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Thai Malaysia AddickCharlton ended February with a crushing 4-0 win at lowly Chesterfield. Carrying a 10 point lead over Sheffield United into March, even the doom and gloom Lifers were starting to feel that Project One Aim was nearly accomplished.
I was never very good at history, but I think it was George Graham who once said to Gus Caesar
“Beware the Ides of March”. Gus went on to be voted the worst player ever to play for Arsenal as decided by a Gunners forum.
Of course, our Chris will not go down in history as the worst anything at Charlton, but his confidence must have been shaken by what unfolded in March.
If there’s anything to miss about League One, the towns and cities that teams visit are generally nicer than the duller Championship offerings. March started with a trip to the seaside – an away game at
Bournemouth. The game was Thai Malaysia Addick’s sixth game of the season and his successful record of wins and clean sheets continued. In honesty, Charlton huffed and puffed on the day and only scraped home thanks to Kermorgant’s late header which just about crossed the line. Thai Malaysia Addick was perfectly placed to advise the referee that the ball had definitely crossed. It was, though, an unconvincingly display – not what you expect from runaway leaders. Even, Simon Francis looked good for Bournemouth, but the lead was now 13 points.
Three days later, Thai Malaysia Addick was in the West Stand hoping to witness yet another win and clean sheet.
Colchester United were the visitors and, within 5 minutes, Wordsworth struck a 25 yard curler that was, er, well, sheer poetry. A horrible second goal midway through the second half surprised no one on the night as the number of defeats for the season increased by 50% and the unbeaten home record vanished.
March 10th is the birthday of
Sharon Stone. It also brought
Notts County to The Valley. Whether Powell told his troops to rely on their basic instincts or whether they saw Sharon Stone in Basic Instinct before the kick off we will never know. It seemed like the latter as a lack of focus saw Notts County race scarily into a 4-0 half time lead thanks to Forte’s hat trick. Two consolation goals did little to console the ‘Wheels have come off” brigade while others talked in terms of blips and “Don’t panic, Mr Mainwairing”. The lead was now 10 points over Sheffield United and 11 points over their neighbours. Back in August this would have been beyond our wildest dreams, but now it suddenly seemed somewhat more fragile.
It was also the weekend when Reading hit the promotion spots in the Championship after a run of 15 wins out of 19 games – a run that continued as they moved from 17th to 1st.
A week later, football fans everywhere were stunned by the frightening events that took place at White Hart Lane when
Fabrice Muamba collapsed on the pitch and almost died. The pictures were shocking and the sound of the Spurs’ supporters chanting his name as he was carried from the pitch will never be forgotten. Thankfully, he recovered slowly over the ensuing days.
Charlton’s recovery seemed unimportant in comparison, but a point at
Scunthorpe and a comfortable win over
Yeovil began to reassure those of a nervous disposition that it was all going to be alright.
Dany N’Guessan had been brought in on loan and scored in the 7th minute of his debut against the cider drinkers. His signing satisfied both the punsters on CL and those concerned about whether he was tall enough.
(I’m guessing he’s tall enough)
In Charlton’s last two games of the month, a fifth defeat of the season was suffered at
Huddersfield Town where an early Rhodes’ penalty separated the teams.
Leyton Orient came through the Blackwall Tunnel on the final day of the month and three points meant that Charlton could go into April with a 6 point lead over Sheffield United and an 8 point lead over Sheffield Wednesday with 6 games to play. An early goal from Wagstaff and a late on from N’Guessan sealed the points. The games ahead didn’t look too difficult on paper, but it was easy to wish life away. There were no thoughts of celebrations at this stage. And, few had realised yet the futility of it all as the world was going to end on 21st December 2012.
The month ended with the good news that Fabrice Muamba was recovering well and had been watching Match of the Day from his bedside.
Six “easy” games awaited us.....
