Charlton 2-1 Wolves

Charlton confirmed their Championship status for the 2013/14 season thanks to yet another late goal from loanee Jonathan Obika. The man from White Hart Lane’s 90th minute strike was the difference between the two sides in a game of few chances.

With neither side showing any real urgency in the first half, there was little to no action in the first half. Karl Henry came closest for the Wanderers as he crashed a long range volley against the Addicks’ crossbar, whilst a Ricardo Fuller snapshot from the edge of the area tested Doris De Vries at the other end. Addicks fans would’ve been disappointed to see Andy Hughes limp off after only 12 minutes and will hope that that doesn’t mean the end of his involvement at the Valley. His replacement Mark Gower showed some flashes of quality in his longest appearance in an Addicks shirt thus far.

It took until the hour mark for the match to spark into action, after the Addicks were forced into yet another substitution. Captain Jackson also limped off after a late challenge in the Wolves’ penalty area and meant the introduction of Danny Green on the right wing, whilst Bradley Pritchard slotted into the centre of midfield alongside Mark Gower.

It was Green’s mishit corner that sparked the game into life. Taken from the right hand side of the pitch, it caused more havoc that it should have but Dorian Dervite wasn’t complaining as his bundled the ball over the line in front of the Covered End. 1-0 to the Addicks.

It took Wolves only three minutes and three seconds to pull themselves level. A long throw came from the Wanderers’ left wing, the Addicks failed to deal with the flicked on header, as Kevin Doyle guided the ball against the post and into the far corner of the goal. It was as if the Addicks’ opener had sparked the opposition into life and made it 1-1.

The twenty minutes that followed were inevitably nervous, with Wolves almost breaking through the Addicks defence a number of times. Most notably, there was a last minute clearance from Michael Morrison off the toes of Tongo Doumbia and a brave claim of the ball by ‘keeper Ben Hamer at the toes of Stephen Hunt.

With ten minutes of the match remaining, Chris Powell realised the need for a substitution as the game was there to be won with Wolves’ defensive frailties. He had the perfect man for the situation waiting for his chance on the bench. Jonathan Obika was brought on in place in place of Ricardo Fuller and duly took his second chance in two games in front of the Covered End to send the Addicks faithful into raptures. Another three points for the Addicks who, on the balance of play, deserved them after losing their influencial midfield combo to niggly injures.

Ten points clear of the relegation zone with only two games to go is great news for Charlton. The whole club can now enjoy the final two games of the season and look forward to building a further challenge next season.

CM

 

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