Swindon 2 v Charlton Athletic 1

Two thousand over-excited Charlton fans made their way over to Wiltshire yesterday for the first leg of our play-off encounter with Swindon Town. Some were in fancy dress and others let too much alcohol ruin their day by getting themselves arrested inside the ground before kick-off for brawling with other Charlton fans over queue jumping for a burger. This after the same cretins reacted to me pulling them up for the same offence as we queued to get in. Silly boys.


It was a shame then that the match itself didn't live up the hype. Charlton were flat for long periods and once again lacked the penetration up front that could yet define our season. In a disappointing first -half, we were fortunate to get in on level terms after Darren Randolph twice denied Charlie Austin. We had defended reasonably well so there was no cause for immediate concern although we failed to create a single chance.


The match opened up in the second period and Charlton should have struck first blood when Nicky Bailey curled a shot onto the inside of the post but it bounced clear. Swindon finally sensed the danger and all of a sudden they seized the initiative. Alan Sheehan broke down the Charlton right and his pin-point delivery picked out Charlie Austin at the back post who only had to jump to beat Borrowdale and send a header back across goal and inside Randolph's despairing dive. The noise inside the County Ground went up a notch as Town fans sensed the breakthrough. Inside ten minutes they had a two goal lead. Following a spell of Charlton pressure, they broke swiftly and Austin and Ward combined to fire a cross-shot inside the post. All of a sudden the tie looked in danger of ending prematurely but we reacted brilliantly and Deon Burton got on the end of a long punt from Randolph to nod the ball over the advancing Swindon keeper and into the goal behind which the Addick faithful were assembled.


The goal was a bit of a body blow to the Robins and for fifteen minutes we had the incentive but couldn't get the equaliser. Burton came closest with a back-post lunge at a driven cross but he couldn't make contact. Swindon finished very strongly and might just rue their missed opportunities to restore their two-goal advantage. Vincent Pericard hit the post at the death and we were all relieved to hear the final whistle.


On reflection, we would probably have taken a one-goal deficit into the home leg but we will need to take our chances on Monday if we are to win by two goals, something we have struggled to do for most of the season. We will need to watch Charlie Austin very closely, especially in the air, and need to play the game in their half. Having said that, a performance on a par with the last two home matches against Norwich and Leeds should be enough to see us sneak it.


Attention turns to the Huddersfield v Millwall match and it promises to be fascinating encounter. Huddersfield won the similar league fixture 1-0 a few weeks ago and will be hoping to go one better today. Much will depend on how Kenny Jackett sets Millwall up today but you have to think he will go conservatively with the Tuesday return in mind. The game kicks-off at 12.15 on police insistence following trouble at the league clash when Millwall fans' coaches had their windows broken.