From today's Times:
Tightly fought contests are often decided by individual
moments of brilliance, and this game demanded exactly that after a cagey
opening 30 minutes. The centre half, Macaulay Gillesphey, delivered Charlton
Athletic’s season-defining moment when he broke the deadlock with an
excellently whipped free kick over the Leyton Orient wall to send his side back
to the Sky Bet Championship.
Charlton’s quest to return to the second tier after five
years in League One has, for the most part, felt like a slog. Before Nathan
Jones’s arrival as manager in February 2024, relegation to League Two looked
more likely than promotion.
So for Jones, this result is one of huge personal
significance. Despite being a key figure in much of Luton Town’s rise from
League Two to the Premier League, his departures to first Stoke City and
then Southampton in his two spells meant that, before now, he had not tasted
promotion since taking Luton up from the fourth tier in 2019.
“Today was just a culmination of probably 16 months’ work, a
lot of belief, a lot of sacrifice,” Jones said. “You can’t quantify the amount
of work that’s gone into it because of every single sleepless night, every
single phone call, every single time I’ve slept at the training ground, every
single time my family’s had to sacrifice not seeing me.”
Promotion to the Championship proved to be a step too far,
for now, for Richie Wellens and Leyton Orient, having led the east London side
from the bottom half of League Two to the League One play-off final in three
years.
This campaign has been unforgettable, having gone toe-to-toe
with Manchester City at Brisbane Road in the FA Cup and ended the regular
season with a six-game winning streak to secure their place in the top six.
However, the campaign was not to receive the fairytale ending many thought it
deserved.
“It’s disappointing but we have to recognise where we’ve
come [from],” Wellens, the Orient manager said.
The contest was a scrappy affair at the start, with shots a
rarity in the opening stages. Charlton looked the better of the sides early on
but had very little to show for it in terms of clear-cut chances.
It was the midfield battle that dictated the flow of the
game. Being first to the frequent loose balls in the midfield was crucial to
taking a foothold in the game, and Jones’s side started to do just that. Each
challenge and clearance was full-blooded, with every defensive header won with
conviction.
The well-placed free kick from Gillesphey was the first shot
on target of the game. The free kick was won by Tyreece Campbell, the pacey
Charlton winger, who was often stopped in his tracks by a much more physical
Orient defender. This time, the foul was drawn in a dangerous position.
Gillesphey whipped his effort over the wall and it dipped
with pace, bending out towards the corner. It was hardly out of reach for the
goalkeeper, Josh Keeley, but the ball was struck with such power that he
was unable to keep it out of the net, despite diving at full stretch.
That opened up the game heading into the second half, as
Orient looked to stretch their opponents using their wide players, with Ethan
Galbraith bombing on down the right throughout.
Wellens’s side tried alternative methods to equalise. Two of
those came from Jack Currie and Charlie Kelman, whose deflected strikes came
close.
Currie’s shot was directed wide of the far post by the
desperately outstretched boot of Kayne Ramsay. Then shortly after, the studs of
Lloyd Jones sent Kelman’s attempt bouncing wildly towards goal and off the top
of the crossbar.
A lengthy break in play because of a fault in the
communication between the referee and VAR was criticised by Wellens post-match,
as he felt it broke up their momentum late in the match.
They attacked with increasing fluidity but ultimately could
not find the final ball necessary to level up the scoreline. They will spend
next season in League One, while Charlton get to experience a higher level.
Charlton Athletic (4-2-3-1): W Mannion 6 — K
Ramsay 7, M Gillesphey 8, L Jones 7, J Edwards 6 — G Docherty 6, C Coventry 6 —
T Small 6 (T Watson 68min, 6), A Gilbert 6 (K Anderson 68, 6), T Campbell 7 (M
Mbick 81) — M Godden 7 (C Aneke 81). Booked Jones.
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