their local derby passion is directed at…Workington. That’s hardly a clash to make emotional wrecks of their fans. In fact, it’s a clash that hardly ever happens.

The Blues have endured dramatic highs and soul-destroying lows recently. Relegated to the Conference following the 2003-04 season, they made an immediate return to the Football League in 2004-05 by way of a play-off victory at the Brittania Stadium. Having restored the natural order, they drove a coach-and-four through League Two in 2005-06 and are back where they belong again.

League One is not where Charlton consider THEY belong. Their pedigree comprises numerous seasons in the top echelon of English football, punctuated by years of waiting in the old Second Division, now all gussied up as The Championship. The Addicks don’t regard themselves as Third Division material, except, of course, that’s where they find themselves right now.

During a blistering first half, the new side assembled by almost as new manager Chris Powell served notice that they are deadly serious about tearing themselves clear of what frankly is a depressing division. Beaten for the first time last week by Stoneage Stevenage, they took out their irritation on poor old Carlisle. In little over a half hour, they chewed up and spat out their bewildered visitors, scored three excellent goals and, for once, spared another marvellous Valley crowd their usual ordeal of nerve-jangling worry on the way to victory.

With new dad Dale Stephens’ compassionate absence admirably covered by Andy Hughes and Chris Solly resuming at right back, Powell’s decision to continue with Yann Kermorgant up front was handsomely vindicated by the Frenchman’s bravura performance.

Scorer of two goals as what is popularly called an “impact sub”, Kermorgant had struggled to make an impression in a couple of starts. His difficulties were put behind him by two outstanding strikes, the first of them finishing off a fluent move launched by an artfully lobbed pass from Johnnie Jackson and continued by Rhoys Wiggins’ deliciously volleyed cross from the left. Kermorgant’s firm header did the rest.

Eight minutes later, fast improving goalkeeper Ben Hamer earned himself an assist with a deliberately arrowed clearance which panicked United right back James Tavernier into a hopelessly underpowered header back to stranded keeper Adam Collin. Greased lightning in such situations, Bradley Wright-Phillips accelerated smoothly, beat Collin to the ball and rolled it precisely home from an acute angle.

The North Easterners were all at sea and easy prey for the rampaging Wiggins, who left Tavernier in his wake as he marauded along the left byline before picking out Wright-Phillips with an astute cutback. Charlton’s razor sharp striker was twice foiled by desperate blocks from Peter Murphy but Kermorgant tidied up the mess with a rising drive off the underside of the bar.

United’s discomfiture intensified with the pre-interval dismissal of Matt Robson. Deservedly booked for a earlier foul on Danny Green, no doubt a consequence of Green’s effortless mastery of the left back, Robson’s trip on Wright-Phillips lacked malice but left erratic referee Sheldrake no wriggle room in applying the letter of the law. Carlisle’s wretched afternoon was degenerating fast but their humiliation was not quite over yet.

Shortly after resumption, Danny Hollands carried the ball over the halfway line, proceeded without challenge into shooting range and tried his luck from over 25 yards. His shot was firm enough but was no more than routine business for Collin to collect. A glaring sun was complicating life but could hardly be cited in his defence because Hollands’ optimistic slipped through his legs.

The only possible consolation for the stricken keeperwas that a fourth goal had by then become academic. The same comfort could be extended to James Berrett, who spurned the chance to reduce United’s arrears from the spot after Wiggins was harshly adjudged to have handled Tavernier’s cross. Hamer protected his clean sheet by brilliantly saving James Berrett’s firmly struck penalty. It’s best to miss penalties when they have little effect on the outcome, just as it’s easier to accept grotesque decisions such as the one later made by Mr. Sheldrake, who appeared oblivious to the obvious handling of Wiggins’ goalbound drive by Danny Livesey. You only get so many penalties per season. You don’t want to waste one with the score already 4-0.

