I questioned Rochdale's belief going into today's match and, on reflection, they looked well short. You would have been hard pressed to believe you were watching play-off pretenders today as Rochdale looked grateful just to be on the same pitch as us and, apart from a 15 minute second-half spell, they looked content to accept an away defeat.
A reshuffled Charlton side saw Parrett paired with Stewart in the centre with Racon on the left and Eccleston on the right. Wright-Phillips and Benson lead the charge. At the back it was the same as Bristol Rovers with Francis, Fortune, Doherty and Bessone protecting Sullivan in goal. At this point I need to confess to being surprised at how much smaller Sullivan looked than the first time I saw him play. He was positively in the mould of Little Ross, even though he had another decent game and made a superb save which Dale scored from on the rebound.
As so often this season at home, the first half wasn't much to shout about and we only had a couple of efforts from Racon and Eccleston to talk about before Thierry Racon latched onto a lay-off from Wright-Phillips to fire home passed a helpless Fon-Williams.
After the break Rochdale started quickly and for once committed men to attack and after that stop from Sullivan, Holness powered home a close range header between several red shirts on the line. Just before we finished muttering "here we go again," Dean Parrett got on the end of a retaliatory Charlton move to sweep home from 15 yards and restore the lead. From then on, it was really only a matter of whether or not we could extend our lead and that's just what we did through an excellent right wing cross from Paul Benson which Nathan Eccleston got on the end of to head beyond Fon-Williams. Rochdale were on the rough end of a number of refereeing decisions this afternoon but they certainly didn't deserve anything from the game.
I thought Chris Powell got the substitutions just about right for once. Solly came on for Benson after 79 minutes which enabled Eccleston to move upfront. Nouble got on for Bessone after that as Solly went to left back and Powell used the game to blood young Calum Harriott who gave an admirable impression of Kyel Reid in terms of stature and pace on the left wing.
Other than that, I got up to the White Swan pre-match and can report that it looks a major improvement if a little short of "Chelsea" expectations. The re-decoration has been total and there is a good quality dark wood flooring throughout. The toilets have been revamped as well as the garden and there are a couple of large flat-screen TV's. The beer was good and the staff looked promising although it wasn't at all busy. I will give it another go soon.
A reshuffled Charlton side saw Parrett paired with Stewart in the centre with Racon on the left and Eccleston on the right. Wright-Phillips and Benson lead the charge. At the back it was the same as Bristol Rovers with Francis, Fortune, Doherty and Bessone protecting Sullivan in goal. At this point I need to confess to being surprised at how much smaller Sullivan looked than the first time I saw him play. He was positively in the mould of Little Ross, even though he had another decent game and made a superb save which Dale scored from on the rebound.
As so often this season at home, the first half wasn't much to shout about and we only had a couple of efforts from Racon and Eccleston to talk about before Thierry Racon latched onto a lay-off from Wright-Phillips to fire home passed a helpless Fon-Williams.
After the break Rochdale started quickly and for once committed men to attack and after that stop from Sullivan, Holness powered home a close range header between several red shirts on the line. Just before we finished muttering "here we go again," Dean Parrett got on the end of a retaliatory Charlton move to sweep home from 15 yards and restore the lead. From then on, it was really only a matter of whether or not we could extend our lead and that's just what we did through an excellent right wing cross from Paul Benson which Nathan Eccleston got on the end of to head beyond Fon-Williams. Rochdale were on the rough end of a number of refereeing decisions this afternoon but they certainly didn't deserve anything from the game.
I thought Chris Powell got the substitutions just about right for once. Solly came on for Benson after 79 minutes which enabled Eccleston to move upfront. Nouble got on for Bessone after that as Solly went to left back and Powell used the game to blood young Calum Harriott who gave an admirable impression of Kyel Reid in terms of stature and pace on the left wing.
Other than that, I got up to the White Swan pre-match and can report that it looks a major improvement if a little short of "Chelsea" expectations. The re-decoration has been total and there is a good quality dark wood flooring throughout. The toilets have been revamped as well as the garden and there are a couple of large flat-screen TV's. The beer was good and the staff looked promising although it wasn't at all busy. I will give it another go soon.
Unfortunately two of today's goalscorers won't be here next season and in all probability (and regrettably) the other one won't.
ReplyDeleteA lot of negativity around the place today despite a nice win. Am I being plain silly to note that it is now 4 pretty decent performances on the trot with better football and a lot more passion. Oh and a decent boozer too.
ReplyDeleteCA...there's nothing plain or silly about some positivity.
ReplyDelete