POST-MATCH THREAD: Charlton Athletic v Swansea City: Saturday 1st November 2025: KO 15:00
Charlton returned to home after the long (but successful) sojourn of last week to face a Swansea City side decked out in their motor sports kit and revving to go off the back of a cup defeat to Manchester City.
It was a frantic start to the day’s action. Within the first few minutes the Swansea keeper cleared up field. With the ball in the air Reece Burke inexplicably ducked his potential header, leaving the ball to then bounce over LLoyd Jones’ head and straight into the path of the Swansea attacker. A sliding, last ditch Macauley Ghillesphey tackle stopped Swansea’s Eom from being clear in on goal. Moments later they had a pop at goal that was easily dealt with by Thomas Kaminsky.
On 6 minutes it was Charlton’s chance. Gillesphey looped the ball forward to Tyreece Campbell who gathered it in the deep into the box and held off his defender long enough to find Sonny Carey on the edge of the box. Carey scuffed his shot with his left foot, rather fotunately, sending it into the path of Charlie Kelman. Unfortunately, the ball went in to his midriff and he was only able to glance it into the keeper’s arms with his knee.
On 30 minutes, TC tracked back… then forced a block for a corner. Bree swung in, Gillesphey’s header tipped over the bar.
On 41 minutes charlton had a bit of play in the Swansea box that ultimately came to nothing. The keeper’s goal kick found the Swansea man in acres of space, largely because Lloyd Jones and A’mari Bell went down with knocks. The resulting attack was marshaled majestically by the makeshift defence, with Conor Coventry coming away with the ball to clear. Bell was subsequently replaced by Kayne Ramsay.
A couple of minutes later, at the stroke of halftime, Reece Burke went down with an injury. Charlton were left to see out the additional time with only ten on the pitch. Charlton probably had the best of the chances but the first half was scrappy, lacked much quality, and was not a pretty watch.
Miles Leaburn came on at the resumption of play, with Tyreece Campbell dropping back into the wingback position. Just moments into the second half, Conor Coventry lofted a ball over the top of the Swansea backline and into Charlie Kelman’s path. He patiently waited for the ball to drop over his shoulder and then… magically… he rose up and rifled home his first goal, from a tight angle and, fittingly, right in front of the covered end. Hallelujah, a striker, that striker, has scored!
The intensity was then raised by both sides. It went back and forth for almost twenty minutes until Swansea got their equaliser. After a spell of possession that left the Addicks chasing shadows, Swansea scored from a turn and shot on the edge of the ‘D’ that eluded Gillesphey, Jones, and Kaminsky. It was an uncharacteristic goal for the Addicks to concede, thereby compounding the frustrations of the preceding few minutes.
Charlton looked deflated. Kelman came off, replaced by Onel Hernadez in an attempt to inject some belief.
On about 83 minutes, Nathan Jones brought on Tanto Olaofe to replace Tyreece Campbell and Harvey Knibbs to replace Greg Docherty.
On 88 minutes Sonny Carey blasted a ball he caught sweetly on the bounce, some twenty yards out, but it went straight into the keeper.
It was just the six minutes of added time for this match to be decided. Swansea had their chance a minute in when a shot was blasted over from some seven yards. Charlton really didn’t have much else to say before the whistle was blown.
A solid point, but it feels all three points were there for the taking. On another day, we might have had what it takes to do so. Unfortunately, we were flat. It was tough and perhaps a harbinger of things to come. This league is relentless and we’ve another busy week.
Still, Kelman off the mark and a point more towards safety.
Charlton 1 Swansea 1
Over to you.
Comments
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Still not used to feeling disappointed after draws with decent Championship sides. This time last year we edged past Southend in the FA Cup 1st round. We’ve come so far since then50
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Always going to be tough when you lose 2 of your back 5 in 2 minutes. In context, a point is decent enough.
Think we’re going to see Fullah at LWB which is exciting.Just hope Bell isn’t out for too long as he’s vital to the way we play.27 -
Not really sure why we moved Campbell to LWB when we had JFC and Apter on the bench, plus Bree who can play there as well. It just made things harder for us. We really struggled after the break until TK went down after the Hernandez change and Jones reshuffled things.
