Peterborough United 0 Charlton 0
Kevin Nolan reports from his living room dug-out.
The outcome of this latest contribution to Charlton’s nickel-and-dime season divided their fans as usual. The pragmatists among them were satisfied with a point on the road, which not only checked their two-game slump but was wrested from opponents fresh from their 5-2 mauling of Plymouth Argyle just three days previously. The dreamers, meanwhile, rued an opportunity missed after Peterborough survived with ten men for over half an hour.
The truth, as it often does, lies somewhere between the conflicting theories. It’s fair to say that the Addicks made little of their numerical advantage – chiefly because they operate these days without a forward line – but they also shut out free-wheeling Posh, whose 48-goal total had been bettered by only four teams in League One. It was a tough call.
The flashpoint incident which triggered the controversy occurred early in the second period and was dramatically out of context in this generally well-behaved, if dull, encounter, between two disappointing teams. Speedster Jesurun Rak-Sakyi had been likewise subdued as he operated further infield than the right touchline-hugging role he prefers but finally found the space he needed to run at Posh’s visibly panicked defenders. At which critical point things turned ugly.
Sent stumbling by Jack Taylor’s clumsy foul, Rak-Sakyi’s momentum carried him into violent contact with Josh Knight, who chopped him down before inexplicably kicking him as they tangled together on the ground. Reacting angrily, the slimline loanee hurled himself at his assailant and threw a punch/push at his chin/shoulder. As referee Andrew Kitchen began sorting out the consequences, every busybody and his uncle added their pennyworth. The mess was resolved by yellow cards for Taylor and Rak-Sakyi (though Kitchen fumbled briefly with red in his case) but a definitive red for prime offender Knight. Naturally there was deep disagreement with Kitchen’s rulings, though it’s worth noting that he received sturdy support from his nearby linesman.
Clearly shaken by his painful experience, Rak-Sakyi made little further impact on the game. Being booted in the niagaras has that sobering effect and though the Good Book advises that we turn the other cheek, it neglects to comment on other, more sensitive areas of a man’s anatomy. Though sorely provoked, the reality is that the normally law-abiding winger was given a break by the beak.
Nothing that occurred before the big brawl gave any hint of what was in store. Facing jaded, out-of-sorts hosts, the Addicks edged the opening exchanges without suggesting they had enough about them to press home their superiority. A second minute opening which Macauley Bonne – a striker in sore need of a goal – squirted over the bar on the turn and a header, from Sean Clare’s corner, which Lucas Ness sent over the top were poor return for their bright start. And it was Posh who came up with the game’s first genuine chance midway through the first half.
An intermittent threat on the left, Nathaneal Ogbeta stepped inside to cross right footed from the left to the far post. Hovering there was predator Johnson Clarke-Harris, who scored in the 1-1 draw at The Valley on Boxing Day and sought to repeat his success with a similar downward header. He was thwarted on this occasion by Ashley Maynard-Brewer’s razor-sharp response to save brilliantly at the foot of a post. Charlton’s young Aussie keeper was briefly busy, first bravely smothering at Ogbeta’s feet, then awkwardly pawing clear a deceptively swirling corner from Joe Ward. As Posh improved, visiting hearts were in visiting mouths when George Dobson clashed inside the penalty area with Ephron Mason-Clark but was absolved of blame by a perfectly positioned Kitchen. “An obvious penalty!” declared Boro manager Duncan Ferguson… But then he would, wouldn’t he?
Charlton’s best chance of breaking the second half deadlock was laid on by wingback Steven Sessegnon, who sprinted past Nathan Thompson to the left byline before rolling back a careful pass to Jack Payne, in intelligent support inside him. Unhappily, Payne’s badly scuffed effort failed to match his clever movement and dribbled harmlessly wide of the far post. Payne’s sub standard finishing was matched by a wild shot from Dobson, which dispatched another inviting ball from Sessegnon into the back row of the visiting seated area and also by Scott Fraser, whose spectacular slice defies description.
An already dull game was briefly enlivened, then unnerved, by the Rak-Sakyi – Taylor – Knight dust-up and descended into an even more fragmented affair, during which Charlton came closest to stealing the points. First a sharp exchange between Corey Blackett-Taylor and Payne set up a shooting chance for the former, which was alertly blocked by Ronnie Edwards, then a liquid turn by Miles Leaburn put Blackett-Taylor in again for a shot superbly saved by Will Norris.
The post-scripts were supplied by Dean Holden and Ferguson who offered diametrically different versions of the fracas. “It was a stamp-out, bang out of order” testified Holden, “I was glad the referee gave the red card, I think it was the right decision.” In direct rebuttal, Ferguson dismissed Kitchen’s ruling as an “astonishing decision” and pointed out that “Rak-Sakyi threw himself at him (Knight)!” One man’s truth was another’s lie. And the truth, like beauty, often lies in the eye of the beholder.
Peterborough: Norris, Nathan Thompson, Edwards, Knight, Taylor, Clarke-Harris, Mason-Clark, Poku (Jones 67, Burrows 90+5), , Ogbeta, Kyprianou (Norburn 67), Ward
(Kent 56). Not used: Blackmore, Ben Thompson, Tshinanga. Booked: Taylor: sent off: Knight.
Charlton: Maynard-Brewer, Hector (Blackett-Taylor 66), Inniss, Ness, Clare, Fraser (Leaburn78), Dobson (Henry 90), Payne, Sessegnon (Penney 78), Rak-Sakyi, Bonne.
Not used: Wollacott, Kilkenny, Morgan. Booked: Rak-Sakyi, Dobson.
Referee: Andrew Kitchen. Att: 8,219 (1,235 visiting).