Waggy Wins It!

This won't take long.

The highlights of this evening were few and far between.

Charitably, I'm going to say that the extremely heavy pitch on Saturday must have tired our boys out because they really weren't up for it in this rearranged fixture against Hartlepool United.

The first half was so poor, I found myself trying to count the Hartlepool supporters who had made it South and then spread themselves thinly across the Jimmy Seed stand.
50?
60?
Definitely no more than 70.
Surely one of the lowest turnouts ever at the Valley?
Of course, those who did make it down from the North East should be highly commended as it's an awesome journey to indulge in midweek.

(According to one of their supporter flags, some of them had come all the way from Kent so perhaps I'll lay off the commendations.)

Charlton went one nil up when Grant Basey sent over a particularly good cross after chasing the ball and whipping it in, just before it rolled over the line for a goal kick.
Mooney was there to nudge the ball over the line.
1-0.

At half time I was still waiting for the game to get going.
Yawn.

Soon after the restart, Hartlepool were awarded a penalty that none of our players disputed so I can assume it must have been the right decision.
No card was issued and it was difficult to see who made the challenge. I thought it was possibly Dailly but it could well have been Llera.
Despite Elliot guessing correctly when the kick was taken and looking fairly strong, the ball bounced off him and into the roof of the net.
1-1.
Hartlepool began wasting SOOOOOO much time and the crowd were getting restless.

Again, Parky brought on the cavalry in the form of Wagstaff, McKenzie and Dickson in an attempt to grab back the lead.

Nothing seemed to change though.
Then Scott Wagstaff let fly from distance.
 I was halfway through saying "What a waste" as he seemed to have so many better options available when I realised the ball was heading for the bottom corner.
A truly remarkable goal and the highlight of the game.

Suddenly Hartlepool found that they didn't want to be so relaxed anymore but their chance had now vanished.

The next highlight of the game was Chris Dickson scoring a goal, rushing off to celebrate then everyone realising that the ref had spotted something and the goal had been chalked off.
Nevertheless, a young man dressed in a green 'mankini' had rushed onto the pitch to celebrate the 'goal' and now found himself caught up in the action.

The overweight stewards were having no luck catching him and he probably would have made it off the pitch and back into the stands if the heartless Hartlepool player Collins hadn't scythed him down.
A definite case of "just because you're losing...."
The stewards now earned their money and got stuck into their job with relish.

I'm sure their training leaflet mentions it needs 4 or 5 heavy set lumps to lie on and restrain a rather slightly built naked man in order to stop any mischief.

A 2-1 win that at no point seemed convincing but it's another 3 points and that's all that's important.

A Casual Rating
The Lacoste polo shirt is being awarded to the Hartlepool supporters who came down to London for quite possibly the worst football experience known to man.
A shocker.
(Those Hartlepool fans who came from Kent aren't included).
Waggy can have one too for his moment of skill that livened up a tedious evening.

The Primark novelty slogan tee shirt is being awarded to whoever cleaned the players boots as they must have used olive oil instead of polish. The amount of miskicks and fluffs was astounding.
The feller who ran onto the pitch can have one too as he probably needs it to warm up.
I dread to think what it's like sitting in Greenwich or Plumstead police station dressed only in his Borat beachwear!