I’ll take the point, though, and just hope the injuries aren’t too bad.
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Losing Bell seems to ruin our balance and an option when playing out from the back. But generally not a performance of intensity like we are used to anyway.2
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As for today’s game, the injuries scuppered us as did NJ’s habit of only having one defender on the bench. TC was dangerous first half but wasted at LWB. Our midfield were outplayed and Ramsay had an off day. Ultimately we did well to escape with a point18
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Unusual performance - so passive. we hardly made an effort to close them down for about 60 seconds for their goal,6
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Forced subs didn’t help but thought we looked poor and invited far too much pressure.
Think their Korean 10 is the best player I’ve seen so far, absolutely run the game then took him off after the scored.Decent side Swansea so happy with a point.14 -
A bit like Hull again, we weren't at the races today, but felt after a slow start we took impressive possession of the game, and were lucky not to be ahead - Injuries though, and Coventry with an impressive block equally saved us from going into HT behind.
But it was the injuries that killed us today, we lost the assurance of Bell and Burke at the back, and with players having to chop and change, playing a couple of roles throughout the game ensured that we just struggled to show our usual effort on the match.
Bit of an annoying goal from distance to concede, especially as Brownie said that someone could have laid down in front of it, to block it - Whilst Kelman's finish was fortunate, given the opportunity that created for him, but was a good finish, the way the ball was at an awkward height for him to strike, hopefully thats the bursting of the dam for him now though.
All-in-all though, was one of those games where it was a hard fought, deserved draw for both sides.
We'll have setbacks throughout the season, and we know we can recover from them under Jones.
Its a great feeling, being a bit meh, where we score first and don't win, because its credit to how tight and organised we are... But Swansea (GF: 13 - GA - 13) show that they, like Hull, are not overly different from us.
We have no right to be this close to the Play-Offs, even at this stage of the season, especially as 21st remains a bit of a positive outcome for us, come the end of the season, so I imagine this'll be a good draw come the business end of the season, rather than two points dropped.11 -
Thought Galbraith controlled the midfield we couldnt get near him - shame we couldnt get him in summer.41
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First time this season that I thought we looked tired for a sustained period during the game. Most certainly a point gained rather than 2 dropped.15
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Losing two defenders in 5 minutes was a blow and the initial attempt at restructuring the team didn't work particularly well but if I'm blaming Jones for getting that wrong I also have to credit him for having another go at it, more successfully.
Maybe just one of those games where you take the point, move on and don't dwell.15 -
I thought we were a yard off the pace today — we never really got in their faces and, in truth, a draw was probably a fair result. The left-back/left wing-back curse seems to have hit us at the worst possible time, so I imagine TC will have to fill in there on Tuesday. Typical Charlton luck really — just when things start to settle, we get another setback. Let’s hope we show a bit more intensity midweek and get back to winning ways.3
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The injuries completely ruined our balance. One of those days and probably our worst performance at the valley this season so will definitely take the point. On to Tuesday!3
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Think this is a fair assessment.thenewbie said:Losing two defenders in 5 minutes was a blow and the initial attempt at restructuring the team didn't work particularly well but if I'm blaming Jones for getting that wrong I also have to credit him for having another go at it, more successfully.
Maybe just one of those games where you take the point, move on and don't dwell.
It’s good we have a game on Tuesday. Means both the team and us can move on quickly. Means FA needs to get his typing fingers going though…5 -
Repetitive strain injury mate... Out for six weeksfenaddick said:
Think this is a fair assessment.thenewbie said:Losing two defenders in 5 minutes was a blow and the initial attempt at restructuring the team didn't work particularly well but if I'm blaming Jones for getting that wrong I also have to credit him for having another go at it, more successfully.
Maybe just one of those games where you take the point, move on and don't dwell.
