Town twice let two-goal leads slip in a bizarre, topsy-turvy game at the Valley which ended 4-4 with four goals in injury time. George Edmundson and Tyreece John-Jules put the Blues 2-0 in front but the Addicks hit back through Jes Rak-Sakyi and and Albie Morgan. However, in injury time, Town restored their two-goal advantage through Freddie Ladapo and Sam Morsy but Terell Thomas and George Dobson netted in the sixth and ninth minutes of the additional time to claim a remarkable point for the home side.

Town made three changes for this afternoon’s game at Charlton with skipper Morsy returning following his suspension.

Morsy was joined by Dominic Ball in the centre of midfield with Cameron Humphreys dropping to the bench following his goalscoring full league debut at Port Vale on Tuesday.

Manager Kieran McKenna again shuffled his front three with Kayden Jackson replacing Kyle Edwards alongside Conor Chaplin behind lone striker John-Jules with Ladapo, who netted twice at Vale Park, among the subs.

Kane Vincent-Young was back in the 18 following his calf problem with Cameron Burgess and Panutche Camara dropping out having been in the matchday squad at Vale.

Thomas was handed his full league debut for the Addicks on the left of the back three, coming in for Ryan Inniss, suspended following his red card in Tuesday’s 2-0 home defeat to MK Dons.

Steven Sessegnon was back in the team having been rested against the Dons, while Corey Blackett-Taylor was on the bench having missed the previous two matches due to injury. Former Town midfielder Scott Fraser started in the home side’s midfield.

There was a scare for the Blues within the first minute, keeper Christian Walton scuffing a a pass out of the area to Edmundson. Addicks skipper Jayden Stockley seized on it but hit a first-time shot straight back to the relieved keeper.

With the game yet to establish a pattern, there was a break as the 10-minute mark approached as Addicks right-sided wideman Mandela Egbo underwent treatment.

Moments later, Ball was shown the game’s first yellow card for a foul on Rak-Sakyi in the centre circle. On 14 Egbo succumbed to his earlier knock and was replaced by Morgan.

Three minutes later, Eoghan O’Connell joined Ball in the referee’s book for a foul on Jackson on the Town left as the match continued in a very stop-start manner.

Town won a corner from the free-kick which came to nothing, then on 19 Wes Burns struck a low shot from 25 yards across the face and wide.

Two minutes later, Sessegnon sent a low ball across from the left towards Stockley, but too close to Walton, who claimed.

On 25 Town, who were starting to get their game going after a bitty start in which they’d been forced long on too many occasions by Charlton’s high press, carved out their first serious chance.

Leif Davis exchanged passes with John-Jules on the left and cut back. Jackson left it and Chaplin struck a shot which was blocked.

Chaplin curled a 25-yard free-kick into the Charlton wall in the 32nd minute having been fouled by Thomas with the Blues now in charge and with Davis on the left increasingly influential.

On 36 Town made a promising break down the left but as Jackson received the ball, a whistle from the crowd momentarily caused the Town players to pause. However, Chaplin in any case won a corner and before it was taken referee Josh Smith indicated to the fourth official that someone in the crowd was using a whistle.

Two minutes later, Morsy played John-Jules in on goal behind the Addicks backline and as the on-loan Arsenal ran through the whistle was again heard from the crowd with the striker evidently pausing as a result, allowing O’Connell to make a challenge when he looked certain to score.

The Town players again protested to the referee and, while O’Connell underwent treatment for an injury suffered in the incident, a PA announcement called on the person with the whistle to stop or the players would be taken off the field. O’Connell was eventually stretchered off and replaced by Sam Lavelle.

After play restarted, the fourth official indicated six minutes of injury time for the treatment to the two Charlton players and a couple of minutes in John-Jules again went close to netting.

The Arsenal youngster cut into the area on the left, cleverly working himself space for a shot which looked bound for the corner of the net until a hand, which appeared to be Thomas’s rather than the keeper’s, tipped it wide of the post. The Town players protested to referee Smith that they should have been awarded a penalty but to no avail.

However, from the resultant corner, the Blues went in front. Davis’s ball into the near post was met by Edmundson, who powered a header across goal and into the corner of the net for his third goal of the season, sending the 3,000 travelling fans behind the goal at the other end - as well as Ed Sheeran watching from a box - into raptures.

Before play restarted, John-Jules was yellow-carded for taking his time to get back into his own half.

That was the last action of a half which had taken a while to settle after a stop-start opening period.

Once the game had settled into a pattern, the Blues got on top and had begun to create chances regularly as the break approached.