A club without any apparent unpleasantness to them, Carlisle duly embarked on their punchdrunk journey to the far reaches of the northwest, with the prospect that, on St. Patrick’s Day, there awaits them an even more gruelling assignment at Bournemouth. Anyway, a club which boasts among their season ticket holders no less a luminary as Coronation Street’s Norris Cole (Malcolm Hebdon) has much to recommend it. Gratuitously- and with no justification other than a desire to share his riches – we offer in appreciation one of his better bon mots: “Yorkshire Moors? Fresh air? It didn’t do the Bronte sisters much good. They were all dead by the time they were 40!” Harsh, admittedly, but fair, which accurately describes the treatment received by the Cumbrians in the cheerfully polluted air of South London.

Charlton: Hamer, Solly, Morrison, Taylor, Wiggins, Green (Wagstaff 69), Hollands (Euell 72), Hughes, Jackson, Kermorgant, Wright-Phillips (Hayes 76). Not used: Sullivan, Cort.

Carlisle: Collin, Tavernier, Livesey, Murphy, Robson (sent off), Berrett, McGovern, Taiwo, Loy (Curran 76), Noble (Michalik 46), Miller (Zoko 76). Not used: Gillespie, Helan.

Referee: Darren Sheldrake. Attendance: 16,741.

Stevenage 1 (Long 11) Charlton 0

Kevin Nolan reports from The Lamex Stadium…

Many of them attracted by the novelty of visiting a new league ground, (I’m no nerd but I’m up to 87 now, by the way) more than 1500 Charlton supporters helped Stevenage record their biggest crowd of the season so far for the first ever league meeting between the clubs. And no doubt they wish they hadn’t bothered.

For waiting to spoil their day was a team which attained Football League status as recently as 2009-10, then zipped into League One via last season’s Old Trafford play-off final victory over Torquay United. Like ’em or loathe ’em, you just have to respect their achievement. They certainly outwitted Charlton on this bracing early autumn afternoon.

The likes of Stevenage (they’ve dropped “Borough” from their official name, possibly because it made them sound like a council depot team) – and a division below them – unloved Crawley Town at least remind us of the uniquely egalitarian nature of English league football, a system in which all comers can try their luck. Even the financial snobs of the Premiership, with their morally dubious owners, had to put up with Blackpool last season and are still aching to rid themselves of Stoke. And don’t get them started on bloody Wigan. Let’s face it, Ted Turnabuck, that loquacious Liverpool managing director, might have been shouted down over his comments about TV rights but he was only saying what the others are thinking. The elitist aim is to peddle their “product” to Sebastian the stockbroker, not Sid the plumber one day soon. Then schoolkids will do projects about football fans as an extinct species. So hang on to your programmes and memorabilia for your grandchildren.

Back in sunny Hertfordshire, meanwhile, Charlton proved dismally inadequate in dealing with the problems set for them by the up-and-under methods cheerfully used by the locals. A steady bombardment of skyscraper deliveries had been anticipated and The Boro didn’t disappoint. They make no bones about their fundamentalism.

Some of their lusty wallops endangered low-flying air bird life but there’s nothing illegal about their tactics. Neanderthal, yes, but not illegal. And it’s up to their opponents to figure out a solution. Chris Powell had reacted to the aerial threat by benching excellent but diminutive right back Chris Solly in favour of towering centre back Leon Cort, with almost equally towering Michael Morrison moving over to cover Solly. Since Cort turned out to be Charlton’s best player, the experiment met with qualified success but Solly’s attacking instincts were missed. Better on reflection to make the opposition worry about your own strengths. Which might also be said to include Scott Wagstaff’s pace and industry in front of his mate Solly, at the expense of the subdued Danny Green.

The 11th minute goal which separated the sides and inflicted on the table-topping visitors their first league defeat of the season ironically owed nothing to the airborne battering but just as ironically was scored by Stacy Long, a kid who learned his trade as an Academy Addick before being released. Long chanced his arm from 25 yards, enjoying a massive deflection which wrongfooted Ben Hamer on its way into the top right corner. Beaten in similar circumstances last week, Hamer is entitled to believe he’s snakebitten.

Before the interval, Hamer got the better of Long in one-on-one confrontation after the sturdy midfielder broke clear on to Craig Reid’s perceptive through ball. Charlton’s best first half opportunity fell to aggressive left back Rhoys Wiggins, who combined with skipper Johnnie Jackson to elude Mark Roberts but shot scruffily wide with his weaker right foot.

