A poor crowd of just over 4,800 came to The Valley, hoping for more of the same heroics as last Saturday.
As it turned out, Charlton scraped through against a spirited and well organised Barnet side.
The prospect of going to The Valley this evening did not fill me with joy.
It was cold, damp and I was hungry.
I sat in the living room with a large coffee until only 15 minutes to kick off.
A game against Barnet was hardly a mouth watering prospect.
Perhaps I should stay at home?
With a mild utterance of "sod it" I pulled on my coat, hat, scarf and Timberlands and made for The Valley.
I already had my ticket after all.
In the first half, Charlton were much the better side and Kyel Reid scored a fantastic individual goal.
However, despite Charlton stroking the ball about, Rob Elliott had to be really on his game more than once. A one handed 'strong wrist' save in particular was terrific.
At half time I was so chilly I bought a Bovril. (There wasn't much of a queue).
I burned the inside of my mouth which put me in a bad mood for the second half.
Even without the oral mishap, the second half was a completely different affair.
Rob Elliott had to really show his worth. On another night, Charlton would have been soundly beaten but tonight Rob seemed invincible.
Charlton never really looked like scoring in the second half but Barnet most certainly did.
Our old 'friend' Izale McLeod came on as a late substitute for Barnet which left me feeling certain he would score.
However, I'd forgotten how crud he is and other than a couple of attempted 'pass and moves' he didn't show much.
It most certainly was a relief when the final whistle was blown.
Our referee had not made friends, especially in the second half when he gave some rather strange looking yellow cards for what was universally reported near me as, 'not much'.
I look forward to finding out tomorrow who we will be playing in the next round.
Casual Rating
The Lacoste polo has to go to Robbie Elliott. He was as good as I've ever seen him tonight. Well done Robbie.
The Primark novelty slogan tee shirt is going to Izale Mcleod. He really is pony isn't he?
I feel he has found his level at Barnet in League 2.
I can't believe he was bought to try to push us back to the Premier League.
That is not his fault I know but tonight he did try a few of those sneaky trips over his own leg that we know sometimes con referees into penalties.
Bring on Round 2.
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