In a game all bit ruined by a referee as bad as, if not worse than, any I've seen in this God forsaken division, the Lads succumbed to a physical Charlton side who played to the few strengths they had. Two seconds in, the ref failed to stamp his authority in the game by failing to book Luke's assailant, and Charlton took full advantage of his weakness. We still managed seventeen shots, had 60% of the ball, and we're fouled seventeen times - sorry, had seventeen free kicks. We should have done enough to win, but we didn't.
News was slow to filter through that George Kinnell passed away last Saturday. At least we gave him a win on his last day, in a hard-fought game that his steely defensive determination would have suited. Rest in peace, George.
Hoffmann
Winchester Doyle Flanagan Cirkin
O'Nien Neil Pritchard
McGeady Stewart O'Brien
We kicked off south, away from a large away following, and O9 was immediately clattered in a very obvious attack on his shoulder...two seconds in. For five minutes we were on top and brought a couple of decent saves out of their keeper, then it was all Charlton - even with Dobson and Matthews in their side. Corner followed corner for the visitors, and the Addicks were crashing into us at every opportunity - with the ref allowing some pretty crude stuff to go unpunished. A lengthy delay followed another foul on Stewart, with the culprit, Lavelle eventually going off on 31 minutes, replaced by Pearce. A couple of nice runs, by Neil and Pritchard, without product later, good work by Geads on the right saw him recover the ball and whack in a cross that just evaded everyone. A corner on the left preceded another from the right, and that drew another good save from a back post shot. We had numerous opportunities to cross, but tried to walk it in, resulting in another Charlton break and corner on 42. Yet another late one, this time on Pritchard, at last brought a yellow for Dobson. Four minutes were added, and after a little lull, we put a couple of decent attacks together, with the half ending as our cross from the right was a tad too deep and thus could only be headed harmlessly behind the far post. Overall, we'd allowed the visitors far too much space, consequently conceding far too many corners (six) but had made their keeper the busier of the two. Hoff had taken a couple of crosses but only had to deal with one effort, a near post header, that was on target - the defence had dealt with the rest, either in the air or via blocks. The stats showed that we'd had 61% of the possession, but Charlton had been swift to capitalise on any loose passes to break forward. Thankfully, they'd only managed that single effort on target, their other half dozen flying high and/or wide. Room for improvement. A lot of improvement, starting by getting the ball into the box earlier, either onto Stewart's head or to someone's feet. No changes for the second half, and Charlton were on top again, managing an amazing miss after a cross from our left - but we cleared and won a corner on the same side, which was headed over for another on the right. Unfortunately, when O'9 got there first, his header was tame and the keeper collected, although he nearly dropped it with Stewart hovering to pounce. This was swiftly followed by a free that looped over the bar from O'B's header. Pritchard then crossed low and early from the left, but Cirkin's shot hit the bar, begging the question "how did he get that far up the field that quickly?" A low one from distance by Winch easily saved on 57, following the inevitable urging by the crowd. We were at last piling on the pressure, but when O'B tried to pass to the right he hit row 6 of the east stand instead. Poor effort, Aiden. Following yet another unpunished foul, LJ went ballistic with the fourth official and got told off by Blind Pugh on 63. Two minutes later, their 18, Leko, as tricky as ever, got in a cross from the right, Charlton got the ball in the net - but the linesman had his flag up. The ref ignored him, the linesman lowered his flag, and incredibly the goal stood. On 69, Pritchard and O'Brien made way for Gooch and Dajaku. Six minutes later, after several near things, a low cross was hit goalwards for the most obvious of handballs - which the ref missed, equally obviously. He really was atrocious, abysmal, and appalling....and that's being kind. Dajaku's turn and shot from the right after a quick break was spectacular but inaccurate, so off went Neil and on came Evans with ten to go. I'd have given Luke an early lie down, myself. Eventually the ref published the timewasting with a yellow, but the final ten minutes, plus five added....well, I just stopped counting the reffing errors. He's the sort who, if he ever sends his mam a Christmas card, he'll not put a stamp on it. We lost, we weren't very good, and neither were Charlton, the ref ruined the game.... Man of the Match? To be honest, nobody really stood out today, but I'll give it to Winchester. At least he kept going.