Ten minutes after resumption, an even better chance was set up by Yann Kermorgant’s cleverly headed pass, which sent Bradley Wright-Phillips accelerating away from Jon Ashton in the inside left channel. Drawing a bead on the opposite corner, the top scorer beat the advancing Chris Day with a low drive but missed the right post by a whisker. On his right foot, you’d have backed him to hit the target, not that footballers are happy to admit they have a weaker side. But they do, don’t they? They’re only human.

The scare was all the persuasion Stevenage needed to add strategic timewasting to their Battle of Britain game plan. Left back Scott Laird, for instance, made tortuous treks to take right wing corners while Day’s mighty kicking became even longer and lustier. The Boro might, though, have doubled their lead had Ashton’s header not directed Ronnie Henry’s free kick against the bar. But Graham Westley’s doughty men had already done enough to deservedly secure the points.

Suckered into fighting blitz with blitz, Charlton were left to ruefully ponder their obvious shortcomings. It’s no a secret that sides will set out to bash them up legally and from time to time illegally. It’s an unforgiving division out of which to climb and a first defeat in 13 games is hardly cause for despair but it remains to be seen how they react to this setback. Powell’s thunderous brow at full-time probably means that the exchanges at next week’s training will be lively. A fly on the wall would be advised to wear ear muffs.

Stevenage: Day, Roberts, Ashton, Henry, Laird, Wilson, Long (Shroot 68), Mousinho, Bostwick, Reid (Beardsley 56), Harrison (Byrom 81). Not used: Julian, Edwards.

Charlton: Hamer, Morrison, Taylor(Hayes 87), Cort, Wiggins, Green (Wagstaff 72), Hollands, Stephens (Evina 80),, Jackson, Kermorgant, Wright-Phillips. Not used: Sullivan, Solly.

Referee: Michael Naylor. Attendance: 4,724.

Charlton 1 (Jackson 79, pen) Tranmere 1 (McGurk 33).

At the end of 90-plus mostly wearying minutes, Charlton emerged from this latest test of character with their unbeaten league record intact. A record of 12 games yielding 28 points, without their colours being lowered, is an understandable source of pride at the club. There was, frankly, little else worth remembering about these dour doings, the third successive 1-1 draw between the sides.

And it wasn’t all Tranmere’s fault. The Wirralsiders arrived with a rigid game plan, tweaked it a little as time wore on and came within 10 minutes of claiming a notable scalp. They opened brightly, with a brief flurry of attractive football, snatched a rather fortunate lead just past the half hour and promptly reverted to type. An irritating combination of spoiling, niggling and blatant time wasting was obviously their intention, should they somehow surprise themselves by scoring. The Addicks, meanwhile, showed little imagination in breaking down their dogged visitors, the first half passing them by while they pottered about fruitlessly.

With Enoch Showumni a mobile, surprisingly skilful target man, Rovers began confidently. Before the home side had settled down, Lucas Akins and Joss Labadie both fired narrowly over the bar. Showumni, who scored in both league games against Charlton last season, then muscled Michael Morrison off the ball before setting up Adam McGurk to test Ben Hamer. The big forward blotted his impressive copybook by shovelling Labadie’s inswinging corner tamely over the top but his side promptly moved into a not altogether unexpected lead a minute later.

Tranmere’s shoot-onsight policy finally reaped its reward as McGurk moved on to a convenient ricochet, blazed away hopefully and beat a wrongfooted Hamer with a wicked deflection off Chris Solly’s shoulder. Lucky, maybe, but justified by the run of play.

Like Mr. Hyde shouldering aside Dr. Jekyll to get about his evil business, Rovers changed dramatically. Suddenly goal kicks, throw-ins, corners, free kicks were given painstaking attention before being laboriously delivered, their Plan B obviously geared to cause impatience, frustration, even impotent fury. They did precisely the same at The Valley last season, after Showumni put them in front in the first half and Wright-Phillips equalised early in the second period.

