Jackson Does It Again!

Charlton Athletic 1 - Sheffield United 0.


For the first 20 minutes of the game today I thought Sheffield United were the better team.

They came to London and most certainly had a go.
The park the bus tactics of Tranmere or Oldham weren't for them and they played some good stuff in the early exchanges.

Charlton hadn't really got going when a free kick was awarded for a foul on Hollands around 20 yards out.

We debated if Jackson would be the taker or maybe Yann Kermorgant would be given a chance to reprise his effort at Yeovil.

Johnnie Jackson stepped up and proved (to ex CAFC Miguel Llera among others), that last weeks perfect strike wasn't in any way 'lucky'.

Last weekend at Sheffield Wednesday, Jackson picked the spot in the top corner to the 'keepers left.
This week it was top corner, to the right.

I never thought I'd see a better Charlton free kick taker than Claus Jensen.
It now seems Claus has been equalled.

The rest of the half was quite a lot of huff and puff but neither side managed to find that final killer moment.

The second half came to life with around 15 minutes to go.
Charlton's Daryl Russell and United's James Beattie came on as substitutes.
We chuckled when Crispy christened Beattie 'Maureen Lipman'.

Little did we know that both players would be making brief appearances.

Russell came in for a couple of harsh challenges, nothing too strong but enough for the very fussy referee Deadman to hand out yellow cards.
Soon after, what seemed to be a well timed challenge, this time by Russell, had the referee waving his red card.
Astounded wasn't the word for it.

Having seen the incident again and checked @MiserableOlGit's picture, it really does seem to me like a decision that was perhaps made in haste when a deep breath might have been needed.

Red card?

In the aftermath of pushing, shoving, pointing and posturing I'd completely missed 'Maureen' getting stuck in.
He was shown the red card too.

We had absolutely no idea what he'd done but we were pleased that if we had to go down to ten men, then United had suffered the same fate.

After the game, some pretty graphic pictures emerged of Beattie trying to become the South London strangler.

He only has himself to blame.

The final 5 minutes and added on time weren't as nervy as they might have been.
The defence stood solid and even though the Yorkshiremen pushed forward, they hadn't brought their shooting boots.

Chris Powell was applauded from the pitch, the referee was given the bird from all four sides of the Valley.

A Casual Rating.

Sheffield United are the best side to come to the Valley in my opinion.

 It's a shame for them that they left pointless, yet the anti football of Oldham etc. have managed to grind out draws.

Johnnie Jackson is my MOM for his wonder goal and naturally is receiving the Lacoste polo.

Charlton weren't quite clicking today.

The defence are working well as a unit, the link play between midfield and the forwards is fine and the forward runs of Wiggins, Solly and Green are going well too but it just isn't quite flowing properly.

This all means nothing of course as Jackson's superlative free kick was good enough to win any game, at any level.

I'd settle for 1-0 wins in a similar fashion over the next few months but I still think there's more to come from this team.

Ref Watch.

Mr. Deadman arrived with a reputation for handing out cards and he didn't disappoint on that score.

He lost control in the final stages when both teams were angry at the sendings off and attempting to kick lumps out of each other.

I hope he's not on the list for another Charlton game and that is probably my final word on the subject.