Going to my first away game today I wondered whether I would be encouraged to make a trip again. Which Town team would turn out? The one that does well in the first half, gets a goal then lets itself down second half by letting the opposition back into the game? Or the one that is hidden in there somewhere, one that can play well, and have the integrity to get itself back into games when they concede? The report tells the story.

Backed by a large (and loud) Town following, the Blue Army started with a bang, winning corner after corner in the first 5 minutes. We could have gone in front inside the first minute when McGoldrick was played through on goal but opposing number 1 Alnwick spread himself well to save his shot. Smith's header from the resulting corner was saved, Berra's follow-up shot somehow blocked off the line, before the big New Zealand international hooked over.

Again Town attacked and won another corner which Smith again used his aerial presence to get a head to it, only to see it go behind off a defender. He was not to be denied again though. From the next corner, taken by the back-from-suspension Cresswell, he rose and thumped a header through the bodies guarding the goal and into the back of the net.

This gave the large support, who were already in high spirits, and extra boost as Town seemed to be dominating proceedings. McGoldrick was excellent with his movement and intelligent play and helped give the Blues an attacking edge. The crowd cheered again when Terry Connor happily gave a wave in the away direction after being requested to do so by the vocal support. However, we didn't really press hard enough after the first 20 minutes for and we were nearly made to pay for it when Gerkin seemed to react late to an ambitious shot from an obscure angle which he ended up palming against the post and away.

Little else happened in the first half as it ended with Murphy passing a shot through to the 'keeper. Town deserved to be on top at the break with Charlton not showing any real signs of getting back into the game. We could have had another one in the frantic first 10-20 minutes but as per usual seemed to settle for just the one and defend it. A tactic which has undone is in recent games.

The second half started and after McGoldrick hit a couple of shots through to Alnwick, the game went a bit flat. Town resorted to hoofball, thus taking McGoldrick out of the game. To be fair to his strike partner though, Murphy did well to challenge for all the balls sent his way and won a fair few of them. Unfortunately though, playing the ball up in the air was never going to get us anywhere.

As it was looking more likely that we wouldn't score again, the attention focussed on defending, which we did very well. Charlton struggled to break us down with Smith winning anything and everything that went up in the air. Chambers, who was caught out by pace last week, did well to remain solid and not let much get past him. Cresswell was also having a good game defensively but apart from his corners, he was rarely seen attacking the opposition box. Berra was solid but his centre-back partner was taking centre-stage.

Gerkin flapped at a dodgy cross from the right but nothing came of the resulting corner. With both teams not playing particularly well, the game became a bit like a training ground drill of getting defenders to practice headed clearances as the ball spent quite a bit of time off the grass.

With Hunt, Nouble and Edwards coming on for Tabb, Murphy and Anderson, the game moved into the closing stages. As Charlton tried a ball over the top, Berra shielded the ball out for a goal kick from Michael Morrison. The Charlton man was clearly frustrated and showed it by giving Berra a shove in the back. What resulted was the most entertaining piece of on-field action seen in the 2nd half. Several players gathered round each other as pushes were dealt from both sets of players. Someone pushed Gerkin into the action and Edwards tried to calm everyone down. Nouble however decided to stick up for his teammate and charged into the scuffling group, sending the Charlton players in retreat. He, along with morrison, was booked for his actions.

The game then ended with the general consensus being that Town deserved their three points but could have let the game slipped if they were up against a team with more quality. Again, a good first performance was not followed up by a matching second half performance as all the Town players forgot you could pass the ball along the floor. We perhaps could have got another in the first half but were guilty of doing the classic Town thing of holding onto the ball too long, thus wasting an opportunity. In the second half we defended very well but showed absolutely nothing going forward, giving Charlton the opportunity to attack, which they equally failed to tae effectively.

Player ratings:

Gerkin: 6 - he didn't have a lot to do in truth but seemed to have good communication with his back four and did well when called upon. Still reacts too late to some things and flapped at a couple of crosses.

Chambers: 7 - one of his better games at right back. Was never seriously tested but defended solidly.

Berra: 7 - again, did the necessaries well and was a strong physical presence.

Smith: 8 - man of the match for me. Won absolutely everything in the air, both when defending and attacking, and scored a great headed goal to show that he is a real threat in the air.

Cresswell: 7 - didn't see too much of his attacking creativity today but his corner deliveries were largely good, with 1 or 2 hitting the first man. Defended well second half.

Anderson: 5 - really not sure on him at all to be honest. Hasn't played brilliantly for us yet and didn't show that he deserves to be starting every game. Didn't take players on and drifted inside too much. 1st half corners were good but was almost non-existent in the 2nd half.

Tunnicliffe: 5 - Not great today. Played alright in the 1st half and gave support on the left for Tabb (coming back to him in a bit) but faded in 2nd half and didn't add much.

Skuse: 6 - the pick of the midfield 4, won a few headers in midfield and made a couple of important tackles. Again, faded a bit in 2nd half but did enough to show why he needs to be picked every game.

Tabb: 5 - he is not a left midfielder. He showed that he can be quite tenacious but was frankly wasted out there. If he played in the middle then we might see a better side of him. However, Hunt to start left midfield in the future please.

Murphy: 7 - a good showing by Big Murph. Won a lot of headers and kept any Town threat of scoring alive as he was the main target man with balls being lumped to him at every chance. Not as nimble as McGoldrick but definitely a good asset to have in the squad.

McGoldrick: 7 - although the team decided to take him out of the game by playing long balls all the time, he showed what he is capable of when he had it at and around his feet. Smart movement, great vision and good positioning showed what a danger he is. A real shame we didn't utilise his talents in the 2nd half. Still undecided on whether he should have scored in the first minute or whether it was a great save.

All the subs had little impact on the game as it was all about defending which looked like it was being left to the back 5.

After all that, do I want to take out a whole day to go to an away game again? Of course! The support (about 2,500) was awesome and although I know it's unlikely we'll reach that sort of figure any time soon, I was really glad that I was a part of it all.

7

We started the game like a runaway train and could of been several to the good but Mccarthy did his usual and went all negative.
If we had a more positive manager we could of thumped Chalton as they were there for the taking and we gave ourselves a great platform to do so but it's so frustrating to see mick trying to get the lads to defend one goal leads all the time. If Chalton had of been even average they would of got something today but luckily for us they were crap. As for the support it was magnificent and deserved more
Come on mick be more adventurous f.f.s! !

0

2634 Town fans is an impressive effort. So many police!

The first 5 minutes were good when we could have had 3 goals. The second half was woeful from both sides. Lumping it forward in the air in the general direction of, rather than to, people. However, keeping a clean sheet, defending the lead and claiming 3 away points.

Berra was decent again, as was Smith. Gerken looked a touch wobbly with his hands & kicking. Nouble's only real contribution was his flying elbow in the melee towards the end of additional time. Cresswell's corners were poor.

Top half of the table far better than relegation threatened bottom half.

Liking the beard MickMa Mickma Mickma!!

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