Charlton Athletic 4 v Rochdale 4

Never has a point at home to Rochdale been better received. A quite astonishing match at The Valley this evening which managed not only to encapsulate what's been going wrong for Lee Bowyer and the Addicks these last couple of months but also showed, very clearly to my mind, the way out of our current difficulties.

Lee Bowyer looked determine to stare the Angry Brigade down again at the start of the match when he went for a three-at-the-back formation which meant Paul Smyth operating as a right wing-back. His continued experimentation with playing players out-of-position, backfired very quickly. Having fallen behind easily to an all-the-time-in-the-world strike from 20 yards which flew in off a post, Smyth was ruthlessly exposed on the right by 17 year old Baah who skated passed him and smashed a second into the roof of Amos' net. Chuks Anneke gave us a little hope with a determined charge and finish before Smyth was left in thin air again by Baah as Rochdale hit three. It forced a defensive switch which at least meant Bowyer acknowledged his mistake.

Forster-Caskey managed to close the gap with a shot that deflected off a Rochdale head and beyond Bazuno's dive. As if we hadn't suffered enough though, Humphrys stepped up to hammer a free-kick through the Charlton wall and beyond Amos to put Dale 4-2 up at the break and they looked unassailable.

As has become necessary in recent weeks, Bowyer had little option but to pull two players at half-time. He manage to get that right as Smyth was clearly punished and Bowyer finally lost patience with Gilbey. He's a senior pro and he was very fortunate not to be taken off against Accrington Stanley after hiding during the first-half of that game but justice was done tonight and I don't want to see him start a game again until he proves worthy as a substitute. 

The hoped-for fight-back arrived on 65 minutes when Chuks Anneke applied the finish to a fast moving breakout and cross from the right which he met powerfully in the centre. Three minutes later and Ronnie Schwartz  scored a goal that settled the debate about his quality. He rounded off a good move with a superbly struck goal that he lodged in the top corner. With 22 minutes still to go, it looked like a redemption showing and Anneke was denied what would have been a brilliant fifth before the end by a fine diving save from Bazuno. 

With two minutes left of normal time, Trevor Kettle once again pissed on our chips by somehow yellow carding Jason Pearce after he went for a ball with Bazuno. Bazuno made a meal of it and Kettle was quick to flash the second yellow followed by a red. After that we brought Matthews on and settled for the draw.

Lee Bowyer's post match commentary will be interesting but I think the come-back will enable him to moderate his language and talk this one through. For me though, the game should prove to be pivotal in terms of spelling out, once-and-for-all, that he needs to play players in their best positions and that attack is the best form of defence. Ronnie Schwartz may be short of match fitness but showed his class tonight and he looks like he could be what Chuks Anneke has been crying out for. Hopefully that means we have seen the last of Omar Bogle who needs to move on and find a level of football that suits him.