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Town 1-1 Charlton - Updated Thursday, 2nd Jan 2014 16:16
Charlton skipper Johnnie Jackson came off the bench to net a 90th minute equaliser as Town and the Addicks drew 1-1 at Portman Road. The Blues had gone in front via Richard Wood’s 24th minute own goal with David McGoldrick coming off the bench in the second half and having a penalty saved by Charlton keeper Ben Alnwick.
Boss Mick McCarthy made three changes to his side having named the same XI for the previous five matches.
Top scorer McGoldrick, Frank Nouble and Luke Hyam dropped to the bench with Paul Taylor, who was making his first Blues league start since September 2012, Paul Anderson and Jay Tabb returning to the team as the Blues switched back to 4-4-2 with the Addicks employing the same system.
As the wind swirled and rain continued to fall on an already very wet pitch, with water cascading from the roof of one section of the East of England Co-op Stand, Town had a very decent third-minute shout for a penalty.
Taylor played in Daryl Murphy and the Irishman got ahead of centre-half Wood - a Town target during Jim Magilton’s time as boss - who appeared to bundle him to the ground. The Blues players and fans protested but referee Stuart Attwell and his assistant weren’t interested.
At the other end, Dean Gerken claimed a Dale Stephens freekick from the left on seven, the ball having beaten everyone and bounced just in front of the Town keeper.
Anderson’s curling 20-yard shot forced Addicks keeper Alnwick to save to his right in the eighth minute with Town settling into the difficult conditions better than the visitors.
On 13 Murphy hit a powerful left-foot strike wide from the right, then Aaron Cresswell’s scuffed an effort through to Alnwick with the Blues regularly looking to shoot from distance, presumably to try to make the most of the keeper-testing conditions.
Four minutes later, Gerken made the save of the game so far when he tipped Yann Kermorgant’s deflected 20-yard low shot round the post at full stretch to his left.
Blues skipper Luke Chambers volleyed Murphy’s left-wing cross over in the 22nd minute with the home side continuing to have most of the ball, at times playing some very good football, particularly so given the surface and wind.
The goal which McCarthy’s men deserved came in the 24th minute. Murphy crossed low from the left but too far ahead of Jay Tabb, but Wood behind him turned it into his own net.
Murphy miscued wide on 35 with the Blues still on top but without threatening to add to their lead too often having gone in front. At the other end, Tommy Smith superbly blocked Marvin Sordell’s 25-yard effort.
Charlton believed they should have been awarded a penalty in the 40th minute when Cameron Stewart got in behind Chambers on the Addicks’ left. The Blues’ right-back tried to get back and the on-loan Hull man went to ground appealing for a penalty.
Referee Attwell immediately whipped out his yellow card and booked the winger for a dive. On initial viewing the Blues, like Charlton earlier, were probably fortunate not to have conceded a spotkick and then lost a man to a red card for denying an obvious goalscoring opportunity. Christophe Berra was subsequently added to Attwell’s book for an earlier foul on Kermorgant.
Sordell shot wide for the visitors then as the half moved into injury time slowly made his way off with a hamstring problem, Jordan Cook replacing the on-loan Bolton frontman.
Moments later, Tommy Smith was somewhat harshly booked for a foul on Cook, Kermorgant sending the freekick wide of Gerken’s right post.
The Blues deserved their lead at the break having been on top for the most part with Taylor, Skuse and Anderson particularly influential.
However, the scoreline might have been very different with both sides likely to feel they ought to have been awarded penalties which would probably have seen their opposition reduced to 10 men.
Town started the second period brightly, winning two early corners. On 50 Wood was lucky to get away with pulling Anderson back just outside the area, referee Attwell failing to spot the foul.
Stephens shot wide for the Addicks in the 53rd minute after the Blues had been unable to clear a corner, then two minutes later Taylor hit a low shot which failed to test Alnwick. Soon after, Skuse bravely blocked a Stephens strike from the edge of the box with his face.
Charlton had had the better of the second half played in improved conditions, although without creating much significant in front of goal. The Blues had similarly rarely threatened but in the 65th minute Skuse sent Murphy away on the Town right. With Taylor and Anderson having broken into the area, the Irish striker cut in but his shot was blocked.
Blues top scorer McGoldrick replaced the lively Taylor and Luke Hyam took over from Tabb in the 68th minute, then two minutes later, the visitors switched one-time Blues trialist Lawrie Wilson for an additional striker, Simon Church.
Alnwick saved Murphy’s low shot in the 77th minute after good work from McGoldrick and from the resultant flagkick the Blues won a penalty. Cresswell’s delivery from the left was sent into the air and as Anderson looked to get on to the loose bouncing ball he was shoved by Jordan Cousins. This time referee Attwell pointed straight to the spot.
McGoldrick stepped up and hit his kick to Alnwick’s left, the keeper pushing it on to the post, back across goal and wide before anyone could get to the loose ball.
Cousins hit a low shot through to Gerken following a corner in the 89th minute with the Addicks continuing to put the Blues under pressure. However, as at the Valley in November, Chris Powell’s men had been unable to make much of an impact Town’s backline.
