The Championship

Tuesday March 4, 2008

Charlton Athletic 1—1 Bristol City

On a cold, windy evening in southeast London, league leaders Bristol City proved their worth in the Championship with a credible point at The Valley Tuesday night.

Not one person would have predicted that Bristol City would be leading the chase for the Premiership at this stage of the season, and come May 4 we may well see them reach the top flight at the first attempt after winning promotion from League One last year.

For Charlton it was another two points dropped, as their inconsistency again showed after an excellent display at Sheffield Utd on Saturday.

Alan Pardew stuck with the same team that won in Sheffield, and after the first 45 minutes you would have bet on Charlton to close the gap to just four points at the top. They got off to the perfect start on eight minutes when a cross-driven pass was flicked on by Chris Iwelumo into the path of Darren Ambrose, who drove the ball into the bottom corner.

Goals galore perhaps? Or maybe not. Tense ending? Possibly. Keep reading...

Charlton got into their passing rhythm and took the game to the league leaders, notably on 15 minutes when Zheng Zhi, the ''fifth best player in the Football League'' according to Four Four Two magazine, beat two players down the right and fed a weighted pass to Iwelumo. His shot was deflected away for a corner.

From the corner kick, Ambrose sent in a delightful cross, but Sam Sodje and Paddy McCarthy were unable to make a connection with the ball.

Bristol City came back into the game after half an hour played when the well-travelled Dele Adebola fed Jamie McAllister down the left and his cross was cleared away inside the six-yard area. You could see why they were at the top of the league, as they started to play some decent build-up play. Manager Gary Johnson has obviously got them playing for each other as an organised unit.

On 35 minutes Charlton should have been 2-0 up. A cross from Luke Varney was half cleared away by the City defence, and the ball fell for an unmarked Jerome Thomas 10 yards out. He somehow scuffed his shot way wide of the target. On another day, or another day in training, it would have gone in nine times out of 10. A goal from the home side may have proved pivotal in the outcome of the match, but it just wasn't to be.

As the first half came to a close, Charlton had edged it in terms of possession and overall play, but you still felt that Bristol City had a chance to get back on level terms.

And yes, they were a different side in the second half. They showed the Valley faithful and the Championship just why they are leading the pack. Crisp passing and movement off the ball started to pose threats to the Charlton rearguard for the first time in the match, as on 55 minutes a neat one-two from Marvin Elliot and Michael McIndoe nearly set up substitute Darren Byfield, but his shot went narrowly over the crossbar.

City came forward more and were showing a completely different side to their first half performance. On the hour mark, McIndoe held the ball up well on the edge of the 18-yard box and released Lee Johnson down the right, who found Byfield unmarked at the back post, but Greg Halford cleared the danger away for a corner.

On 62 minutes they got a deserved equaliser. After Darren Ambrose needlessly conceded a corner, the ball was floated into the near post and captain Jamie McCombe rose above everyone else to head past Nicky Weaver. It was no more than City had deserved and it was a kick up the backside for Charlton who had failed to carry their first-half momentum into the second period.

With a vocal crowd behind them, the home side responded with some flair down the left wing from Jerome Thomas, who teased two City defenders and delivered a telling ball into the path of Luke Varney. His effort was blocked and cleared to safety.

It was the spark they had been lacking and Pardew decided to throw on loan star, Scott Sinclair. He wasn't quite a star for the remaining 15 minutes or so, as the Chelsea youngster is perhaps a little too over-rated in my opinion, despite being only just 18 years old.

Sinclair had trouble getting into the game at the weekend and it was no different here, as time and time again he either lost the ball or was out muscled by his opponent. Personally I can see why Chelsea want to loan him out because he is definitely not the finished article by all means and comes with a reputation from a big club, scoring a wonder goal in the FA Cup last season. I hope he proves me wrong.

With time ticking away Charlton became edgy and so did their supporters, as City continued to frustrate them. On 80 minutes, Byfield stole a march on McCarthy in the Charlton defence and, as he was about to strike the ball from six yards, McCarthy made amends with a superb block tackle.

However, City came closest to scoring a winner on 85 minutes when a free kick 20 yards out was beautifully directed over the wall. With Weaver scrambling, the ball cannoned back off the crossbar, and luckily for Charlton, Zheng Zhi was on hand to clear the ball away.

In the last few minutes McIndoe and Byfield combined well to bamboozle the Charlton defence inside their own penalty box, only for McCarthy to steal in once again, but his clearance was inches past his own goal. It would have been a great finish as a striker's point of view, but you felt that McCarthy didn't know much about it.

Referee Phil Dowd played five extra minutes on top of normal time, as both teams surged forward in vain to find a winner. Charlton nearly stole all three points when Jamie McAllister's half clearance from a Sinclair cross found Matt Holland who drove the ball toward the top corner, only to see his effort blocked and Varney missing the follow-up.

As the game ended, you could argue that a draw was probably the right result. Although Charlton could count themselves lucky on their second half performance, the result was a dent in their push for automatic promotion, with the playoffs looking like their only realistic target now.

Bristol City, however, go top of the Championship and three points clear on 65 points. On their second half showing, you can't argue with them continuing to surprise just about everyone in the country.

Gary Johnson as a future England manager? Well, I wouldn't bet against it just yet!

Charlton: Weaver; Halford, Youga, McCarthy, Sodje; Varney, Holland, Zheng, Ambrose (Cook 88), J Thomas (Sinclair 76); Varney, Iwelumo (Gray 63).

Subs (not used): Elliot, Thatcher.

Goals: Ambrose 8

Bristol City: Basso; Wilson, McAllister (Vasko 63), Fontaine, McCombe; Sproule (Byfield 46), Elliott, Johnson, Carle (Noble 88), McIndoe; Adebola.

Subs (not used): Weal, Trundle.

Goals: McCombe 62

Booked: McAllister 35 (foul on Varney), Byfield 75 (foul on Sodje)

Referee: P Dowd

Attendance: 24,075