Charlton Athletic 4 v Coventry City 1

At last, a convincing home win to send the Valley faithful home and probably sway several thousand waverers to renew their season tickets. It was more than that however. The peformance was full of promise and and goes some way towards restoring the early season belief that this squad of players can challenge for the Premier League. Having said that, we should acknowledge that Coventry made the task easy and I would be seriously concerned as a Sky Blue about their prospects next season.

It was a decent Spring day and a Bank Holiday atmosphere. Coventry, to their credit, filled the whole Jimmy Seed, something I was not expecting based upon their poor showing this season. Beach inflatables and fancy dress was the order of the day and they made plenty of noise given the lack of much to cheer about. The rest of the ground was as full as I had expected i.e. c 5,000 empty seats, so I was surprised at a gate of 26,000 (18,000 season tickets plus 3000 visitors, so we still managed to sell 5,000 walk ups).

Alan Pardew started with Weaver in goal, Youga, Bhougerra, McCarthy and Halford across the back, Thomas, Shelvey, Holland and Basey in midfield and Varney and Gray up front. It was a considered line-up and I think it tells us something about Pardew's thinking about next season.

Youga was again very comfortable at left-back and with Basey also gaining a berth in midfield, it looks like the sun might be setting on Ben Thatcher's Charlton career. Bhougerra and McCarthy stood up pretty well in central defence and both made telling tackles in the second half. I was surprised at Halford's inclusion and hope it is a sign of Pardew's intent on getting him on a permanent basis. He has had a couple of really poor games when the rest of the side were also off the tempo but that shouldn't detract from the fact that he is a competant full-back who can attack as well.

Matt Holland gave another whole-hearted performance in the middle and was unlcuky not to cap it with a thunderbolt of a shot from 35 yards that would have brought the house down if it had gone in instead of hitting the bar. His energy across the middle gave opportunity for Jonjo Shelvey to make a compelling home debut. For me, Shelvey would have been man-of-the-match but for Luke Varney. His awareness and vision is amazing for a 16 year-old and I think we could have a rough diamond on our hands. His physical appearance belies his tender years and for much of the match I thought I was watching a 35 year old Gavin Peacock. Grant Basey was a surprise starter on the flank but he made a positive contribution and his deflected goal will undoubtedly encourage him for next season. Jerome Thomas was the only disappointment for me and was anonymous first half. If anyone is prepared to offer £2-3m for him in the close season we should bite their hand off and all move on.

To the front pairing then, and a fine display from Gray and Varney. Varney opened the scoring inside the first five minutes. He collected a through ball from Bougherra in the right channel and was aware of Kasper Schmeicel's charge towards him. He had just enough time to lob Schmeicel and the ball bounced on the line and into the net. Better was to come 15 minutes later when Varney back-heeled a ball into Gray's path and he knocked home for the second. That was pretty much game over and it quietened the bositerous visitors. Michael Mifsud did manage a fine reply but it looked a consolation goal even at that stage.

The second half was equally as good and more chances came Charlton's way as Coventry pushed forward. Varney twice worked good positions only to see his shots flash inches wide. Basey did the same after scoring the third and it was a case of how many. Scott Wagstaff came on for Thomas and, like Shelvey, showed us a maturity beyond his 18 years. Iwelumo came on for Basey as Pardew went in search of the fourth.

Then it was show-time and Chris Powell was introduced with six minutes left. He came on a standing ovation and found himself in the unusual position of midfield with a free role. So free in fact that surprised himself but getting on the end of a Halford throw to net the fourth! Pure theatre and the crowd loved it as much as he did.

So, we finished on a high note and we shouldn't underestimate the importance of that. The youth in the side has been given an opportunity and I hope Pardew will remember that come August. He is talking of needing "three or four players" who can cope with pressure and I would agree with that. Two of them need to be midfielders and I would also be looking for a right back (Halford) and a central defender (Sodje).

After several gloomy months, things might be looking up and that season ticket renewal form has been staring at me for a few day.