Charlton Athletic 1 v Chelsea 2 (F A Youth Cup)

Charlton's youth went out of the F A Cup this evening in an evenly contested game against Chelsea at the Valley in front of 1000 fans. A goal in each half was enough to put Chelsea through to the fourth round although Charlton did manage a late consolation which better reflected the balance of play.

Jeffrey Bruma opened the scoring after half an hour when he got on the end of a penetrating free kick from Gokhan Tore. Charlton nearly equalised immediately afterwards when Walker in the Chelsea goal spilled a cross but Tamer Tuna couldn't force it through the scramble of legs. He should have equalised however minutes later when the best ball of the game (from Lewis Perkins I think) split the Chelsea back-line and put him in one-on-one against Sam Walker but Tamer took a touch he didn't need to and his shot was blocked.

If Chelsea shaded the first-half, Charlton edged the second. We had far more possession with the tall Harry Pell looking and playing the Steven Gerrard role in midfield but we struggled to beat Bruma and Deen-Conteh at the back for the Blues. Liam Bellamy lead most of the Charlton breaks on the right flank and he was well supported by Perkins. Indeed, Perkins fired over from 25 yards after a fine five man move which Harry Pell orchestrated midway through the second half. Marko Mitrovic should have wrapped it up for Chelsea when he picked up the loose ball from another Binks save. He stepped inside the covering challenge but with the goal gaping he put his shot over the bar. Chelsea came close again from two more set pieces taken by Tore but Mambo, Jenkinson and Pell weren't going to be caught out again. The killer second goal came fifteen minutes from the end after a goalmouth scramble.

Charlton kept coming but it looked half-hearted after that until Jordan Cousins pick up a clearance from a Charlton corner 25 yards out and drilled a low shot into the box. It wasn't particularly hard but it took a slight deflection a few yards out from Sam Walker and wrong footed him. Too little too late and and Chelsea deserved to go through.