Nathan Jones: Full-Time scenes at Orient were emotional after fan abuse during Charlton comeback
Charlton boss Nathan Jones commended the togetherness of his players and supporters after a hugely significant turnaround win at play-off rivals Leyton Orient.
The Addicks scored twice in added-time to secure a remarkable victory at Brisbane Road and climb into the top six at the expense of the O’s.
Jordan Brown’s stunning, long-range volley edged the home side ahead shortly after the interval.
But two added-time headers from corners, scored by Macaulay Gillesphey and Kayne Ramsay, netted a vital three points for the South Londoners.
Jones, who said he was on the receiving end of some foul-mouthed abuse from Orient fans throughout the game, was asked about the scenes of celebration on the final whistle that saw his squad and bench spill across to the jubilant travelling support.
Jones said: “There’s an outpouring of emotion at the end. I’ve got abused constantly by the Orient fans here, some of the names I was getting called. That’s why the emotion came out for me.
“As managers, you have to put up with that. If I turn around and mention one of those names to a fan, then I’m probably 10 games banned. But I have to put up with it because that’s society at the minute.
“So, that was the emotion. That wasn’t me celebrating gratuitously in any way. That was the emotion.
“I had to put up with 90 minutes of getting called some horrific names. So then when you get the win, that comes back and then that’s the emotion. And that’s why we do the job.
“[The celebrations showed] a football club that’s returning to somewhere near the resemblance of what it used to be. And we want to bring all of that together. These are the moments that you can really galvanise that, really put the glue into all that work when there’s moments like that to celebrate.
“And it showed that the team, the squad, the whole football club is together. You have to enjoy these moments because this is a big win. These are a good side.
“[Orient] are there and thereabout. So, to beat one of your rivals away from home in the manner that we did, sometimes emotion takes over. And if I offended anyone by that, I apologise. But no, look, everything was meant in good faith.
“What I really liked about us was the mentality, that we kept going, we kept going, we kept believing we could get a result. And even after we scored, we didn’t then go, right, we’re happy with the point away from home. We went, ran, got the ball, came back, put it on the centre circle and said, right, we want to go again.
“That mentality saw us through in the end. I’m really pleased because this is a big win. However you win today, it’s a big win.
“The performance levels were there today as well. These are the good side. You know, when you turn the ball over, these are at you, with pace, with tempo. We were excellent.
“We started both halves poorly and that’s what put us behind. It took a wonderful strike to beat us. But after that we were well worth the win.
“The amount of chances we’ve had, the keepers had man of the match. We’ve missed chances, we’ve had situations, we haven’t quite taken advantage of all those. And then it takes 90 odd minutes to win a game and that’s what it is.”
PHOTOS: KYLE ANDREWS