Charlton Athletic enter League One play-off places with a swagger after performing demolition job on Plymouth
BY RICHARD CAWLEY
There are good nights as a football fan. And then there are really good nights. Tuesday was definitely in the latter category.
Not only did we see the avarice of the European Super League crumble just days after it’s launch, but Charlton also did a demolition job on Plymouth Argyle.
It wasn’t so long ago that at least some Addicks supporters were writing off any idea of their club reaching the League One play-offs.
Not now. Not after the Pilgrims were pumped 6-0 at Home Park. Not after defeats for Portsmouth and Oxford United paved the way for Nigel Adkins’ side to extend their unbeaten run to 10 matches and swagger into the play-off zone.
And now, unlike a few weeks ago, it is the South Londoners who have fixtures in hand on the teams below them.
It’s not being arrogant or cocky to say that Charlton are nearly there in terms of nailing down a top-six finish. It’s a fact.
As the season has gone into the business end, they have delivered. Twenty-two points from the last 10 matches is automatic promotion form, just too late for them to catch Hull City or Peterborough United.
But momentum and confidence are two things that any side wants. Charlton have absolutely got them both.
“We sent a statement out,” was the post-match verdict of Alex Gilbey, one of six different goalscorers in Devon. “After tonight I think Peterborough are not going to want to be playing us.”
The statement, in print at least, could give the impression of cockiness. But the former Milton Keynes midfielder, along with left-back Ben Purrington one of the big beneficiaries of the managerial change in SE7, did not deliver it in that manner. Instead he only exuded belief.
And confidence has got to be coursing through this Charlton squad after their biggest away win since April 2013, 6-0 at Barnsley in the Championship. Coincidentally the goals were also shared around that afternoon too, including a certain Johnnie Jackson.
The biggest headache for Adkins could be selecting his starting line-up for Peterborough because the players he deployed in midweek were excellent both on the ball and with their workrate and pressing off it. You’d imagine that there will need to be an element of rotation to make sure intensity levels do not drop off.
Conor Washington, Ian Maatsen and Ryan Inniss are all set to be back available and will surely be part of the matchday 19. What a lovely dilemma to have. All of a sudden there are an abundance of options.
Charlton’s hammering of Plymouth does need to be put into a little context. Only Swindon (79) have conceded more goals than Argyle. Peterborough, by contrast, have the fifth best defensive record.
And Ben Amos – in top form – was there when his team-mates needed him. It was not all one-way traffic.
His influence was summed up by a quick release to Liam Millar after making a save right at the start of the second half.
It allowed the Liverpool loanee to surge forward and his cross clipped off both Danny Mayor and Kelland Watts to make it 3-0.
That effectively extinguished any hopes the hosts had of making a comeback. Plymouth could not handle Jayden Stockley or subdue the threat from the wings of Millar or Diallang Jaiyesimi.
Millar had looked low on confidence in some recent outings but was simply unplayable.
Michael Cooper could only beat out his full-blooded drive in the 26th minute, Jake Forster-Caskey reacting to head in the loose ball despite Watts’ attempt to covertly handle on the goal-line. If he had been successful then the card issued by referee Sam Purkiss would have been red instead of yellow.
A diving Stockley just missed connecting with Purrington’s cross but made no mistake to convert Adam Matthews near-post delivery from the other wing just before the half-time whistle.
Watts capped off a forgettable evening with an own goal before Gilbey struck. Stockley turned provider and the Charlton number 11, afforded space and time in the penalty area, carressed a curler into the bottom right corner.
Millar’s efforts also merited inclusion on the scoresheet and Plymouth’s lack of spatial awareness in their own box was again punished as he rammed in first time with Stockley dummying Jaiyesimi’s low ball from the right.
Adkins made numerous changes in the final 24 minutes but there was no real respite for Plymouth as they continued to be harried and hussled.
And that is especially the case when Chuks Aneke is entered into the fray. When he threaded past Cooper in the 89th minute it was his ninth goal as a substitute, equalling the club record set by Kim Grant. And you would have put your money on him finishing another in the first minute of additional time, but he uncharacteristically pinged his effort past the right upright.
Charlton had to settle for six but still a huge boost to their goal difference, which could still come into play if things end up tight.
STAR MAN
Jayden Stockley. Plenty of contenders but the on-loan Preston striker worked tirelessly alongside knitting together so much of Charlton’s attacking play.
BEST MOMENT
Liam Millar’s goal. A cute stepover by Stockley and the Canadian international emphatically finished.