Saturday 26 August 2017

To the Londoners 2-0

That was the chant of the 520 Addickted at the New York stadium after the Addicks secured a convincing win over Rotherham United. Patrick Bauer scored from a header in the first half and Josh Magennis scored in the same way in the second.

Rotherham missed some good chances in the first half and Ben Amos made some great saves in the second to preserve the clean sheet.

Charlton are now fourth in the table, three points behind leaders Peterborough United. Crystal Palace were booed off at Sainsbury's after losing 0-2 at home to Swansea City.

Charlton started as if they meant business. Fosu won an early free kick in a dangerous position. The free kick from Forster-Caskey on three minutes went off the wall and over for a corner. The corner went out of play from a Bauer header. On four minutes there was good play between Clarke and Holmes, but the latter shot at O'Donnell in the Rotherham goal.

On eight minutes Kashi lost possession in midfield (a rare event) and Proctor fluffed the chance from eight yards. Moore got a shot away on 12 minutes but Amos was able to deal with it.

Charlton went ahead on 15 minutes after Bauer headed the ball into the net from a Forster-Caskey corner. The Addickted chanted, 'We've got a big friendly German.'

A Clarke effort on 27 minutes was disallowed for offside. Magennis was booked on 29 minutes for a late challenge on Williams. On 31 minutes Charlton product Ajayi put a free header wide.

On 33 minutes Amos did well to get his hand on a Moore cross. DaSilva then broke away down the left. Mattock was booked for taking out Fosu. At the end of normal time the keeper made a superb save, tipping a Holmes corner round the post.

HT: Millers 0, Addicks 1

The opening period of the second half was end to end but with no real chances for either side. Following an unproductive corner on 55 minutes, Charlton won a corner on 58 minutes after a Clarke shot was deflected. From the corner Holmes put in a great ball along the six yard box, but there was no one there to connect.

On 61 minutes Moore shot instead of squaring the ball for the unmarked Proctor, squandering another chance. Magennis signalled his threat with a shot from 35 yards that was just wide: what a goal that would have been. Clarke had another effort which went in the net chalked off as offside. On 66 minutes Magennis took advantage of a Holmes cross to put a header in at the back post.

Proctor had to be stretchered off on 70 minutes. Amos dealt with a corner well and then saved from Ajayi. Kashi showed his dedication to the cause when he headed out from the under the crossbar and was then down for a short time. Holmes got a yellow card for dissent. A great claim was made by Amos. On 86 minutes Charlton made a tactical double substitution with Fosu and Clarke going off and Novak and Ahearne-Grant coming on. From a Forster-Caskey corner, Magennis put the ball over the bar. Ricky Holmes was substituted on 89 minutes by Konsa.

The nine minutes added on were not that eventful, but Vaulks got a yellow card for a foul on Forster-Caskey and Amos had to save from a corner.

One fan tweeted that there will be three South London teams in the Championship next season after Millwall's convincing win over Norwich City. The team did look strong going forward. However, as Alan Curbishley used to say, 'It's a long old season.' It's a bit premature to say we don't need another striker.

But it was certainly a great day out for birthday boy Louis Mendez. As he tweeted at half time, 'A proper game this, a real test for Charlton. And they passed it.

The man himself gives his report here: Excellent Addicks

The Football League Paper has named Ricky Holmes as star man with a score of 8. All other Charlton players (with the exception of Kashi, 6) get a 7 which shows what an all round team effort it was.

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