Havant & Waterlooville boss Paul Doswell slams stay away Charlton fans after “terrible” FA Cup attendance at The Valley

BY LOUIS MENDEZ

Havant & Waterlooville boss Paul Doswell has slammed Charlton’s “terrible” attendance for the FA Cup 1^st round tie at The Valley.

A crowd of 3,865, including 874 Hawks fans, watched on as the League One Addicks struck four times inside the final 18 minutes to knock out their National League South opponents.

But Doswell, who managed Sutton to their famous cup run that was finally ended by Arsenal in the 5^th round in 2016/17, was hugely let down by the numbers who made their way to SE7 on Saturday afternoon.

“I’ve got to say, really disappointed with the Charlton support here today,” said Doswell.

“We were hoping for 10,000. I don’t know what the crowd was but it didn’t look very many. For Charlton not to turn up and support us as well, it’s not the crowd we were expecting or hoping for. Really disappointed with them. At £10 and £5 you’d have thought they’d have supported their team.

“Clubs like us rely on finances and rely on teams like Charlton putting together a half-decent crowd. I was stunned at the lack of Charlton supporters here today. I thought it was terrible.

“I watched them at Sunderland, against Doncaster, I thought they were excellent against Rotherham. Johnnie Jackson has a brilliant bounce here. That’s why I thought the crowd would be here today, to support him and the team. I think he’s done a fantastic job in the four games he’s had. It wouldn’t surprise me if they make the play-offs. It may feel a long way away but it’s a long season. I think they’ve got enough in that building to have a real go at making the play-offs or being very close anyway.”

The Hawks had looked like they might be able to force the tie into a replay before Charlton’s four-goal haul late on.

Doswell added: “Incredibly proud of the performance. 73 minutes, 0-0 and relatively comfortable and then we lose Sam Magri to a bad injury which is so disappointing. Then we lost our shape for the first goal. First time we’d really allowed a cross into the box. We got punished for that. Very disappointed with the second goal, we felt the guy had had a free shot at goal and missed and then the ref brings it back for a penalty which we didn’t feel was a penalty anyway.

“You can’t have double jeopardy, the fact he’s had a free shot at goal and it’s gone wide – you shouldn’t then bring it back for a penalty. We had a brilliant 73 minutes and then 17 minutes of despair. Did the referee also have to play six minutes of injury time? I thought he was putting the knife in a little bit there. I think it flatters Charlton. They deserve to win but it flatters them.”

PHOTOS: PAUL EDWARDS