They were, if anything, more devious this time but, to Charlton’s faint credit, again it didn’t entirely work. Except, of course, it did because comical Rovers boss Les Parry led his side back up the motorway chortling about the point they’d quarried from opponents they clearly fear.

Parry’s interval talk was no doubt succinct. Just keep on doing what you’re doing and we’ll have these soft-centred Southerners served up in a hotpot. In the opposite dressing room, Chris Powell might have made it more personal. Most of what he said probably does not belong on a website until the kids are safely in bed.

A second Rovers’ goal was, of course, unthinkable, but Ian Goodison should have provided them one. The craggy centre back topped a weak header into Hamer’s grateful hands, with an otherwise subdued Dale Stephens replying from long range with a potshot which Owen Fon Williams fumbled but recovered. As the exchanges intensified, much to Parry’s genial displeasure, Yann Kermorgant provided a chance which Danny Hollands sliced wide. Morrison’s key interception pipped Showumni to Labadie’s corner. An equaliser was beginning to seem unlikely until Rovers tried the patience of referee Drysdale once too often.

Escaping momentarily from Goodison’s shackles, Wright-Phillips a right-wing corner, which Johnnie Jackson’s educated left foot dropped dangerously into a congested penalty box. At which point your veteran reporter should be excused for failing to pinpoint who did what to whom. Various protagonists, both culprits and victims, featured in many a post-game press room frame but substitute Zoumana Bakayogo featured heavily for hauling down Wright-Phillips. And they’ll have to do. Not that the drama was resolved at any time soon.

Instead the villainous Northerners did everything in their black powers to divert Jackson from exacting the appropriate punishment for Bakayogo’s offence. They griped, delayed, griped some more, behaved like cads and bounders in their efforts to put him off. To no avail. Charlton’s cool captain rose above their machinations and drove the spotkick into the bottom right corner. If the football match during World War 1’s famous Christmas truce had been decided by penalties, you’d have appreciated Jackson stepping up to take the decider.

Both sides had chances to grab all three points, none more clearcut than the awkward volley scuffed over the bar by Jackson or the point blank swing-and-miss by Wright-Phillips when any kind of contact might have turned the trick. New setpiece expert Kermorgant closed out the action with a free kick which shaved the bar but honours, such as they were, remained even.

And so to the round-up interviews, where Parry had the press corps in stitches with a stand-up – well, sit-down, actually – routine of self-deprecating humour. The whiff of deja-vu was inescapable. He made us laugh last season. He made us laugh again on Saturday. Pity there’s nothing remotely amusing about the teams he saddles us with in between the mirth.

Charlton: Hamer, Solly, Morrison, Taylor, Wiggins, Green (Wagstaff 68), Hollands, Stephens, Jackson, Kermorgant, Wright-Phillips. Not used: Sullivan, Evina, Hayes, Doherty. Booked: Solly.

Tranmere: Fon Williams, Raven, Goodison, Taylor, Buchanan, Akins (Kay 84), Weir, Labadie, Baxter (Bakayogo 78), McGurk, Showunmi (Tiryaki 87). Not used: Coughlin, Power.

Referee: D. Drysdale. Attendance: 15,038.

Charlton 0 Brentford 3 (Adams 2, O’Connor 24, pen, Diagouraga 61).

Kevin Nolan reports from The Valley.

His hands tied by the tournament sponsor’s cute caveat concerning team selection, Chris Powell was reduced to chewing his fingernails on Wednesday evening while half of his first team were in action against Brentford in the Johnstone’s Paint Trophy. It was no consolation to know that Uwe Rosler, the Bee’s manager, was in the same boat.

It’s safe to say that Powell’s first destination after this halfhearted performance was the injury treatment room. A trip to Wembley is all very well but in his own words “it’s all about the league” for him. The mere avoidance of inconvenient injuries would have been, from his point of view, a satisfactory result. Likewise Rosler, no doubt, but last season’s finalists Brentford were patently more committed. The West Londoners won comfortably and well within themselves.

