The lowdown on Exeter City 1 Charlton Athletic 0 – Addicks edged out at St James Park as concern grows over lack of wins
Charlton have now won just two of their last 11 League One games after they were beaten by Exeter City in Devon.
Here is the lowdown on the match.
THE LINE-UPS
Exeter City: Whitworth, McMillan, Purrington, Crama, Sweeney, Woods, Francis (Fitzwater 84), Aitchison (Mitchell 73), Niskanen, Alli (Bird 73), Magennis (Doyle 89). Subs not used: MacDonald, Watts, Cox.
Charlton Athletic: Maynard-Brewer, Gillesphey, A Mitchell, Edwards, Z Mitchell, Coventry (Berry 74), Docherty, Taylor (Small 67), A Campbell (Ahadme 67), Leaburn, Godden. Subs not used: Reid, Edmonds-Green, Edun, Hylton, Dixon.
SNAPSHOT OF THE GAME
Tristan Crama’s header on the hour-mark settled the contest. That came from the Grecians’ 13th corner of the game. They unleashed an arsenal of set-pieces in the first-half that Charlton dealt with, but the Addicks resistance was finally punctured. The South Londoners carved chances for Matty Godden or Alex Mitchell to rescue a point in the closing stages but it wasn’t to be.
TACTICAL APPROACH
Ashley Maynard-Brewer started in goal in place of the injured Will Mannion with Nathan Jones switching Luke Berry for captain Greg Docherty in the midfield. Other than an early header from Godden, it was the Grecians who hit their stride in the first-period. Gary Caldwell’s men forced corner after corner – albeit with Charlton defending them time after time.
It seemed the visitors were finally taking control of the contest with a bright start after the interval, but this is when City pounced. Jones responded by introducing Gassan Ahadme and Thierry Small from the bench, with Berry joining the action soon after. It took the Addicks a while to get back into their flow but despite fashioning two gilt-edged opportunities late on, they were unable to level proceedings.
STAR MAN
Alex Mitchell. Won plenty of headers as Charlton survived the first-half set-piece onslaught.
BEST MOMENT
Terry Taylor’s pinpoint cross for Matty Godden’s headed chance early on – Palace loanee Joe Whitworth forced into a decent stop.
MOAN OF THE MATCH
Charlton’s seasons have effectively over by Christmas too often recently. We’re not there just yet but continue along this path of results and it’ll be another year in this dog of a division.
A TALKING POINT DOWN THE PUB
There’s been too many times over the past few weeks – well, the whole season really – where Charlton haven’t been able to exert an element of control over games for long periods. Today was a case in point. They had a great spell at the start of the second-half and pushed for a leveller late on. But they were under so much pressure in the first-half in terms of territory that they had to defend for their lives.
They did do that well in the first-period. City’s 11 first-half corners didn’t really lead to a proper chance as the Addicks cleared their lines impressively. But being unable to take full control of games for larger spells means the games are often on a knife edge – leading to plenty of draws and then narrow defeats like today.
The Addicks are desperately short of wins and can’t just rely on hoping the balance in a tight affair falls their way. Jones wants a team that are relentless and horrible to play against. But too often this season, it hasn’t been the case.
WHAT THE BOSS HAD TO SAY
“We were nowhere near first-half. We allowed Exeter to do certain things. It wasn’t, without being disrespectful, because they were great. We kept giving the ball away constantly. Kept slicing clearances, making bad decisions. That allowed them to get a head of steam up and have, not chances, but set-plays. We couldn’t build any momentum that we wanted to do.
Second-half we were much better. Came out the much better side. They scored from a set-play ironically. We defended so many in the first-half and couldn’t defend one in the second.”
PHOTOS: KYLE ANDREWS