Charlton Away Won 1 – 5, Cheer Up Nathan Jones Oh What Can It Mean …….
An international break had been and gone, and, lo and behold, Tonda Eckert was still in charge at Charlton – to his surprise as much as mine, I suspect. He didn’t have Downes (who has developed an absence record to rival Stewart) fit enough to start so Bragg was trusted with a full debut after an uncertain outing at Blackburn – and he put in a solid shift before giving way to Downes after 76 minutes. The meaningful action was mostly taking place in Charlton’s penalty area, with Saints missing a couple of presentable chances before Manning converted an inviting Fellowes cross with a flying header. No sooner had the Addicks’ right flank been opened up than Scienza socked it to the left side, setting up Armstrong who found the net at the second attempt after getting the ball stuck under his feet. Next, Saints manage to set up a breakaway from a move that starts in their own six yard area: Armstrong sent Jander away and he more or less passed the ball into the net as Kaminsky stayed at home rather than try to narrow shooting angles. This was a rate of scoring of Sadio Mané proportions but the goals were being shared out so the team didn’t finish their spree until they made it four in no more than eight minutes – another assist for Armstrong who fed Azaz, who took the ball around Kaminsky before scoring. There was another to come before the break, again from Azaz who tapped in at the far post with a defender practically standing on the line while claiming offside (more good work by Fellowes for this one, by the way). Somehow there was still first half time for Southampton to blow the chance of a clean sheet when Jones scored with a free header from a corner. Some of Saints attacking play had been scintillating and they continued to dominate, although Charlton’s tackling had become tougher (but not always legal), while Wood was being given a tough battle by Leaburn in their attack – maybe why the Welsh Wizard took him off. If it’s possible to feel sorry for Nathan Jones, this was the time, with Saints fans dishing out plenty of stick… deserved stick, though! It finished 5-1, but no-one was complaining about the lack of second half goals after the feast served up in the opening period – in fact even sub Damian Downs attracted few moans as he managed to make the home defence seem half-competent.
Three LSSC Man of the Match candidates to choose from:
3. Ryan Manning, given plenty of licence to get forward in today’s formation.
9. Adam Armstrong, with two assists to add to his goal – and he did a good job of bringing other players into the game all afternoon.
46. Cameron Bragg. Tonda couldn’t have asked more of him.
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