It’s good we have a game on Tuesday. Means both the team and us can move on quickly. Means FA needs to get his typing fingers going though…
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I don't feel too bad as we deserved to lose that. A win on Tuesday and it becomes a good point. I don't think the injuries helped and the ref was useless but helped us a bit more than he helped them. Missing that foul on Leaburn at the end was a complete joke though.10
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Frustrating but fair, I think. From our perspective it would have been better if all our subs could have been tactical ones rather than forced early upon us. From theirs, they had a lot of shots over the bar and probably feel they could have done better. I don't like moaning about refs and for the most part I thought he had a decent game, but allowing the blatant pulling down of Leaburn at the end was outrageous.9
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A few flat performances on the bounce, but both secured a point. If we can get a point when we are not an top I'm delighted. Of course it is disappointing to take a lead and not win, but such is the challenge of staying up, that every point is precious.
It has been said already, but as we enter November, what a difference a year makes. NJ has done a remarkable job in that timeline. We have made the valley a fortress, with one defeat in 20+. It's easy to get carried away and have expectations beyond being battered every week (which before the season began I feared could be a reality), but really stability is the goal and staying up in any position is all that matters in May. NJ keeps saying he's building something, but he's not finished by a long shot.
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We don’t usually concede when taking the lead but the injuries to Burke and Bell understandably killed our usual defensive solidity. Thought TC did well at LWB but it obviously nullified our attacking threat.A point was a decent result in the end and Kelman off the mark.
Filling those defensive holes will be an issue for Tuesday. But Jones will sort it.COYRs9 -
If you can't win, don't lose I guess6
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Glad for Kelman, that's about it.16
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Happy with the point. Swansea are probably the best side we’ve faced so far. Shame we didn’t get Galbraith in the summer. Best player on the pitch. Thought we were a little disjointed and didn’t play with our usual fluidity. The injuries didn’t help. Hope they’re not too bad. Both Bell and Burke will be a big miss11
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On the one hand it’s disappointing as I think Swansea were there for the taking, but they’ll feel the same and have a better argument for deserving the win than we do.It’s really positive that we’ve managed to get two points from two bad performances but it is slightly concerning that we still look so tired despite no midweek game. Is it just inevitable that our high intensity style can’t be kept up for 46 games and we need to focus on finding a way to scrape through until the energy returns?1
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Feels a bit of a let down after scoring first but with all the defensive injuries I suppose we have to be thankful for a point.
We now enter what is usually our "bad" part of the season. I've noticed over the years that we start the season well & after a dozen or so games we are top 8 or thereabouts. Then the clocks go back & we enter winter. We then have an iffy few months where we lose more than we win and dont generally do that well until the New Year (last season we bucked this trend a bit earlier than normal).
We have WBA on tuesday night. They are looking very fragile & we need to win that game & win it well.7 -
Losing Bell and Burke impacted but energy levels were not there today. Will be games like this and shows how far we have progressed to be disappointed. Hopefully can reinvigorate the team for Tuesday. May see some other changes in addition to Bell and Burke missing. Happy that CK got his goal.1
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An ugly point earned and a poor goal conceded.2
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Happy with the point. We looked a bit shaky at the back even before the injuries, 2 players going for the same ball, that weird Burke/Jones incident in the 1st minute, Burke heading the ball out needlessly for a corner etc.
Some interesting sub choices today, Hernandez playing right midfield ahead of Apter was a surprising choice, ditto Rankin-Costello not being used. Ramsay wasn't great today, but to be fair was played in several positions.
Good finish by Kelman, Coventry with the excellent assist. His passing was much more progressive today.6 -
Far too passive again. We look knackered across the whole pitch. The energy levels have dropped significantly.Guessing both injuries are going to be longish term and with Edward’s already out we are starting to look thin on the ground at the back.
Cant understand Karoy being left off the bench, we’ve been crying out for his energy in the last couple of games.
With the injuries picked up today, we are likely to see 5/6 changes on Tuesday.Pleased for Kerman, but his goal is probably the only genuine plus point from the game.7 -
A very good point in the circumstances. Swansea moved the ball around really well. Delighted for Kelman; that was a great finish. Now wondering who’ll be fit for Tuesday; Jones looked to be struggling for most of the second half.0
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I'll take the point. Disappointed with the injuries, as both players bring experience, calm, and quality. Bell has played more consecutive games recently than expected.We're slightly imbalanced now, so we need to get through this spell with some points (even if ugly) on board.0
