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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Charlton 3 (Hayes 18, Jackson 28, Wright-Phillips 90) Chesterfield 1 (Whittaker 71,pen)

They rolled up in their thousands, Charlton supporters past, present and hopefully future, enticed by the club’s handsome football-for-a-fiver offer and encouraged by the team’s fine early season form. They arrived with hope leavened by a sensible measure of caution because, let’s face it, they’ve been here before. An inborn suspicion of hype and hoopla is part of the Charlton fan’s DNA. Throw in a spot of opera, not to mention knockdown admission prices and they hug chains of anticipated misery. The Addick is a rare mole-like breed, content to operate under the radar, out of the spotlight and touchingly resigned to 45-second telly coverage. It saves so much pain later.

As it turned out, for once, performance matched expectation. At least it did for 45 excellent minutes, during which Chesterfield were handed a chastening lesson and relieved to totter off at the interval just a manageable 2-0 down. It couldn’t -and didn’t- last. A two-goal lead terrifies Charlton more than it does their opponents.

The Spireites, bolstered by 1225 travelling Dalesmen who recognised a bargain when they saw one, kept their cards watchfully clapped to their chests during the pre-kickoff festivities. Clearly up to no good, they wore a “lean and hungry look” and you don’t need reminding that “such men are dangerous.” They meant business and intended to bury Charlton, not praise them. But until their rampant hosts froze, they were frankly outclassed.

Masters these days of the fast start, the Addicks almost succumbed themselves to an early goal but Lee Johnson spoiled a fine solo run by spooning his effort wide of the left post.

That was as good as it got for the visitors until Charlton inevitably cooled off. They had the sharp reactions of Greg Fleming to thank for alertly tipping Michael Morrison’s hook shot over the bar and were lucky again as Johnnie Jackson glanced Dale Stephens’ resultant corner narrowly wide.

A steady stream of corners maintained the opening pressure and it was from another of Stephens’ wicked deliveries that Chesterfield eventually cracked. Fleming’s plucky clearance of his inswinger at the outstanding Danny Hollands’ feet reached Bradley Wright-Phillips, whose instantly returned low shot was nimbly turned over the line by Paul Hayes.

The same combination should have immediately doubled the lead but Hayes’ disastrous first touch squandered an easy tap-in chance provided by Wright-Phillips’ unselfishly squared pass. Hayes was more decisive with a venomous sideways-on volley diverted splendidly over the bar by Fleming.

It was all Charlton and came as no surprise that they claimed the important second goal their superiority promised. Impressively aggressive left back Rhoys Wiggins’ cross from the left corner flag was handled by Drew Talbot; Stephens pulled back the free kick to the edge of the penalty area, from where Jackson drilled his fourth goal of the campaign past the helpless Fleming. Chris Powell chortled his pleasure at the success of a training ground wheeze.

Since Johnson’s early enterprise, Chesterfield offered little until Craig Westcarr chipped over a cross which an unmarked Leon Clarke met at the far post. From two yards the recently prolific forward contrived to lift an awkward effort haplessly over the top. Though Scott Wagstaff drove Hayes’ clever lay-off narrowly off target before the break, the Addicks retired in great shape.

One team disappeared down the tunnel, clearly a different one replaced them for the second period. Inexplicably nervous, shorn suddenly of confidence, Charlton allowed their outplayed victims back into a game which should already have been out of their reach. Chesterfield sensed it wasn’t over, persisting in their neat passing without accomplishing much. But the Valley braced itself for trouble and it duly arrived with 20 minutes remaining.

Moments after Chris Solly had “sportingly” rolled the ball out of play to enable an opponent to receive prompt treatment for a supposed injury, the Spireites declined to respond in kind when Wagstaff collapsed in convincing agony.

Alex Mendy’s pass enabled Clarke to roll inside Morrison, whose clumsily mistimed tackle felled the big striker. After a spirited discussion between Danny Whittaker and Clarke was resolved in the former’s favour, the clear-cut penalty was hammered into the roof of the net to ensure the customary frantic finish in SE7.

