Post-match Thread: Charlton Athletic v Rotherham United | Tuesday 2 November

A game that we would most certainly have lost a few weeks ago. 

Although we could have won it in the second half,  it was ultimately a well earned and thoroughly deserved point against a very tough and streetwise side. Rotherham were thoroughly difficult and awkward opponents, in the sense that they can play, are very well drilled and coached and are, to a man, experts in the art of shithousery.

They largely negated us in the first half with their high press and their three big central defenders gobbled up most of the resulting high balls, with Stockley outnumbered. It also meant that our wing backs were pushed back for much of the time, although DJ got forward to good effect on a couple of occasions and was our main outlet.

One big contrast between the sides were their respective corners in the opening period. Rotherham varied theirs between flooding the 6 yard box, adopting more conventional starting positions and having a number of 6-footers charging in together from outside the area. For our part, Lee and Washington tried an ill-conceived and executed one-two, which conceded a tame throw on near the corner flag.

I thought that Rotherham were the better side in the first half, although there wasn’t much in it on chances, and the goal in injury time was a gut punch.

We were much better in the second half, really getting after Rotherham and putting them under some serious pressure. We started to win more second balls, refused to be bullied and began moving the ball better.

Macgillivray’s excellent reaction save kept us in it and Connor Washington’s expertly struck equaliser was thoroughly deserved for a much improved and thoroughly committed performance. He needed that after not converting a couple of earlier opportunities.

We could have won the with a bit more composure - especially near the end with Lee failing to play Gilbey in - but I felt a draw was ultimately a fair result.

In terms of performances, I thought that Pearcey played a real captain’s role tonight, especially given Famewo’s less than impressive performance. Akin gave the ball away a few times in dangerous positions (including shortly before their goal) and it is something that he needs to eradicate from his game.

Our midfield three worked hard but found it difficult to find space against doughty and aggressive opponents.  DJ had an excellent game and was our main offensive threat but everyone across the team gave their all and contributed to an important point.

A word about the referee, who I thought was diabolical. Rotherham did a real number on him with their gamesmanship and time wasting. They persistently surrounded him en masse to complain about anything and everything - emboldened by their success in getting Stockley booked after 3 minutes - and somehow managed to persuade him not to send off the already booked number 20 when he cynically tripped Gilbey. The piece de resistance was, however, allowing their player to lie on the turf 3 yards from the East Stand touchline and subsequently amble across to the opposite side of the pitch to be substituted. That incident alone took about 3 minutes, yet he and his colleagues saw fit to only add on 5 minutes of injury time, notwithstanding Rotherham successfully eating up time on several other occasions. 

Putting those frustrations to one side, 7 points from Jacko’s first 3 fixtures is an excellent return given what went before. He and Jason Euell now have two and a half weeks to work with the players before the Green Army come to The Valley for the next league game. Let’s hope we can get players like Leko, Matthews and Arter fit during that period and maintain the momentum gained over the last fortnight under Jacko’s leadership.