EFL League One
At the Valley, Floyd Road
Charlton Athletic (0) 1
Corey Blackett-Taylor 62
Derby County (0) 0
Attendance: 17,046 (inc. 3,072 away fans)
Charlton Athletic:
Wollacott, Sessegnon (Lavelle 90’), O’Connell, Stockley (Clayden 90’), Morgan, McGrandles (Dobson 31’), Kirk (Jaitseimi 80’), Fraser (Payne 80’), Blackett-Taylor (Leaburn 80’), Inniss, Clare.
Unused sub - MacGillivray.
Derby County:
Wildsmith, Hourihane, Cashin, Barkhuizen (Dobbin 70’), Bird, Collins, Mendez-Laing, Smith (Sibley 55’), Roberts (Forsyth 84’), Davies (C), Knight.
Unused subs - Loach, Thompson, Stearman, Oduroh.
Derby County were last ensconced in the third-tier of English football (for two seasons) thirty-six years ago, before winning promotion back to Division Two, along with Reading and Plymouth Argyle at the end of the 1985-86 campaign.
That same year, Charlton Athletic were also promoted... from Division Two to the top flight (which was still called Division One back then), with Norwich City and Wimbledon.
All of which goes makes this humble scribe feel very old indeed.
From the outset, Charlton had stalled in the starting blocks and, to all intents and purposes, it appeared that they were destined to be overwhelmed on home turf, as Derby pinned them back in their own half for the majority of the opening forty-five minutes, using the unrelenting pressure and intensity of a sustained Ram-raid to pummel the out off sorts and off the pace Addicks.
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But cometh the hour, cometh the man, namely one Joe Wollacott. Sometime heroes don't wear capes, this afternoon's (super)man of the match (an honour that I'd bestowed upon him after just twenty minutes) was actually decked out in a rather fetching pale yellow ensemble with a black number 1 in the middle of his back.
James Collins was thwarted first, when the hosts keeper sprung into action and comfortably fielded what looked to be a nailed on scoring chance, while Nathaniel Mendez-Laing was shut out twice, with one outstanding save in particular denying the Rams number 11 after his shot had taken a wicked deflection.
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Never mind Gordon Banks v Pele (Mexico 1970), this was one you could recount to your grandchildren and generations to come, when they ask if you were there when the wrong-footed Addicks goalie recovered to keep Derby County at bay in the south London heat in 2022.
Collins was eventually beaten in the forty-fifth minute, but Collins had put so much purchase behind his shot to ensure that it was beyond the reach of Wollacott, that it crashed back off of the right hand upright. Meaning the two sides went into the interval goalless and Ben Garner could kick a few backsides and re-focus his side for a second half that couldn't be allowed to continue in the same vein as the first.
Charlton built on the foundations that Wollacott had steadfastly built for them, just after the hour mark, when Charlie Kirk slipped the ball to Albie Morgan through the right channel whose goal bound drive was parried away by Joe Wildsmith, straight into the path of Corey Blackett-Taylor who tucked his generously provided gift of a chance away with aplomb. While the Charlton media team provided an update containing an unfortunate spelling mistake to the watching Twitterverse.
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| Whoops! Or should I say whoopsie!? |
Morgan almost doubled the lead when his long-range shot was tipped around the post by Wildsmith, as Charlton saw out the game with a confident stride in their step.
A few minutes after the final whistle I overheard a rather bemused looking Derby fan, say to to his friends: "How the ****ing hell didn't we have that one sewn up by half-time!?"
The answer to that conundrum is that when Ben Garner moved across from Swindon Town to the Valley, he took the Robins Ghanaian international goalkeeper with him. On today's showing, what a shrewd but of business that one was.
FT: Charlton Athletic 1 v Derby County 0