The errant whistle almost certainly prevented John-Jules from taking his first chance, then a Charlton hand the second but Edmundson superbly headed home from the corner to give Town a deserved lead.

Soon after the break, Davis required treatment following a heavy challenge, then in the 50th minute Dobson was harshly adjudged to have fouled Ball as he broke towards the area and was booked, much to his frustration. Sean Clare joined him for refusing to get back 10 yards as Town prepared to take the kick.

And in the wake of the resultant free-kick, the Blues doubled their lead. Chaplin’s shot was blocked, but the ball fell back to the forward, who played it back to Burns on the corner of the box from where the Welshman sent a cross to the near post and John-Jules beat home keeper Joe Wollacott to the ball to head into the net right in front of the Town fans.

Charlton were furious that Town had scored as a result of the incorrectly awarded free-kick with manager Ben Garner taking his protests too far and being shown the red card. As he made his way to the tunnel, the former Swindon boss tried to encourage home fans to make more noise to get behind their team.

Once play had got back under way, the Blues weren’t too far away from a third goal, Davis sliding in and sending the ball wide at the far post from Ball’s cross from the right. On 57, Morsy was booked for a foul on former teammate Fraser.

Five minutes later, Charlton made a double change, swapping Stockley and Charlie Kirk for Chuks Aneke and Blackett-Taylor.

And a minute later, the Addicks, who had looked little threat since the break, pulled a goal back with both subs involved.

Aneke beat Edmundson and crossed from the right for Blackett-Taylor, whose first-time shot as he broke in from the left was blocked brilliantly by Walton, but Rak-Sakyi was on hand to slam the loose ball into the net. Walton was booked in the aftermath, presumably for protesting that Edmundson had been fouled in the build-up.

Town immediately went about looking to restore their two-goal advantage, John-Jules coming very close within a minute. Davis crossed from the left and the England U21 international headed down but at Wollacott’s feet with the keeper not knowing too much about it. Either side of the Charlton number one and it would have been a goal.

Jackson well shot over on 65 with Town quickly regaining control, then four minutes later Burns also hit an effort which was high and wide.

Town made a triple change in the 71st minute, Chaplin, Jackson and John-Jules making way for Marcus Harness, Edwards and Ladapo.

Five minutes later, the Addicks equalised. After Harness had lost possession midway inside the Town half, Aneke brought the ball into the area from the left and hit a shot which Walton stopped but couldn’t hold onto and Morgan following up found the net from close range. The Town keeper evidently felt he should have done better.

Burns was booked in the 83rd minute for pulling back Sessegnon with the Blues looking somewhat disjointed with the home side buoyed by their fans, who had started to make themselves heard since the second goal.

On 83, the Blues had a brilliant chance to win it. Davis’s shot from the left fell to Edwards unmarked in the area but somehow the winger scuffed well wide.

Town looked to have thrown away their chance of a seventh win on the road this season but a minute into six minutes of injury time, sub Ladapo grabbed Town’s third.

The striker received the ball from Morsy 25 yards out with his back to goal, turned and and a low shot which fizzed across the turf and beat Wollacott to his right and nestled in the corner of the net, sending the fans behind the goal wild.

Three minutes later, it was 4-2. Morsy received a pass from Ball and struck a low shot which flew past Woollacott to his left.

Town looked home and hosed but in the sixth minute of injury time Charlton pulled a goal back. A free-kick from the right was squared from the far post by Blackett-Taylor and Thomas tapped in.

Keogh replaced Burns as the Blues sought to see out the final moments but nine minutes into added-on time the Addicks scored again.

A deep Morgan cross from the left found Dobson at the far post from where he looped a header over Walton and into the net to level to the delight and amazement of the home fans.

Town looked for a fifth in the remaining seconds but the referee’s whistle confirmed a 4-4 draw - the same as the U21s at QPR yesterday - from a game which the Blues twice had won.

The Blues were almost made to pay for giving away poor goals at Port Vale having been two goals in front on Tuesday but rescued the win and the same appeared to have happened when Ladapo and Morsy made it 4-2.

But Town were guilty of gifting Charlton goals to allow two points - and top spot in the table with Plymouth in action on Monday - which they'd all but won twice slip through their fingers.

The Blues now nine days on the training field before their FA Cup tie at Bracknell Town a week on Monday.

Charlton: Wollacott, Clare, Thomas, O’Connell (Lavelle 43), Sessegnon, Egbo (Morgan 14), Dobson, Fraser, Kirk (Blackett-Taylor 62), Rak-Sakyi, Stockley (c) (Aneke 62). Unused: MacGillivray, McGrandles, Payne.