The phony war of words, meanwhile, about Chesterfield’s perceived lack of sportsmanship, can be dealt with succinctly. Allowing players to self-diagnose injury is a recipe for corrosive disagreement; cobblers in simpler terms. If music, not to mention football, is the thing, play on. Leave the laying on of hands to the medical profession…

In the mire yet again, the Addicks soldiered on unconvincingly. Hayes hit the bar, Wright-Phillips cleverly eluded two defenders but shot too close to Fleming, Matt Taylor was ludicrously booked for diving though clearly chopped down in the penalty area by Simon Ford. At the other end, more crucially, Mendy’s left-footed volley whizzed inches wide before Wright-Phillips’ all-purpose contribution was crowned by a richly deserved added time goal.

Big French striker Yann Kermorgant had replaced hardworking Hayes on 79 minutes and his silken first touch was followed by an adroit pass to pick out Wagstaff on the right flank. Thankfully restored to good health and possibly still irritated by Chesterfield’s cavalier attitude to his suffering, the indefatigable winger produced a perfect waist-high cross which Wright-Phillips dived to convert at the far post. That notorious two-goal lead is a slippery bar of soap for Charlton to hold on to but they managed it with something of a flourish in the time left. Which was only two minutes, after all…

Charlton (4-4-2): Hamer, Solly, Morrison, Taylor, Wiggins, Wagstaff (Hughes 90),, Hollands, Stephens, Jackson, Hayes (Kermorgant 80), Wright-Phillips. Not used: Sullivan, Euell, Cort.

Chesterfield (4-4-2): Fleming, Talbot, Grounds, Ford, Smith, Allott, Mendy, Johnson (Morgan 80), Whittaker, Westcarr (Boden 87), Clarke. Not used: Smith, Holden, Randall.

Referee: G. Scott. Attendance: 22,151.

Rochdale 2 (Grimes 57, Ball 60) Charlton 3 (Hollands 20, 80, Wiggins 45)

There’s no disrespect – implied or otherwise – of Rochdale Football Club or Rochdale community in pinpointing a visit to Spotland as incentive enough for Charlton to haul themselves out of League One as soon as humanly possible. It’s not where you want to find yourself on a rainlashed Saturday afternoon in mid-September. And obviously the locals agree. Most of them are conspicuous by their absence.

Nothing against homely little ‘Dale – no, honestly – but at the turn of the century the Addicks were regularly visiting their glamorous neighbours in an area which virtually wrote the opening chapters in English football’s history. These days it’s Bury one week, Rochdale the next, with backbreaking treks to the likes of Hartlepool and Carlisle looming in the near future. Keep company like that for too long and you risk becoming institutionalised with them in the lower divisions.

And it’s not as if Charlton effortlessly dismiss the lower orders with aristocratic hauteur. Both Rochdale and Hartlepool beat them last season, while Bury gave them all they could handle a few weeks ago. To be honest, they can be a nightmare so there was no reason to assume that the Addicks’ unbeaten league record would survive a second visit to Spotland in 2011.

During a briefly chaotic spell after the interval, while Charlton surrendered a two-goal lead their effortless superiority had earned them, that seven-game record teetered on the edge of oblivion. Having outclassed their bewildered hosts during 45 minutes of pass-perfect football, they had three valuable points in the bag before inexplicably caving in.

But first things first. The Addicks were a delight to watch as they toyed with ‘Dale for 45 minutes. Their passing was crisp, movement fluid, finishing clinical.
Twenty one-side minutes elapsed before the pressure eventually buckled the Lancastrians. They were surgically carved open down the left flank as attacking full back Rhoys Wiggins exchanged sharp passes with Johnnie Jackson. The skipper nipped past right back Stephen Darby to produce a sumptuous cross from the left byline. A restless bundle of energy, Danny Hollands did it justice with his downward header beating Jake Kean to claim his first goal for Charlton.

Wiggins promptly popped up at the other end to whisk Ashley Grimes’ dangerous cross off David Ball’s brow, while the tireless Jackson overhauled Jason Kennedy in the penalty area and was relieved that referee Steve Rushton agreed that the tackle was legitimate and booked Kennedy for diving. The home side was still in the hunt, however, until a stoppage time strike appeared to have applied an early coup-de-grace.

