EFL League 1
at Oakwell
Barnsley (1) 3
Josh Benson 10, James Norwood 54, Devante Cole 76
Charlton Athletic (0) 1
Jack Payne 85
Attendance: 10,234 (inc. 588 away fans)
Barnsley
Walton, Williams, Cundy (McCarthy, 66), Andersen (C), Edwards, Cadden (Larkeche, 66), Benson, Kane, Thomas (Martin, 86), Norwood (Phillips, 59), Cole.
Unused subs - Searle, Hondermarck, Tedić.
Charlton Athletic:
MacGillivray, Dobson (McGrandles, 72), Lavelle, O’Connell, Stockley (C), Morgan, Rak-Sakyi (Payne, 72), Egbo (Sessegnon, 72), Fraser (Leaburn, 59), Blackett-Taylor (Kirk, 59), Clare.
Unused subs - Harness, Inniss.
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| Charlton players searching high and low for their scoring touch |
My expectations for this afternoon's game as an entertaining spectacle weren't massively high in the first place, if truth be told.
But my pre-match prediction of 'a scrappy draw between two bang average football teams' proved to be a touch too much on the hopeful side.
Football can surprise you at times, by throwing up the most intriguing of games amidst the unlikeliest of circumstances. But today it completely shocked me and almost stunned me into a catatonic state of stupor, as the worst opening forty-five minutes (plus additional stoppage time, just to rub it in) I can recall seeing in a long time, began to unfold.
Even the opening goal, a 'worldly' of a strike from thirty-five yards out ten minutes into the game, only offered a temporary respite from the tedium. Josh Benson's thumping shot into the top corner of the net, might well be a goal of the season contender, but while not wanting to diminish the quality of his finish in any way, shape or form, it needs to be said that there were no other options open to Benson, or team-mates making decent runs in behind the static Charlton defence for him to pick out, so he didn't really have any choice apart from belting it and hoping for the best. It worked, so fair play to him, he made good of a bad situation and took the opportunity well. And nobody could begrudge him his moment of glory.
The post-match stats show that Ben Garner's Addicks had 60% of the possession and twelve efforts on goal. But what that doesn't tell you is for the most part they were moving the ball widthways across the pitch and that eleven of those dozen chances were off-target, several of them by quite some way. Winning the battle for midfield is all well and good if you're doing the business at either end of the pitch as well... and Charlton weren't.
In fact, their poor finishing in front of Jack Walton's goal transcended the adjective of profligate and ventured more into a quagmire of ineptitude that would be more accurately described as slapstick.
And though there wasn't very much anybody could've done to prevent Benson's opening salvo, the visitors defending for Barnsley's second and third goals was lamentable too.
Although credit where it is due... right on the stroke of half-time Eoghan O’Connell did well when he headed Nicky Cadden's corner kick away from beneath the crossbar.
Both of Barnsley's second-half strikes were scored from close range... and though some were quick to point the finger of blame at the Charlton keeper, Craig MacGillivray, surely he shouldn't have been expected to play against the Tykes single-handedly, while his defence went AWOL and just left him to get on with it.
Devante Cole, who had hitherto looked large and busy, but particularly cumbersome, was involved both times as the home side built up an unassailable lead.
In the first instance, he broke free at pace and knocked the ball sideways to James Norwood, who cleverly diverted it into the back of the net with his heel, from the right hand side of the six-yard box in the fifty-fourth minute. And in the second, he stabbed the ball into a virtually unguarded net, after Jordan Williams had sneaked past the Charlton defence on the right hand side of the area to pick up a through ball, which he squared across the face of the goal, while MacGillivray had no choice but to move to his left to block Williams' potential strike, sans any help from his absent backline once again.
Two of Charlton's second half substitutes played a big part in their (barely any sort of) consolation goal, with just five minutes remaining, when Charlie Kirk (who'd look willing and able since his introduction from the bench around the hour mark, heralding a switch in formation for the Addicks from and approximation of 4-3-3, to a good old fashioned 4-4-2) hit a searching cross beyond the back post from out on the left flank, that Jayden Stockley fed into the mix off of his chest, into the path of Jack Payne, who smashed the ball past Watson, to register his first ever goal for the club.
Alas, a lot of Charlton fans were already on the march towards the railway station by that time and would've missed Payne's strike.
In between Barnsley's second and third (soft) goals, O’Connell’s had narrowly headed the ball wide from substitute Payne's corner kick, as another chance went begging.
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| The olde world West Stand at Oakwell |
I have no wish to be disparaging about Michael Duff's Barnsley team, they comfortably won this game fairly and squarely, against an out of sorts and completely misfiring visiting team (I'm being excessively polite to Charlton at this juncture BTW).
But, on today's showing, the Tykes are a very mediocre side, not that they needed to be anything special to see off such a poor Addicks team... and I was amazed to discover, upon checking how today's result had effected positions the League 1 table, that they're actually in fifth place, just three points behind Sheffield Wednesday (who they beat 2-0 at Oakwell earlier this month).
Back at the train station an eternal optimist of my acquaintance, pointed out that, sixteenth placed Charlton are only two wins (six points) away from the play-off places themselves. I didn't want to make his miserable afternoon any worse by pointing out that they are also only half that amount away from the drop zone as well.
But hey! It's far too early in the season to start talking about that sort of stuff... isn't it!?
FT: Barnsley 3 v Charlton Athletic 1
Throughout the second half, a mob (and there is no other word for them) of stewards, hell bent on causing friction in the visitors section of the ground, provided an entertaining spectacle of a sideshow, during which they made complete fools of themselves, before beating a hasty retreat to stand by the side of the pitch with strains of "You're getting sacked in the morning!" ringing in their ears.
I actually felt sorry for the friendly stewards who had been on duty in the away end all afternoon, that had been left to their own devices by this gang of shit-stirrers and wannabe thugs, who by now buggered off out of the way of any potential backlash.
Thankfully no such repercussions occurred and it was nice to see a few Charlton supporters wishing these innocent bystanders well on their way out of the ground.
Barnsley FC and the local police need to get this situation sorted, before a larger and more bothersome away support roll into town and take vengeful retribution against between treated so badly. Just saying.
The misery was compounded by the unnecessarily bad vibe created by hoodlums in lime-green fluorescent vests trying to show how macho they were... and of course, because it's a Saturday, a crap train service made up of just two standing room only carriages, all the way to Barnsley and back, was the overly sickly sweet icing on a particularly inedible cake.