Town: Walton, Donacien, Woolfenden, Edmundson, Burns (Keogh 90), Ball, Morsy (c), Davis, Jackson (Edwards 71), Chaplin (Harness 71), John-Jules (Ladapo 71). Unused: Hladky, Vincent-Young, Humphreys. Referee: Josh Smith (Bedfordshire). Att: 16,625 (Town: 3,139).

Photo: Matchday Images

northblue added 18:05 - Oct 29 The signs have been there for the last few matches. Defenders need a good kick up the ass.
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Bert added 18:09 - Oct 29 My head is all over the place. Shocked, angry, bemused and upset leaving the Valley today. Where was the game management, where were the bodies on the line, where did the referee get the ninth minute of added time from? Our defence has lost its composure for some weeks and today it really showed. From ecstasy to anger in 4 minutes. I never want to experience that again so please KMcK sort it out. The players let you and the fans down today.

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SickParrot added 18:10 - Oct 29 Three 2 goal leads lost and 6 goals conceded in 4 days is definitely a cause for concern. Fortunately, because we scored 7, we still got 4 points so not too much damage done. However, our defending and game management must improve if we are to stay in the automatic promotion positions.
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d77sgw added 18:14 - Oct 29 On my way back from the game. AAAAAAGHHHHHH!!!! ffs. Never been more angry after a draw. I mean, 2 goals up - 3 mins to defend. How f-ing hard is it??? Now is not the time for proportion. Just so ridiculous. We have a serious mentality issue. Need another drink…
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Trequartista added 18:14 - Oct 29 Me again. It was actually 5 goals in injury time. It was 4 goals in second-half injury time.
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Bert added 18:17 - Oct 29 I get it that those who were not at the game may be calling for calm and less emotion but I would defy anybody who was there to not feel the raw emotion of what they witnessed. I have never seen a railway station so quiet.
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Cakeman added 18:17 - Oct 29 It's always easy to be wise after the event but leaving out goal scorers from the previous game will attract criticism of the manager. Rotating the top end is happening in every game it seems which our Manager has struck lucky with apart from today perhaps. But and a big but from me is why is he not rotating our defenders? They are not performing as they did earlier in the season and this is now affecting our goal keeper who doesn't look quite assured as he did earlier. Richard Keogh needs to play a bigger part for sure as we are beginning to ship a lot of water.

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Billysherlockblue added 18:19 - Oct 29 Ok id have taken a point before this game. They are hard to beat at home. But we had them beaten twice. Our defence while trying to play ball for big over 6 foot lads dont dominate in the air. Today proved that again.win the ball as if your life depend ed on it. We tend to f..k around. A good point away from home but once again it should have been 3. We need a no nonsense defender in the middle of our 3. I luv wolfie and at the moment id prob drop Edmondson. We switch off too often. Walton poor today aswell but he has been immense. So regroup guys and come back more solid. Prob burgess when fit back in for his ariel dominance. Disappointed but not end of the world.

4

BlueRuin69 added 18:20 - Oct 29 Cake man, we scored four goals! We are all upset but that comment is absurd. It's the defence that's at fault here.
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BLUETEL added 18:21 - Oct 29 Wot an awful week .. only 7 points from 9 .... and down to second after being top after 96 mins this arvo !!!! .... Seriously, we can't keep giving 2 goal leads away and i feel our defensive qualities must be addressed sooner rather than later.
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Flamencaman added 18:22 - Oct 29 Fact we are second in the league most goals scored, I believe we play 46 games we are in a good position,we've looked jaded of late loose passes everywhere,Harness had a mare and Donaciens guy gave him a rough time today, sadly Walton made a mistake sure we'll get over it
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surgery added 18:23 - Oct 29 Exactly Cakeman. It's going back to the old Chambers days, no matter how cr*p you play you'll still play next game
2

Dissboyitfc added 18:28 - Oct 29 Yes it's been a great October points wise , and if we continue in that points to games ratio we will get automatic promotion, however this result is not a one off, 3 times in 2 games running we have surrendered a 2 goal advantage, and let's not forget charlton were down to 10 men, that is not promotion form, I am not overreacting but if this bad habit continues we will end up in the playoffs! Do I still believe in McKenna, yes 100% and we will be ok but this needs to stop. Remember Wilson who we let go, he knew where row z was! Now the positive part, KM will learn from this and possibly with it still happening and the January window coming it may just alert him, if he didn't already know where we need to reinforce the squad! Great October, but need to shake how I feel, it's gonna ruin my weekend and that's why I hope the players hurt, they deserve to hurt. Feel sorry for our travelling fans!