Then, just as the fourth official’s board went up indicating four additional minutes, the visitors equalised. Rhoys Wiggins’s cross was nodded back by Kermogant, Church laid it off and skipper Johnnie Jackson, on as an 80th minute sub, hit a bouncing shot which deflected off Berra and past Gerken and into the net.
The Blues, who had largely been happy to sit back on their lead, now went about looking for a second they ought to have scored earlier in the game.
As injury time ran out Town sub Nouble was booked for kicking the ball at Addicks right-back Chris Solly as he tried to hurry him up at a throw-in, before referee Attwell blew his whistle for the final time.
Having been in front and having had a golden chance to make it 2-0 from the penalty spot, the result can only be viewed as two points lost.
The Blues, who defended so resolutely in the 1-0 win at the Valley in November, looked to pull off the same trick again in the second half but were made to pay for missing earlier opportunities. Before the break Town had been well on top and a lead of more than a single goal wouldn’t have flattered them.
Over the three festive fixtures, however, Mick McCarthy is likely to be reasonably happy to be unbeaten, to have picked up five points and with his side still in sixth place.
Billblue - blueherts is spot on, it is you and blueboy who are stuck in the 80's. We do not have a divine right to be in the PL or at the top of the league. We are a market town club who over achieved fir a lot of years because we had the two best English managers in history. Stop comparing us to them because throse days are gone
Billblue - blueherts is spot on, it is you and blueboy who are stuck in the 80's. We do not have a divine right to be in the PL or at the top of the league. We are a market town club who over achieved fir a lot of years because we had the two best English managers in history. Stop comparing us to them because throse days are gone
Billblue - blueherts is spot on, it is you and blueboy who are stuck in the 80's. We do not have a divine right to be in the PL or at the top of the league. We are a market town club who over achieved fir a lot of years because we had the two best English managers in history. Stop comparing us to them because throse days are gone
Billblue - blueherts is spot on, it is you and blueboy who are stuck in the 80's. We do not have a divine right to be in the PL or at the top of the league. We are a market town club who over achieved fir a lot of years because we had the two best English managers in history. Stop comparing us to them because throse days are gone
30pts all the way down to 16th! - We've got some 'toughies' coming up and could easily find ourselves back down to mid-table before long if we don't man-up and get more out of these sort of games, this sort of result happens just too much so far this season, I bet we're near the top of the league for giving away 1-0 leads in the 2nd half.
I was gutted today bout this. Absolute domination in the first half. And then nothing in the second. What is it with town scoring one and just relaxing. It doesn't make sense why we do it. We've done this sitting back thing in the last two game and drawn 1-1 against both of em. But when we decide we wanna score goals we thrash Donny 3-0. I honestly cant wait untill SEB is unleashed hopefully he will rattle the back of the net on Saturday and show some sense into our players.
Some complete over reactions here. If we had won 1-0 everyone would have been completely different. We did well to pick up a point down at Bournemouth and we were unlucky against Charlton. We are 6th! Think how far Mick has taken us, he has made us hard to beat and he is trying to make us more clinical up front, hence why SEB has been brought in!
It isn't the greatest to watch but what did everyone expect with McCarthy? He is a good championship manager with a great record. We just need to learn how to kill off teams when we are infront, by the sound of some of these comments it is as if we have been relegated or something. We are over achieving this season, I don't think anybody could have predicted we would be where we are now.
As for the teams above us, they either have money or have been building over several years. Derby, although mid table last year were building and building with Clough for several seasons. It doesn't happen instantly! We are still a team in progression.
Today was awful all who were there could see that at one point we had every player back in our own box and the ball was in there half nothing wrong with defending a lead but put pressure on them run at the chase and hurry them force mistakes I've seen every game at home and most away and we are no way a top six side enjoy it whilst it lasts big push next season mick has done a fantastic job
We have done well so far from were we came from no arguement there but we have droped 14 or 16 points from a lead.Mick has no plan b.he dosent go for the second goal and we cant defend a lead. Im not happy with us in 6th spot because burnley and derby are not much better than us but get the job done.The facts are we cant leave dids out and get a result we dont have the backup in the squad.
Disapoinated ? yes Happy ? very. Ok we should beat teams in Charltons position but When was the last time we where in the play off positions? keep it going boys. anything from mid table upwards (hopefully a play off place) is a big improvment this year.
Excellent first half performance and shocking second hald which mirrors so many home performances this season. We put must put poor sides like this to the sword. Positives were Taylor whose ball retention and positive runs certainly improved the team.
Thought we looked class first half some lovely passages of play as was impressed with Taylor's speed as tenacity although a little lightweight at times, not sure conditions favoured him though. Anderson for me had a better game and has pace - shame he isn't allows to play his true roll as a proper winger as I think he struggles tucking in, may work well as part of a centre of 3 as he isn't afraid to help in defence too.. What I can't understand is why we chose to defend so deep, every time we do this we look like the team of old under keane that you fear will concede at any minute. We have a great attacking outfit and look dangerous when coming forward, this to me is a far better means of defence than sitting so deep - they seem to trip over each other when we play like that! However the first half did for me show how far we have come, not ready for play offs I fear but building and I can see next season we could be a rear force.