An unselfish team player as usual, Paul Hayes tricked his way along the left byline to drill over a low cross with the outside of his right foot. An awkward clearance broke to Wiggins, who fired a low drive into the bottom right corner. The foundation for a second-period rout had apparently been laid. Er, not quite.

Within a quarter hour of resumption, Charlton were themselves staring at defeat. They picked up confidently enough with Matt Taylor’s header cleared off the line by Joe Widdowson, then Jackson’s low drive skimming into the sidenet. But Rochdale served notice that they far from finished as Grimes scooped a half-chance into Ben Hamer’s hands and Kennedy fired narrowly wide. They reduced their arrears when Grimes looped a clever header over Hamer from Jean-Louis Akpa Akpro’s chipped centre and neatly under the bar.

Charlton’s descent into panic was alarming. They were still all-at-sea as Ball resolved a bout of penalty box pinball by blasting a close range equaliser inside the left post.

Pulling themselves together, the stricked visitors struggled to regain their poise. Bradley Wright-Phillips shot was deflected wide, then Jackson’s cross was sliced over his own bar by Pim Balkestein. The momentum had switched again and Scott Wagstaff, who had come in for robust treatment, broke on the right to reach Wright-Phillips’ pass and force a corner off Widdowson. Jackson’s deep inswinger was met beyond the far post by Hollands and headed firmly down into the opposite corner.

It scarcely needs mentioning that the last 10 minutes were spent in desperate, backs-to-the wall defence, culminating in substitute Jason Euell’s clearance off the line. That’s the Charlton way but the post-game arithmetic brought even more encouraging news that even Sheffield United’s 3-0 victory over Colchester had failed to dislodge The Addicks from the top of League One. With identical records, the teams were separated, purely for convenience, by alphabetical order.

Don’t you just love those kids down on East Street, who resisted any temptation to name their new football team Woolwich Athletic?  They knew what they were doing, those little ‘erberts, bless ’em one and all.

Rochdale: (4-4-2): Kean 6, Darby 6, Holness 7, Balkestein 6, Widdowson 7, Tutte 6, Jones 7, Kennedy (Adams 76), Ball 7, Grimes 7, Akpa
 Akpro 7. Not used: Lucas, Barry-Murphy, Barnes-Homer, Trotman.

Charlton (4-4-2): Hamer 6, Solly 8, Morrison 7, Taylor 7, Wiggins 7, Wagstaff 7, Hollands 8, Stephens 7 (Hughes 86). Jackson 8, Hayes 7 (Euell 86), Wright-Phillips 7 (Cort 90). Not used: Sullivan, Pritichard.

Referee: Steve Rushton. Attendance: 2,909.  

Charlton 0 Preston North End 2 (Russell 11, Mayor 67)

Encouraged by a tiny train of doughty pilgrims from the Red Rose county, Preston North End helpfully cleared one of Charlton’s cluttered decks by removing their second string from the Carling Cup last night. The visitors’ reward, if reward is remotely the right word, is an even more daunting midweek shlep to Southampton for a third round tie next week. Home fans breathed a collective sigh of relief at that dismal prospect. “Better them than us” was the general attitude buzzing around The Valley. Unworthy, perhaps, but heartfelt.

Connected to a genuinely proper football club, it has to be said that North End’s followers were a less toxic breed than their immediate predecessors from Exeter proved to be last Saturday. So disgruntled were two Devonians by Bradley Wright-Phillips’ cheeky reaction to his opening goal that they were unceremoniously chucked out, one of them held symmetrically horizontal with a burly attendant at each corner. Bertie Wooster periodically left the Drones Club in identical fashion after a food fight went too far. The effect is irresistibly comical, totally undignified and punctures the self-esteem of the most neanderthal of football hooligans.

