Another great performance on the road and the second win in a row gained by another Big Chris last minute header. Two clean sheets in succession to boot - maybe we finally have the basis of a centre-half pairing emerging as well!
I had hopes of hurtling down the M4 late this afternoon and catching kick-off but things got protracted at work and put paid to that. Couldn't raise BBC Radio Kent, so had to tune in and follow the game on Five Live Sports Extra. Haven't tuned in on this before - what a disappointment. The female host (Jackie?)commentates sporadically in between chit-chat with Leroy Rosenior (not a win-double). They also cut back and forth to other grounds for updates which does nothing to help you follow the game - not recommended if there's an alternative.
Still, the game started brightly enough for the Addicks and our 5-man midfield of Sam, Racon, Reid, Zheng Zhi and Thomas saw plenty of the ball. We had the first couple of corners and Iwelumo and Zheng Zhi had shots on goal. Reidy had a free-kick pushed out for a corner by Basso. Basey had a free-kick turned away on 30 minutes and another corner was wasted. City were dishing out some tough tackles and the view of the commentator was that referree Scott Mathieson had let five bookable City tackles go unpunished before Lewis Carey finally became the first City booking for a high tackle on Reid. Charlton then went very close as the ball pinged around the box from the resulting free-kick but we couldn't get a clear shot in . Thomas then had a chance from the next free-kick but his header and subsequent attempted shot was blocked by Basso.
Bristol City got their first corner of the half after 40 minutes and did nothing with it. They forced their first chance of the half on the stroke of half time. Basey missed a header from a free-kick and Ivan Sproule should have done better than direct the ball ball across the face of goal. So Charlton on top in the first half having the majority of the possession and enough chances to have been in front. I wanted a bolder start with 4-4-2 formation to press for the lead so was a little disappointed. Maybe Kappacio Kid was right - he advocated 4-5-1 for the first half to keep it even and then go 4-4-2 second half in chasing the lead.....
Alan Pardew duly made the change at half time and Varney started the second half at the expense of Lloyd Sam. Varney was fouled 20 yards out on 52 minutes but Reid's free-kick went wide of the left-hand post. McIndoe was the second booking after tangling with Danny Mills. Three late challenges on Varney were eventually punished with the third City booking of the evening. Charlton continued to force corners and Thomas was making a lot of progress on the flank. A Bradley Orr run was ended on the edge of the box on 70 minutes and Danny Mills cleared the subsequent free-kick from McIndoe off the line. City began to dominate possession for the first time after Noble replaced Trundle. Thomas was booked for a high tackle and Darren Ambrose was introduced for Zheng Zhi. City continued to pressure and Weaver had to save from Byfield following a 30 yard free-kick. Danny Mills had a chance with five minutes left but Basso saved. It looked to be fading out but Reid beat Orr in the last minute and found Big Chris on the 6 yard box and he buried his header. Madjid was brought on immediately to help run down the three added minutes of time. Phil Parkinson was sent to the stands in the last minute for kicking the ball away but it was all too late for City.
Reasonable night for other results too with West Brom conceding a last minute equaliser at home to Wednesday and Ipswich going down 3-1 at Sheffield United. Watford did win at Norwich and Stoke beat Scunthorpe - there were five other draws. We are now up to fourth, two points behind West Brom and Bristol City. Cardiff won't fancy the trip the Valley on Saturday having only managed a draw at home to Palace this evening and I am confident we can make it three wins in-a-row to maintain our recovery from what now looks like just a blip.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment
Go on, you know you want to....