For promotion-hungry Charlton, early defeat in this unloved competition cleared another deck on the choppy voyage to the Championship. And they set about eliminating themselves with almost indecent haste. In only the second minute, a weak header from ponderous Gary Doherty dropped limply at the feet of Myles Weston, who surged forward to find Adam Thompson unmarked inside the penalty area. John Sullivan reacted smartly to block Thompson’s point blank shot but was unlucky that the loose ball squirted to Blair Adams, who had no trouble in scoring.

It was becoming obvious that the West Londoners were taking things rather more seriously than their scatterbrained hosts and it was no surprise when they doubled their lead halfway through the first period. Clearly struggling to adjust to the game’s hardly burning pace, Mikel Alonso was enduring a private nightmare, which reached its low point as the debutant’s attempt to correct a poor touch led to his haplessly timed challenge on Toumani Diagouraga near the penalty spot. The clearcut spotkick was calmly converted by skipper Kevin O’Connor and the Bees were already out of sight. It needs pointing out, in the interest of fairness, that Alonso improved steadily and showed that he can play a bit.

In central defence for Brentford, meanwhile, was Miguel Llera, an ex-Addick with a point to prove. His anxiety to make that point was betrayed by the flagrant trip on Danny Green, which earned the big Spaniard a booking and Charlton a free kick in a promising position. Green’s low strike penetrated the wall but was routine for Simon Moore to beat aside. But at least Charlton had managed a shot on target.

Rosler’s men reasserted their superiority and should have gone further ahead but the lively Weston, another former Addick with some sort of grudge, headed O’Connor’s precise cross straight at Sullivan. Diagouraga sloppily finished a first half, to which he had made a positive contribution in surprisingly shabby fashion, first by gifting Paul Hayes a chance which the forward volleyed narrowly over the bar, then picking up a yellow card for a vindictive foul on Green.

Even the keenly anticipated entry of substitute Yann Kermorgant, as a 63rd minute replacement for Johnnie Jackson failed to turn the tide. Showing his usual neat touches, the big Frenchman produced one inspired moment with a long distance chip inches too high. Scott Wagstaff also stung Moore’s fingers from 25 yards but, by that time, Brentford had already settled the issue with a third goal. There was initlal doubt that Diagouraga’s fierce drive would count, with a linesman’s flag appearing to rule it out but wiser counsel, in the form of referee Linington, ensured that justice was done. Not that it seemed to matter much.

With a clean bill of health and Tranmere due at The Valley on Saturday, Powell will surely regard his team’s early exit from this millstone of a competition as a blessing in disguise. Promotion to the Championship is the be-all and end-all of this crucial season. To Brentford went the spoils, such as they were. Powell settled for a huge sigh of relief.

Charlton: Sullivan, Hughes, Doherty, Taylor (Morrison 46), Evina, Green, Stephens (Euell 46), Alonso, Jackson (Kermorgant 63), Hayes, Wagstaff. Not used: Hamer, Francis.

Brentford: Moore, O’Connor, Woodman, Bean, Llera, Eger, Clarkson (Grella 75), Diagouraga, Thompson, Adams (Wood 58), Weston. Not used: Lee, Saunders, Spillane.

Referee: J.Linington. Attendance: 3,486.

Sheffield United 0 Charlton 2 (Kermorgant 65, Wright-Phillips 67)

Kevin Nolan reports from Bramall Lane…

Bouncing straight from their searching midweek test at wet-behind-the-ears MK Dons to what promised to be an even sterner examination of their promotion credentials at venerable Bramall Lane (1889), Charlton sampled both ends of football’s historical spectrum last week. It’s tempting to dismiss the Dons as no more than cocky young upstarts but even their worst enemies would concede that the quality of their football last Tuesday was hugely impressive.

Sheffield United, on the other hand, have seen it all before in their long, sometimes successful past. They’ve been yo-yoing between the lower divisions recently after controversially losing their Premiership status, along with Charlton, in 2006. Both clubs have found the going tough in League One; each of them has earmarked the current season as the launch of a serious push to revisit past glories.