But we digress. Three days after his First X1 laboured in dismissing 10-man Exeter, Chris Powell completely rang the changes, as he had done when the Addicks impressively eliminated Championship opponents Reading in the first round last month. Mahogany-hued Preston boss Phil Brown, meanwhile, had himself more or less re-vamped the line-up which squeezed past Yeovil on Friday night. He was handsomely vindicated by the tape-to-tape superiority exerted by his reserves, who won more or less as they pleased.

Not that Charlton started badly, with Ruben Bover Izquierdo stinging the fingers of Andreas Arestidou from 25 yards. Preston’s riposte was immediate; youth academy graduate Danny Mayor began 45 minutes of torture for Simon Francis by cutting inside the hapless right back to cross hard and low, a convenient ricochet leaving experienced Darel Russell the straightforward task of burying a low drive inside the left post. Francis’ miserable evening promptly went from bad to worse, with a booking for chopping down Paul Parry, his half-time withdrawal by Chris Powell as much an act of compassion as the manager’s tactical response to an already unpromising situation.

Not that Francis was exactly overshadowed by his colleagues, whose performance was as bad on this occasion as it had been good against Reading. Until Scott Wagstaff added his first team pedigree in the second period, they were aimless and gormless. Supposedly under threat from Danny Green for his first team place, Wagstaff added class to a losing cause. Green, on the other hand, seemed dragged down by the mediocrity around him, his solitary contribution a slaloming run which ended anti-climatically when he momentarily stepped on the ball before being crowded out.

Wagstaff was responsible for his side’s few positive moments. A searing 25-yard drive was spectacularly tipped over the bar by Arestidou and a close range header from Jason Euell’s stoppage time cross hit a post. John Sullivan was the busier keeper, though, an early save to keep out Russell’s blockbuster the best of the game and his bravery at Adam Barton’s feet earning him a painful injury. He could do nothing, however, to prevent Mayor from sealing the issue in the 67th minute.

Proving as elusive to replacement right back Yado Mambo as he had been to poor Francis, 20 year-old Mayor cut in again from the touchline to curl a fine drive beyond Sullivan’s left hand on its way into the right corner. Preston’s ticket to Southampton was duly booked, Charlton’s lack of envy palpable.

There was prompt consolation for a small crowd and a pragmatic manager as news arrived of defeats for both Sheffield clubs and the failure of Brentford to beat Colchester at home. By default, the Addicks had moved to the top of League One and the Carling Cup paled into comparative insignificance. Brentford are due at The Valley in the JPT on October 5th. Don’t expect a bloodcurdling cup tie from teams with more important items on their agenda. It could even be embarrassing.

Charlton (4-4-2): Sullivan 6, Francis 4 (booked), (Mambo 46,5), Doherty 5, Cort 5, Evina 6, Green 5 (Popo 76), Hughes 5, Pritchard 5, Bover Izquierdo 5 (booked), Benson 5 (Wagstaff 46,7), Euell 5. Not used: Hamer, Davisson, Warren, Smith.

PNE: Arestidou 6, Ashbee 6, Carlisle 7, Morgan 6 (booked), Coutts 6 (booked). Isoumou 6, Barton 6 (Zibaka 76), Mayor 8, Parry 7, Russell 7, Clucas 6 (booked). Not used: Comrie, Nicholson, McLean, Wright, McLellan, Mellor.

Referee: F. Graham 7. Attendance: 5,130.

Charlton 2 (Wright-Phillips 43, Stephens 81) Exeter City 0

As Charlton’s ragbag collection of “temps” and “casuals” lurched from one humiliation to another last season, Exeter City were among a number of supposed minnows who took full advantage of their disarray by beating them twice in the league. They joined other luminaries in Brentford (who added a JPT knockout for good measure) and Walsall in “doing the double” over Charlton’s big-time Charlies.

City’s 3-1 victory at The Valley was especially demoralising, being accomplished in front of a bumper crowd of over 24,000, lured by the club’s attractive offer of £5 admission. Not for the first time, the Addicks choked under the spotlight, a failing which they hope to put right when the offer is repeated for Chesterfield’s visit on September 24th.

At home to the Grecians again on Saturday, after a top-to-toe summer re-organisation, newlook Charlton began the process of exacting retribution from their opportunistic tormentors. They made a successful start to their quest for vengeance but not until a huge slice of luck loaded the dice firmly in their favour after just 10 minutes.

