Thursday 10 May 2018

No Ascension for Charlton

There was no Ascension Day promotion boost for Charlton after they went down 0-1 at home to Shrewsbury Town in the first leg of the play off semi-finals. It is, of course, only 'half time' and the Shrews lead is not invincible, but turning it around away from home will be a challenge.

The Addicks had a number of chances in the first twenty minutes with the ball going very close to the post a couple of times. In the second half Shrewsbury, who had a very physical approach, started to dominate and eventually scored.

The midfield did not seem to be contributing as they should for much of the match. Reeves did not have a particularly good game and was eventually substituted. Lee Bowyer thought that Charlton took too many touches at times and created their own problems.

Within the first five minutes, Josh Magennis sent a header wide for the hosts and Jake Forster-Caskey forced a fingertip save from Town keeper Dean Henderson. Bryn Morris' shot was well saved by Ben Amos at the other end, while the visitors appealed in vain for a penalty when Charlton captain Jason Pearce appeared to play the ball with his arm under pressure from a Town attacker.

Jon Nolan's 20-yard half-volley put the visitors ahead. Midfielder Nolan struck into the top corner 10 minutes before the end of the first leg, converting from substitute Stefan Payne's knockdown. Nicky Ajose almost levelled within a couple of minutes, but his acrobatic effort flew just over the crossbar.

Australian Andrew Muir was seen in the ground being shown round by Paul Elliott. There has been speculation that contracts for the purchase of the club may be signed today, although not exchanged.

The attendance of 14,367 was disappointing and perhaps shows how big a job there is to be done in rebuilding trust between the club and fans. The Covered End was almost sold out, but there were big gaps elsewhere.

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