Ipswich Town 1 (Wood o.g. 23) Charlton 1 (Jackson 90).
Kevin Nolan reports from Portman Road.
Thirty one year old Nuneaton referee Stuart Attwell was a bit of a prodigy when he broke through to league football in 2009. He briefly made it to the Premier League but, following numerous controversies, was demoted to the Championship, much to the Championship’s dismay.
At braw, brich’t Portman Road, Attwell ushered in the New Year, hopefully not as he means to go on, by getting nearly every key decision wrong. His piece de resistance was in refusing Cameron Stewart an obvious penalty on the stroke of half-time, then adding insult to the Charlton winger’s injury by booking him for simulation. But let’s be fair, his incompetence was evenly distributed.
Battling bravely back from behind when Stewart was doubly insulted, the Addicks might well have been two down at the time. As early as the second minute, Attwell had taken a surprisingly lenient view of the clumsy challenge by Richard Wood which checked Daryl Murphy’s penalty area progress as they disputed a long ball over the top. Had he deemed Wood guilty of fouling Murphy, the defender might have faced dismissal. So a large round of applause came his way from 780 admirably impartial observers of the incident. Not that he didn’t make it up to the Tractor Boys later on.
After the dust and debris of controversy had settled over this eventful game, Charlton could be proud of the precious point they earned against considerable odds. To their credit, they kept the faith, soldiered on and were rewarded by an equaliser in the last knockings of normal time. Their goalscoring saviour was, almost inevitably, late substitute Johnnie Jackson but even the inimitable skipper would concede that, but for Ben Alnwick’s heroics shortly beforehand, his characteristically plundered strike would have been no more than a late consolation.
Alnwick had performed solidly, was given no chance of saving Town’s opener and had just kept his side in with a chance by diving to save Murphy’s cornerbound snapshot. On his shoulders rested the visitors’ dwindling hopes when Attwell made his third, critical penalty call and finally got one right.
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In attempting to clear Aaron Cresswell’s left wing corner, Jordan Cousins swung lustily at the ball but failed to notice Paul Anderson coming up on his blind side. The youngster’s boot caught player not ball, leaving Attwell to briefly consider his options before pointing to the spot.
Having rested prolific scorer David McGoldrick until bringing him on in the 68th minute, Mick McCarthy was entitled to congratulate himself on impressive foresight as his regular penalty-taker stepped up to double his Ipswich’s lead. McGoldrick’s shot was struck firmly but Alnwick launched himself to his left to pull off a magnificent save. His defiance practically demanded reward and, in Jackson, the right man was in the right spot to deliver it. Finding instinctive space as Kermorgant headed down for Simon Church to cushion a shooting chance for him, his improvised right-footed volley caught a useful deflection off Christophe Berra and nestled neatly in the top right corner. There was instant pandemonium in the away section and – it must be confessed- in a long suffering corner of the press box.
Until the late denouement, not much else had gone right for the battling Londoners. Following a bright opening, during which Alnwick’s plunging save from Murphy had been matched by Dean Gerken’s similar alertness in keeping out Kermorgant’s low snapshot, they fell behind in desperately unlucky circumstances. Played through on the left by Jay Tabb, the dangerous Murphy drilled a hard, low centre across a heavily populated goal area, where Michael Morrison’s failure to intercept at the near post distracted Wood into inadvertently turning the ball into his own net.
Before the interval, things got worse. Doubly worse as it turned out. Sent sprinting clear of Luke Chambers by Kermorgant’s fine pass, Stewart was sent sprawling as the right back made awkward contact with his trailing leg. Clearly sinned against rather than sinning, Stewart was not only denied a clear penalty but was booked for his impertinence in expecting one.
The Addicks were still fuming when a further hammer blow was inflicted. Having been handed a rare start at Church’s expense, Marvin Sordell had given a promising account of himself, with one drive fizzing dangerously wide before disaster struck. While chasing down a lost cause, the out-of-luck striker pulled up with what the watchers of Casualty or Holby City among us instantly diagnosed as hamstring trouble. No blame attached to Attwell in this instance, though it’s tempting to implicate him. Without wishing to tempt providence, meanwhile, his replacement Jordan Cook belied understandable ringrust with a useful contribution as the plucky Addicks refused to surrender.
The last word belongs to -or, more accurately – is about Stuart Attwell, boy arbiter. They say that the best refs pass unnoticed under a game’s radar and there’s something in the the theory. After this game, on the other hand, Attwell’s fingerprints and footfalls were found in every corner of a battered pitch. Ponderous, pedantic, prosaic, he was football’s version of Inspector Lestrade. Arriving late, jumping to incorrect conclusions, arresting the wrong suspect, he piled error on error. When you can’t find anything good to say about someone, sometimes it’s as well to say something bad. So consider it said.
Ipswich: Gerken, Chambers, Smith, Berra, Cresswell, Anderson, Skuse, Tabb (Hyams 68), Taylor (McGoldrick 68), Tunnicliffe, Murphy (Nouble 82). Not used: Loach, Edwards, Wordsworth, Mings. Booked: Berra, Nouble.
Charlton: Alnwick, Solly, Morrison, Wood, Wiggins, Wilson (Church 71), Stephens, Cousins, Stewart (Jackson 81), Sordell (Cook 45), Kermorgant. Not used: Hamer, Evina, Dervite, Pritchard. Booked: Cook, Kermorgant.
Referee: Stuart Attwell. Att: 18,371 (780 visiting).