The visitors were holding their own during a few give-and-take opening exchanges when loan signing Rowan Vine adroitly made space for a left-footed snapshot which surprised Ben Hamer but was touched aside by the full-length keeper. Closing in at the far post, under crucial pressure from Rhoys Wiggins, much-travelled striker Danny Nardiello managed an unconvincingly scuffed effort which, to most naked eyes, appeared to have squirmed over the goalline before Hamer scrambled the ball clear. Not so, ruled referee Tierney, leaving the unfortunate striker beside himself with frustration.

Some 10 minutes later, Nardiello’s simmering sense of injustice boiled over. With the action far afield, he seized the chance to give Mr. Tierney’s assistant referee, a chap as crisp and decisive as Pontius Pilate, a piece of his mind. ” You’re a *******” waste of space, he announced, ” and while we’re at it, you’re also a ****** **** of ********, not to mention a complete ******.” In anyone’s book, his outburst constituted foul and abusive language. Mr. Tierney agreed and ordered him off after the asterisks were filled in for him.

Nardiello’s disgruntled colleagues were left to negotiate some 70 minutes with 10 men and, to their credit, made a fair fist of it. They were lucky to remain level when the outstanding Chris Solly’s cannonball rocketed down from the underside of the bar and is generally believed to have crossed Lenny Pidgeley’s goalline before it was hacked clear. For the officials to overlook one over-the-line incident may be regarded as misfortune: to completely miss another looked very much like carelessness.

Keeping their heads admirably while refusing the obvious temptation to flood City’s penalty area with a barrage of high balls and over-ambitious long passes, the Addicks switched the ball around patiently without making much of their numerical advantage. A glorious through ball from Danny Hollands, which struck its flying recipient Scott Wagstaff unluckily on the heel, was the way forward but the first signs of frustration were beginning to show when, two minutes before the break, their steady pressure told on the beleaguered Grecians.

Picking up Mike Morrison’s clearance inside the area, Bradley Wright-Phillips exchanged incisive passes with Paul Hayes, broke away between outmanouevred centre backs Troy Archibald-Henville and Richard Duffy and clinically beat the advancing Pidgeley with the outside of his right boot. His fifth goal of the season was dedicated to those Devonians unwisely taunting him for his Plymouth Argyle connections.

The second period, though confidently expected to be a stroll, developed into a grind as Charlton’s chronic inability to finish off apparently stricken opponents returned to haunt them…almost. Wright-Phillips again combined cleverly with Hayes but the latter’s concrete-heavy touch allowed Pidgeley to smother the close range effort.

Wright-Phillips was in irresistible form but twice shot narrowly wide. A second goal was sorely needed to soothe The Valley’s jangled nerves because the gutsy visitors were far from finished. Then, with 10 minutes remaining, Charlton polished them off with a second well-worked strike. Almost as effective as a provider this season, Wright-Phillips chased down Scott Wagstaff’s pass near the right byline before cutting back a low pass behind Wagstaff. Meeting the chance 15 yards out, Dale Stephens drilled the clincher into the bottom left corner, effectively dispelling memories of his glaring miss under similar circumstances against Sheffield Wednesday in midweek.

So revenge it was, a dish they say is best served cold. This time, it was sort of lukewarm but no less tasty.

Charlton (4-4-2): Hamer 6, Solly 9, Morrison 7, Taylor 7, Wiggins 6, Wagstaff 7, Hollands 8, Stephens 7 (Hughes 86), Jackson 7, Hayes 7 (Euell 78), Wright-Phillips 8 (Pritchard 86). Not used: Sullivan, Cort.

Exeter (5-3-2): Pidegely 6, Tully 6, Archibald-Henville 6, Coles 6 (Logan 6,46), Duffy 6, Jones 6 (Shephard 6,46), Dunne 7, Noble 7, Golbourne 6, Vine 6 (Keohane 6,52), Nardiello (sent off). Not used: Krysiak, Nichols.

Referee: P. Tierney. Attendance: 14, 290.