As expected, we lined up unchanged again today to face Walsall. There was a distinct lack of atmosphere at kick-off. A home attendance visibly down on the Wycombe game and a measly visiting support of c 250. It was a bright opening without creating any clear-cut chances before Walsall showed that they weren't here just for the money. We had threatened on a couple of occasions before taking the lead but were impeded by a flag-happy linesman. The opener came on the half-hour and was well-deserved. Christian Dailly played a deep free-kick forward and Semedo knocked it out to Bailey on the left. Bailey cut inside and floated a teasing ball to the back post where Semedo joined Miguel Llera to beat Ince and bundle the ball in.
Lloyd Sam fluffed a shooting opportunity minutes later and Nicky Bailey blasted wide after working a fine move into the box, although his effort would have been disallowed had it beaten Ince which it probably should have.
One-nil at the break and with Charlton kicking towards the Covered End, I always expect the best. We were nearly rewarded early on when a ball from Sam was instinctively headed on by Racon and Bailey headed across goal from six yards when anything else would probably have flown in. We huffed and puffed after that and Walsall came back into the game for ten minutes and had a goal disallowed for off-side before Sam was reluctantly replaced by Scott Wagstaff.
The substitution proved inspired because four minutes later the game was won. A swift Charlton break was rewarded when the ball was played up to Deon Burton who instinctively spun it out to his left and into the path of Wagstaff who had half the field to himself. He collected quickly and galloped in on goal. He shaped for a second like he was going to panic and lash wildly a la Lloyd Sam but steadied himself and rolled a perfect shot passed the stranded Ince for the winner. It was an easy finish but he made it himself and converted in style. Lloyd Sam beware!!
Walsall nearly got a consolation on 78 minutes but Sam Parkin's header came off Elliot's right-hand post and Llera did enough to see that the rebound was headed over the bar. It was a wake-up call but one which was largely ignored because Walsall weren't at the races in spite of a spell of pressure. In the end a straightforward 2-0 home win that puts us top of the table. We have much tougher games to come but you can only beat the sides you play.
All-in-all it was a competent performance although Richardson had his poorest game in a red shirt for me and I thought we lacked pace in midfield which could have created more goal-scoring opportunities and kept Walsall on the backfoot. Deon Burton deserves a special mention for making the most of the scraps he was fed throughout and for the brilliant lay-off to Wagstaff that created the second.
Our attendance was down at 15, 706 which will disappoint some after the opening day crowd of 16,552 and the two away wins in the meantime but the Walsall turn-out was c 750 down on Wycombe's and we must recognise that our matchday pricing policy (£25 per adult ticket outside the Upper North) is hefty for this division. That and the height of the holiday season etc.
The next four matches should provide a real contrast to the first four; Tranmere away should be a test although they have struggled so far under John Barnes; Brentford will arrive in fifth or thereabouts before Alan Pardew blushes his way into the Valley and we then get to visit Norwich again. I am confident about all of these games on the evidence so far, although it will take some going to maintain our 100% record.
Times they are a-changing; five of the old boys committed to Norwich away during our post-match valley pint. A real sign of the times.
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