Kevin Nolan’s Match Report: Charlton v Reading (21/03/2015)

Charlton 3 (Buyens 58, pen, 70, Church 80) Reading 2 (Pogrebnyak 40,90).

Kevin Nolan reports from The Valley.

With pressure no longer an issue, carefree Charlton treated their delighted fans to a feast of wildly entertaining, if sometimes harum-scarum football. Cup semi-finalists Reading were torn to pieces at times but somehow led at half-time, reduced their eventual arrears to a single goal in second half added time, then prolonged the unnecessary agony until Garath McCleary’s last gasp free kick floated into the grateful arms of Stephen Henderson.

Despite the mournful bleatings of Reading manager Steve Clarke, who laid his side’s defeat squarely at the feet of referee Darren Deadman, truth is the visitors were outclassed. Spared a heavier setback by missed chances and some heroic last ditch defending, the disgruntled boss nevertheless saw conspiracy everywhere, particularly in the circumstances through which the Addicks equalised the first of Pavel Pogrebnyak’s goals shortly after half-time.

Clashing with Tony Watt in dealing with a routine cross from Chris Eagles, Michael Hector inexplicably swiped the ball clear with a flailing hand. There were few complaints from the Royals at the time but Clarke built a case around a phantom push, which apparently persuaded his young defender to unwisely use his hand rather than his head. From the spot, Yoni Buyens easily beat Adam Federici to make it seven successful penalties this season.

“The penalty was another poor decision by the referee,” grumbled the doleful Clarke, “but you get plenty of them in this division. Then Danny Williams was sent off although his first yellow card was soft because he won the ball.” It didn’t seem the time to mention that Williams, with a booking to his name already, was clearly a mug to engage in unpleasantries with Watt, who clearly had a lot less to lose. Or to advise Hector to keep his hands to himself.

But enough of Clarke’s bitter bellyaching. His side was given a rare chasing during the first half, as Guy Luzon’s re-vamped squad, minus outstanding right back Chris Solly, who was injured during the warm-up, and top scorer Igor Vetokele, rested in a bid to regain full fitness, frequently toyed with them. The hosts’ zestful pass-and-move was impressive and lacked only a goal to ram home their superiority. Five minutes before the break, Pogrebnyak reminded us that scoring is still the point of the game. Benefitting from a helpful penalty area ricochet, the towering Russian turned to plant a low drive past Henderson before both sides headed for the dressing room to work out how they had mutually contrived such a misleading scoreline.

Resuming with clear intent, Charlton missed a couple of chances before Hector crucially intervened. A cute pass from Frederic Bulot set up an accurate cross from Morgan Fox, which Watt shinned awkwardly over the bar at the far post. Then Buyens’ glorious ball picked out Johan Berg Gudmundsson, whose cross was headed down by Bulot for Buyens but Hector’s brave block thwarted his point blank shot. It was looking a little like “one of those days” until Hector offered his helping hand. It was downhill fast for Reading from then on.

Eagles headed Gudmundsson’s precise centre wastefully over the bar but the reprieve was brief. A swooping cross from the superb Joe Gomez was skilfully swept home by the equally impressive Buyens as scoring suddenly seemed a piece of cake. As the Berkshire Royals sagged, a perfect cutback from Buyens set up substitute Simon Church but Federici brilliantly blocked the point blank effort.

Church had scored his first goal of the season in the midweek mauling of Blackpool and duly doubled his tally thanks to the persistence and skill of Watt. Forcing his way along the right byline, the charismatic Scot left a trail of toiling defenders in his wake and engineered the tap-in which Church bundled over the line. Curious “celebration” from the scorer, though. All that faux-modesty and finger-to-lips hushing of the North Stand. Might have been more appropriate to salute Watt’s magnificent contribution than to spare the feelings of a former club which no longer pay your wages. It was bloody embarrassing.

Pogrebnyak’s second scruffy goal in the fourth of five added minutes distorted the scoreline but meant little. The Addicks won this game with something to spare and the ingredients are in place for a serious crack at promotion in 2015-16, assuming, of course, that Luzon’s side won’t be broken up and shipped elsewhere. Bulot’s emergence has been dramatic, Buyens has come into his own, while Gudmundsson is one classy operator. At 17 years of age, Gomez is already the real deal, while, in Jordan Cousins, Charlton have a diamond on their hands. And Watt partnered with Vetokele – could be tasty next season. But why wait until then? Good Friday provides the perfect stage on which to strut their stuff because there’s still important business to take care of this season. Go get ’em, Guy!

Charlton: Henderson, Gomez, Diarra, Johnson, Fox, Cousins, Buyens, Gudmundsson, Bulot, Eagles (Church 68), Watt (Lepoint 88). Not used: Dmitrovic, Bikey, Lennon. Ahearne-Grant. Booked: Buyens, Watt.

Referee: Darren Deadman. Att: 15,007 (953 visiting).