Abbott Shows His Worth.

Charlton Athletic 3 - Posh 2


Charlton were 1-0 down at halftime yesterday and as the old saying goes, were lucky to get nil.

Peterborough were by far the stronger side, showing purpose going forward and demonstrating to an awful Charlton bunch how to pass the ball to feet.

I lost count of how many times possession was relinquished by our team.
Luckily for us, Peterborough had to settle for merely hitting the post and completely dominating proceedings until they finally got the goal they deserved, after some trickery and a well placed unstoppable shot.

The team left the pitch to a clearly audible smattering of boos.

Over halftime I exchanged messages with my old friend Adam who was present with his son, (having picked up free tickets distributed to his school.)
The consensus was the game wasn't worth paying for, despite some good interplay from Peterborough.
The referee being carried off on a stretcher was our very macabre 'highlight', though it certainly wasn't worth turning up for.

After the break, Pawal Abbott came on for a disappointing Scott Wagstaff.
Quickly it became apparent he was out to take his chance.
With both Anyinsah and Benson ruled out, Abbott had risen in the strikers pecking order and really couldn't afford to mess up.

He didn't.

Pawel Abbott was immense.
 He ran his socks off, showed skill and composure when laying off the ball to team mates and became a huge nuisance to the Posh defenders.

Simon Francis perked up too and began beating his man.
He sent in a fantastic cross for Jackson to head in at the far post.
Less than two minutes later, after some wonderful interchanges that wouldn't have looked out of place had they been performed by the team in red at the Emirates stadium, Charlton went 2-1 up.
Bradley Wright, Wright, Wright, (Phillips) also headed in at the far post to send the Valley into raptures and Bradley onto a 3 goals in 3 games record.

Pawal Abbott then got the goal his work deserved from the edge of the area, though the strong deflection may see it being taken from him.

There was just time for Charlton to give their fans the traditional squeaky bum finish as Peterborough managed to claw back a goal as the clock hit 90 minutes.

Some excellent running with the ball, away from our goal, was enough to run down the clock and give Chris Powell his 4th win, 'on the spin' as the pundits say.

Peterborough perhaps deserved more from their first half display but ultimately it was a game where Charlton took their chances when they were offered.

A Casual Rating.
The Lacoste polo shirt is heading towards Pawal Abbott.
Charlton looked clueless in the first half but after Pav's introduction the team came alive.
The Primark novelty slogan tee shirt is going to whoever worked out the added on time yesterday.
At the end of the first half, 4 minutes were added on, despite there being a few stoppages, a goal and the referee being down and then stretchered off, which on its own took at least 5 minutes.
Despite there being fewer incidents, the second half added on time was 6 minutes.
Go figure.
Ref Watch.
Ref #1 seemed to be having quite a good game until his mishap.
Referee #2 carried on the good work, though he did take a little while to catch up to the pace of the game.
The East stand lino was not up with play often enough and made some awful decisions, awarding throw ins the wrong way (for both sides) and ultimately confusing his job as a referee's assistant with that of a baseball capped yokel.

Since when did the Football League send their officials out looking like they were off to a shift at McDonalds?