Oh and meant to add I think our substitutions were the right ones but Hyam did himself no favours, Nouble was the "awful donkey Nouble" and not the half decent player I have seen lately and poor Mcgoldrick was having high balls lumped to him so stood no chance. One observation if Murphy had a right foot he would be a cracking player, sadly he doesn't and that let's him down on many an occasion when in goal scoring position.
I have read most of the posts on here and whilst I agree with those who say we should be happy to be in 6th place at the halfway point I am far from happy that we keep dropping points from a winning position. Why do we sit back on a one goal lead? We couldn't even hang on to a 3 - 1 lead at Derby! I would dearly like to know if the players back off and defend deep or if they are acting on instructions. Having watched MM on the touch line and given what he said after yesterdays game I got the distinct impression he had told them to defend the last 20 minutes. Why else would he put Nouble on for Murphy and stick him at wide left? We are still to beat any of the top teams and if we can't stick it to Charlton at home we really are a mid table side which is fine compared to last season but in my view lacks real ambition.
Billblue and Blueboy - so you are obviously not happy with a manager that has turned a team around from bottom of the league to play off spot in a year ? I presume you expect top at least ? Yesterday was one game and yes there have been games we have lost a lead and games we have levelled and gone on to win - at this level progress is measured by league position and we have progressed - with pretty much the same group of players As DBH says - we need to live in the now - we are an ok squad who are over achieving in a tight league - if we finish top 10 this season I would be pretty happy - We are not a BIG CLUB - many clubs around us have had overseas owners throwing money at them and/or clubs with ,money from recent PL campaigns - Burnley were a Prem side in recent years - 12 years in the championship - and we are finally moving in the right direction but for some it is not progress ? Of course we are not the finished article - and we have all sat through games we throw away or let slip - but hey - welcome to our world - cant live in the late 70s/early 80s forever I know we all want the best for the club and success but it has to be realistic HNY !!!
Don't get me wrong, I'm frustrated that we led another lead slip and that we had chances to put the game away but people seem to forget very quickly what we have been through over the past 5 years in this division. Considering that we have spent the majority of the last 4 seasons fighting for survival and constantly looking up at every other team in the division why not simply enjoy that we have a team and a manager who are currently doing well! I appreciate that MM's style of play or tactics might not be everyone's choice but he is the manager that has taken us from bottom to sixth in little over a year with little financial support. Would we rather that Clegg was still running the ship with Keane or Jewell? I quite look forward to watching the results come in now rather than dreading it. Support your team through good and bad, don't pick holes in something that, quite frankly, is much better than we have become used to over the past few seasons. Perspective is one thing that seems to have been lost by football fans all over the world and I think we should be proud of what are boys are doing right now. COYB!
Got no problems at all with MM, he has done a good job since he's been here and he certainly has his own style of management and whether you like it or not grinds out the results over a season. Personally without trying to be too negative feel we're about as high as we're going to get in the league with Mick's style of management and the midfielders which are currently being played - we really do need a creative force who can run at defenders and make splitting passes. But let's not get too carried away as mentioned a lot of other clubs down to 16th are not far behind us, so is it a case of other managers such as Eddie Howe, Mark Robins and Karanka all doing a good job too? Personally feel we have let quite a few points go this season.
They said on the radio the other day that our league position on New Years Day for the last four seasons have been 19th, 17th, 19th and 19th. This year we are 6th, yet some people are still not happy. I agree that the football could be more flowing at times but we have a team now that all give 100% for 90 minutes , without any highly paid, non performing prima donas . It is a huge improvement and will more than do me for now.
I am, as all Town fans should be, very pleased to see us sitting in a play off position. That said, I am also disappointed to see us go so defensive every time we take a lead. As our results show, we do not keep many clean sheets. My maths is not brilliant but this fact seems to tell me we need to score at least twice to win our games. I'd just like to see us go for it a bit more.
..... why some people don't ADMIT that they are, and will always continue to be satisfied whatever.
Don't need to use names - they continuously highlight themselves - expecting little, if nothing, in life - and certainly not from our Football Club.
Of course we have improved by currently being 6th (01/01/14) over previous seasons - BUT ISN'T THAT THE OBJECTIVE ? - AND DOES IT MEAN WE DAREN'T HAVE THE AMBITION TO IMPROVE ON THAT ?
Some ITFC Supporters amaze me - not all for the right reasons.
Hit the minus button, and tell me to go to Norwich - PATHETIC if you do.
...and don't forget folks (and I know I keep harping on about this) when Mick took over last season we would have ended up in 6th position with his points tally, I just don't think we're as good as last season, we had a very solid defense and didn't let as many points go. Love to see ME give MM some money to get a decent central midfielder in but can't see it happen, a gamble? YES - is it time to gamble? YES but I can't see ME rolling the dice!
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