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Nomore4 added 18:34 - Oct 29 As I keep saying if top 2 is to be achieved….you have to beat mid table and bottom half teams home and away. I don't expect any favours from Sheff Wed and Plymouth but a good day for both. 2 points thrown away.
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Nobbysnuts added 18:37 - Oct 29 Well where do you start.....awful defending again....two goal lead given up twice...km cannot be happy with that...he must be fuming because I am. School boy stuff again....this sort of performance will not get promotion. Scoring 4 away from home and not winning. Serious questions need answering....
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budgieplucker added 18:37 - Oct 29 It seems really mean to moan given what Kieron has served up this year and the great optimism we all have about getting automatic promotion and some great performances. However, we could all soon be praying that Barry Bannon gets a long term injury as Sheffield Wednesday will reign us in if we keep looking a gift horse in the mouth. To warrant a top two spot we need to be viciously ruthless, I certainly think we will be in the top six but we certainly need to do some proving that we are capable of a top two finish, a play off position is no use to use as we won't have the mental resilience to get through them. Our only other hope is for Plymouth to fold which they may do when the winter sets in and the pitches and injuries take a toll on their squad. Quite simply we create a lot of chances but do not convert enough to put a game beyond doubt. Other teams have a much better chances to goals conversion ratio. Serial offenders - despite getting a goal today John-Jules, had two other glorious chances and had he converted one of them at the right time The game could have been extinguished earlier. Marcus Harness has provided a valuable goal contribution this season but much of his other play is sloppy and we were punished today when he sloppily lost possession on one of their goals. Edwards who has been showing much improvement recently again fluffs his lines from 6 yards!!!! A ruthless team needs ruthless players - I don't see enough of them in our team to lead us to promotion without stretching our emotions and fears to the absolute limited. a season ticket to Alton Towers may seem pale in comparison for nail biting and scary rides!!!!

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WhoisJimmyJuan added 18:43 - Oct 29 Getting a little irritated at some of the wannabe holier-than-thou "cool heads" on here who patronise those of us who are upset tonight. Yes, we will calm down in due course, and, yes, it is not a bad result overall. But being upset and angry under these circumstances is an entirely human reaction. And I see very few truly negative remarks singling out players or managers. We vent on this site because we need to after that last few minutes.

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herfie added 18:47 - Oct 29 The FA Cup tie aside, we have a two week break until Cheltenham in the league. I hope KMcK, his coaching team and the players use the down time wisely. Never has the term “lessons will be learnt” become so critical in determining how the remainder of our season pans out. Action now, not words, required - and some dispassionate reviews of some individuals' mental toughness.

1

Karlosfandangal added 18:48 - Oct 29 I understand why people are saying we need to be ruthless in front of goal to kill games off But 7 goals in 2 games is ruthless and Town are the top scorers in the division and averaging 2 goals a game. Think the problem is letting goals in
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Saxonblue74 added 18:53 - Oct 29 Bert, I was listening on R Suffolk and believe me it's still hard to swallow! Now onto my 2nd bottle of red! Forget a striker, its our defence letting us down. 7 scored in 2 games is good, 6 conceded is appalling.
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RobsonWark added 19:00 - Oct 29 Dom Ball is another Luke Chambers. F'ing useless!! No wonder QPR didn't want him.
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BontyBlue added 19:00 - Oct 29 After the initial shock subsided at my 5pm catch up, I am looking at the bright side. Any sense of complacency will have stopped ahead of this break. Areas for improvement have been brought into sharp focus and possibly feed into the Jan sales wish list. Back o'the net - Town!
2

warwickblue added 19:00 - Oct 29 I wasn't at the game but on the radio the last few minutes sounded like the frantic sort of kick and rush that I used to sometimes referee in the Ipswich and District Primary Schools' Cup. Have to be more professional in seeing games out. The team collectively lost their heads.
3

algarvefan added 19:02 - Oct 29 Keiran was right wen he said we got carried away with the emotion of going 4-2 up, like most people I thought that had won us the game. On the whole I thought we played well today and deserved a victory, at 4-2 we should have seen the game out but we didn't we lost our concentration and shipped poor goals. Keiran knows this, we know this, the players know this, so lets all calm down and let the boss deal with it. It's not cost us anything major, we are still a work in progress, there's plenty of games to go, so just calm down everyone. 7 points this week is OK.

4

dirtydingusmagee added 19:05 - Oct 29 now having calmed down [a bit] i should add well done to Freddie Ladapo coming on again and scoring what should have been a winner [yes Morsey scored last ] Morsey sent us all into raptures but then should have settled things down and shut up shop not try and score again imo . On another day the away point would have been acceptable ,but this was just awful, cant be seen any other way ,it should not have happened .

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