More streetwise than MK Dons, United were expected to confront Charlton with their toughest assignment so far. That’s not how it turned out. Instead the Blades were turned over on their own hallowed turf by visitors who outclassed them in every department. From tape to tape, bell to bell, the table-topping Addicks were too good for them. Producing their best performance of the season, the two-goal winning margin hardly flattered them.

United’s resistance was effectively broken in a first half that, ironically enough, they could claim to have shaded. They came closer to scoring but encountered sturdy, pragmatic defence, which featured several clearances off the line. These anything but soft Southerners were prepared to put their bodies on the line for the general good of their team. They removed any doubt that their position on top of League One is merited.

Courageous captain Johnnie Jackson was the first goalline hero. The skipper was fortuitously placed to scrape Neill Collins’ scuffed effort to safety, after Chris Porter made a hash of heading Lee Williamson’s corner goalward. His defiance was matched by Rhoys Wiggins in hacking away a deliberate header header from Steohen Quinn, following a momentary lapse by Ben Hamer.

Charlton’s best chance, meanwhile, fell unfortunately to rugged centre back Michael Morrison. Set up by Wiggins’ approach pass and Ben Hayes’ skilful overhead pass, Morrison sliced his shot horribly wide. Sensibly resuming his outstanding partnership with Matt Taylor, Morrison was in impassable mood. And flanking the no-nonsense central defenders are the division’s best full back pairing of Chris Solly and Wiggins. It’s a back four of purpose and resilience.

Their first half softening process completed, the Addicks moved in for the kill. The natives were already becoming restless at their team’s curious reluctance to battle for scraps when Bradley Wright-Phillips rubbed in the difference in commitment by hustling a left wing corner off Matt Lowton.

Before Dale Stephens took the flagkick, however, Chris Powell rushed French substitute Yann Kermorgant into the action in replacement of Hayes. The move smacked of managerial genius when Kermorgant, with his first touch, headed Stephens’ inswinger unstoppably past Veteran keeper Steve Simonsen.

The stuffing was knocked out of United. They were defending like the Keystone Kops a minute later, as Wright-Phillips danced between their disintegrating ranks, drew a bead on the left corner but missed his target by inches.

Wright-Phillips’ disappointment was ephemeral. One more minute later, he seized on a dreadful mistake by Collins, showed too much of the ball to the onrushing Simonsen but charged through the keeper’s panicky clearance. The task of walking his seventh goal of the campaign into a vacant net was a walk in Bramall Lane for the prolific scorer.

Traditionally rocky with a two-goal lead, Charlton coped admirably. It did take a sensational save by Hamer, his best since he joined the club, to protect the advantage but the newcomer has been improving steadily. He won’t produce better than the magnificent reaction he produced to reach the text book header directed across him by Richard Cresswell from Lecsinel Jean-Francis’ deep cross. Cresswell was already celebrating the reduction of United’s arrears before Hamer’s athleticism confounded him. The keeper also contributed an alert block when one-on-one with Ched Evans but was a mere onlooker as Evans hit a post in added time. Otherwise a piece of cake, really.

Sheffield United (4-4-2): Simonsen, Lowton, McDonald, Doyle, Jean-Francois, Williamson (Flymm 73), Collins, Maguire, Porter (Cresswell 67), Quinn, Evans. Not used: Montgomery, Long, Parrino.

Charlton (4-4-2): Hamer, Solly, Taylor, Morrison, Wiggins, Wagstaff (Hughes 86), Hollands, Stephens, Jackson, Hayes (Kermorgant 63), Wright-Phillips Green 78). Not used: Sullivan, Cort.

Referee: S. Mathieson. Attendance: 20,743.

MK Dons 1 (Williams,21, pen) Charlton 1 (Kermorgant 74).

Unbeaten after nine league games on Tuesday evening, Charlton journeyed to defend their record in “some corner of a foreign field that is forever…Milton Keynes.” That they returned still unvanquished was due to Ben Hamer’s excellent goalkeeping and a wonderfully headed late equaliser from substitute Yann Kermorgant with defeat looming. On this occasion, their flesh weakened but their spirit saw them through.

