Charlton Athletic 3 v Bristol Rovers 2

Johnnie Jackson's first game as caretaker manager was never going to be revolutionary. He has been Bowyer's Number 2 throughout, so would have been in tune with his thinking. Bowyer, too, had tried just about everything he could in terms of team selection, so whatever Jackson did, Bowyer would have been there.

However, we did see a change. Ironically, the first-half opened as have so many of our home games this season, with us conceding two disastrous goals. Maatsen stepped in clumsily on one of theirs inside the box as he had a second bite of the cherry and the ref had a simple job to award the penalty. Luke Leahy slid the ball to the other side of Amos and we were staring once more at that horrible stat of not having won a game in which we had conceded the first goal since beating Sunderland in the Play-Off final.

After half-an-hour Bristol Rovers scored again. A bizarre goal from Ed Upson which was a hopeful punt at goal from 30 yards. The shot was hard and straight at the centre of the goal. Amos was there on his line and at first glance your eyes told you it must have been a deflection, because Amos appeared wrong-footed and then fell in a heap as the ball passed him by two feet. The replay showed no deflection and it was simply a goal-keeping howler. Two-nil down and Rovers might easily have had another as they created a number of really decent chances. It wasn't looking good but Famewo and Pearce were holding the centre-ground and we were running at them when not defending.

For our part, we had been trying to get forward and Jackson's midfield selection of four ball-players, in Forster-Caskey, Shinnie, Millar and Morgan meant that we had more attacking impetus and it was clear that we were doing a lot of pressing when out of possession. Stockley and Washington were harrying the Rovers backline and the midfield was further up the pitch than when Watson or Pratley are playing. 

A minute after Upson's goal, Andrew Shinnie pulled one back. After a bit of pressure around the visitor's box, Shinnie turned a defender and hit a cross-shot that dipped in at the far post. It was a classy goal and fuelled some belief. Nine minutes later and with Charlton pressing again, Jayden Stockley fell to the pitch outside the box and drew a foul. Forster-Caskey stepped up and put the ball over the wall and inside May's left-hand post for the equaliser. 

After the break we saw far less of Bristol Rovers in our half and as the game wore on they tired visibly. We were enjoying possession and getting forward but could we get that third goal? Jaiyesimi was on for Millar and Aneke replaced Stockley as Jackson sought to maintain the pressure. With six minutes of normal time left Aneke and Washington found themselves chasing the same ball into the box and it fell to Washington who had to stretch to get a touch before the advancing May. He beat May but his poke was wild and it looked like it would roll wide. For once Lucky Luck smiled on us with the woodwork and the post presented the ball back to the staggering Washington who tucked it in. 

We mangled to play out five minutes of added time and hand Johnnie Jackson a well deserved victory. He was obviously delighted at the final whistle but made it clear in his post-match comments that he had taken it upon himself to take control for the match before he had spoken with Thomas Sandgaard. It sounded like Sandgaard was grateful as much as anything, so you are left with a firm feeling that he has someone else in mind for the job. 

Whatever happens, it was a sweet moment for Jackson. The players clearly raised their game for Skip and put in a winning performance at home which was very welcome. Jackson will, at least, have given Sandgaard something to think about and a back-pocket option.