Stockport County 1 v Charlton Athletic 2

Charlton ground out their fifth away win of the season at Stockport this afternoon, but once again didn't have things all their own way. The three points gained moves us to within two points of Leeds and six clear of third-placed Norwich after they both only managed draws at Brentford and Yeovil respectively.

The side was as expected with Omozusi back in for the injured Richardson at right-back and Basey continuing at left-back whilst Youga gets fit enough to return. Our four man midfield of Wagstaff, Semedo, Bailey and Sam were supporting Burton and Mooney as Charlton made a positive start on the sanded Edgeley Road pitch. I was following the game on CAFC TV/Radio and had to switch to the Stockport commentary to escape the drone of that woman who somehow fails to realise that listeners can't actually see what's going on and need it to be explained.

David Mooney had an early effort and was to see plenty of the ball during the game as well as missing a couple of glorious opportunities. But first, Sam Sodje opened the scoring after 13 minutes when he stooped to head home from a Grant Basey corner. That settled the nerves but Stockport had plenty of possession and were to hit the bar before the break. Semedo had to make a last-ditch tackle to prevent Nicholas Bignall from scoring whilst Deon Burton put a diving header wide with the target at his mercy. Just before half-time Mooney got away with an off-side break but couldn't beat Fon Williams from close in and he followed that by lobbing Fon Williams only to see a covering defender clear in front of goal.

After the break Stockport upped the ante and we came under a lot more pressure conceding a number of corners but held firm and Mooney forced another save from Fon Williams at the other end. On 66 minutes Burton was taken off as Akpo Sodje came on to bolster the front-line. Within a couple of minutes Mooney got another shooting opportunity and this time Fon Williams got a foot to the shot. The deflection dropped for Wagstaff in front of goal but he blazed over.

Stockport came straight back down to our end and Grant Basey made a great sliding tackle to deny Pilkington. The game was described on Five Live as a "cracking end-to-end game" at this point and it was clear we needed a second goal. It came minutes later when Scott Wagstaff finished off a good move by firing past Fon Williams. I can't tell you much more than this because the commentary had switched from a Stockport attack within seconds and the goal was just announced in a monotone voice by the home commentator as "and Wagstaff has scored!"

That was pretty much it although Stockport managed a late consolation as a cross-cum-shot hit the woodwork and bounced down off Elliot over the line. There was time for a melee that saw Baker shown a red before the final whistle blew.

Elsewhere, Millwall recovered from one-down at home to see off Walsall and Huddersfield did the same to beat Gillingham but the points dropped by Leeds and Norwich make all the difference at the top. Perhaps we will soon be concentrating on Leeds' results instead of Norwich's? Millwall won't be easy next week but Leeds entertain Southampton (who won 3-0 again) and Norwich face the fiesty Huddersfield. Results today mean we are near certainties to reach the half-way point in an automatic place and with a run of very winnable games after Millwall and Swindon at the Valley, there is every chance we could take top spot and throw down the gauntlet.

The Soothsayers will tell you that we haven't been playing particularly well in winning the last three and could arguably have lost any of them, so a defeat is probably on the cards at some point soon. However, we are just as likely to put in a performance like we did against MK Dons at the Valley and blow someone away. It's certainly easier to play relaxed football when you have a six point cushion.