This was, make no mistake about it, a fine result, particularly when MK Dons’ blistering early superiority is entered into the equation. Charlton were all but sunk without trace by their hosts’ bewildering passing and movement, the ball no more than an elusive hot potato to them for nearly half an hour. But they battled obstinately, stuck to their outmanned guns and emerged from the opening salvo just a goal in arrears. The Dons should have been out of sight but missed their chance. The Addicks swallowed hard, buckled down and turned the tide. They deserved their precious point.

It’s an ersatz experience at stadiummk, beginning with its empty name and the false belief that the club are legitimate, biological successors to Wimbledon’s old Crazy Gang from Plough Lane. The programme informs us that they have played Charlton on 19 previous occasions, which came as news to me, and by logical extension, won the Cup in 1987. Well, they aren’t, they haven’t and they didn’t. The locals, meanwhile, have plagiarised that dopey dirge about nobody liking them, which comes closer to the truth.

To be fair, there was nothing phoney about the way the Dons tore into Charlton from the kick-off. The influential Luke Chadwick began an unceasing barrage by thumping a swerving 25-yarder slightly off target; Darren Potter drove narrowly too high; on the turn, Clinton Morrison, stung Hamer’s hands; Stephen Gleeson sent Hamer scrambling awkwardly to reach his low effort; Morrison again spun sharply to test Hamer; Tom Flanagan shaved the bar with a clever snapshot as frustration began to set in.

The visitors seemed to have weathered the worst when they succumbed to a penalty conceded by the unlikeliest of offenders. Chris Solly has laid down an early marker as player of the year, virtually impossible to beat, as tricky winger Angel Balanta discovered when his jinking 40-yard dribble was summarily halted by the right back’s no-nonsense tackle. But Solly’s impetuous challenge from behind on Dean Lewington left referee East no option but to punish it with a penalty. Shaun Williams scored confidently from the spot.

As the Dons’ intensity dropped, the priority for the shellshocked Addicks was to reach the interval without further damage. They managed it thanks to Hamer’s fine saves fom Chadwick and more impressively from Williams, who half-volleyed Flanagan’s perfectly flighted pass into the keeper’s grateful hands.

Needless to say, the Buckinghamshire side were far from finished. Balanta opened the second half by heading Chadwick’s centre off the top of the bar before the pendulum swung decisively. Paul Hayes’ volley was deflected to safety before Bradley Wright-Phillips nodded an accurate centre from Scott Wagstaff inches the wrong side of a post. It was stirring end-to-end stuff now, with Williams skimming the angle of post and bar with a searing distance drive.

With his resurgent side firmly in the ascendancy, Chris Powell made two masterly substitutions to save the evening. Though still waiting to make an impact this season, Danny Green’s class is unquestioned, his replacement of hard running Wagstaff on 66 minutes ideally timed. French newcomer Yann Kermorgant followed him five minutes later in relief of Hayes and the subs promptly combined to devastating effect. Green comprehensively skinned Lewington along the right touchline, left the full back in his wake, then whipped in an inspired cross on the run. Breaking to the near post to elude his marker, Kermorgant overpowered David Martin with an unstoppable header inside the right post. Charlton had received just reward for the sheer bloodyminded guts.

Chances were plentiful before the embattled sides settled mutually for a point apiece. The best of them featured Johnnie Jackson directing a terrific cross from Kermorgant wastefully over the bar, before Dons substitute Daniel Powell shot tamely at Hamer after Williams had set up what seemed a certain winner. Not that a winner was deserved by either of these talented teams. A draw was about right.

MK Dons (4-4-2): Martin, Potter, Beevers, Flanagan, Lewington, Chadwick, Gleeson, Chicksen, Williams, Morrison (Powell 66, Balanta (Bowditch 58). Not used: McLoughlin, Kouo-Doumbe, McNamee.

Charlton (4-4-2): Hamer, Solly, Taylor, Morrison, Wiggins, Wagstaff (Green 66), Hollands, Stephens, Jackson, Hyes (Kermorgant 71), Wright-Phillips (Hughes 87). Not used: Sullivan, Cort.

Referee: Roger East. Attendance: 8,114.

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