Charlton Reserves 0 - Chelsea 1

Forget the result. This was a totally one-sided affair and the result must have been just one disappointing feature of the game for the Charlton management, who must have been hugely disappointed with the sending-off of Svensson and the booking of Robbo.

There was no sign of Sir Clive, but Eddie Youds was back in the line-up.With the players available one might have expected to see a 3-5-2 but 4-4-2 it was, with Jon Fortune lining up at right back I guess there must be a reason for these things, it's difficult to know to what degree Snodin is allowed to go out to win a game and to what extent he is subject to the dictates of the ever-present triumvirate in the directors' box.

As early as the 4th minute the decisive goal was scored. A long ball was looped over Andy Todd's head and Carlton Cole got in one-on-one with Ilic. In fairness Sasa got a piece of the ball but such was the time available that Cole was able to swivel round in a prone position and roll the ball past the rapidly retreating defenders.

Gradually Charlton picked up the pace and soon the game turned into a procession of Charlton attacks. Graham Stuart shot over on 8 minutes then connected with a Deane cross after 9. A couple of minutes later Charlie MacDonald got in a volley after Baldwin had failed to deal with a bouncing ball.

On 27 minutes Kevin Lisbie shot over after MacDonald had run onto a through ball. Increasingly the pace of those two was finding space for them and the Chelsea defenders resorted time after time to foul means, particularly frustrated by the body strength of McDonald.

On 30 minutes Lisbie lost the ball on the edge of the area then chased back to the halfway line to win it back, paused a second for breath and then ran the ball back towards the area being brought down for a free-kick 10 yards outside the area. The free kick was played sideways to Dave Collis who put his shot well wide.

On 35 minutes Robinson volleyed the ball in the net after a Lisbie knock-down but the goal was disallowed. 3 minutes later Collis had an effort kneed off the line after de Goey failed to collect a left-wing cross cleanly.

Just before half-time Lisbie was put through down the left channel but he kicked air and ended up flat on his posterior in the penalty area, so Chelsea went in a goal up.

The second half continued as the first had left off. At times the Charlton players were spending so much time in the attacking third that you half expected them to pitch a tent and sing a few gingangoolies round a camp fire.

On 54 minutes Robbo earned himself the customary booking. Whilst attempting to control a throw in he was pushed in the back and so just caught the ball, expecting the foul. The linesman, who must have been all of 5 yards away got the expected reaction when he flagged for the handball. The referee cannot possibly have heard what Robbo said but it mattered not as he immediately responded to the linesman's gesture and brandished his yellow card.

On 60 minutes we were treated to the re-appearance of Matt Svensson. He and Mario Lopez (who he?) replaced Robbo and Stuart (with an eye to Saturday?) with Sven lining up on the left of a midfield 3 and Lopez on the left of a front 3. Lopez showed a couple of nice touches but failed to contribute a great deal save for forcing a low save from De Goey after a Charlie MacDonald run.

In the meantime Mr. Chittenden, the referee, had got his yellow card in overdrive handing Cole the 4th Chelsea yellow card for an innocuous push on Todd in the Charlton penalty area. Worse followed on 79 minutes when Matt Svensson got over-enthusiastic and stuck a boot out in the direction of Scott Cousins' shin whilst attempting to win the ball on the right wing. The fact that Cousins was unhurt and that Sven kept his left foot firmly on the ground made no difference to Mr. Chittenden and after an impressive display of whistle-blowing he branded his shiny new red card. The major disappointment, of course, is that he'll now be missing matches when he should be gaining match fitness.

In fairness the sending-off had little impact on the direction of the game. A couple of minutes later Lisbie produced Charlton's best effort of the evening when he cut in from the left and thumped a shot against the post.

As time wore on Charlton threw more and more players forward leaving less and less cover at the back. It was all to no avail and in the 96th minute Chelsea found themselves with two spare men on the left but Wolleaston's shot was straight at Ilic giving him a comfortable first save of the night.

Given Charlton's possession it is difficult to assess the performance of the defence. Youds was strong in the air, of course, but looked rather slow on the ground. Jon Fortune had the opportunity to show some nice footballing touches and he and Adrian Deane put in some nice crosses from the right wing. Todd appeared to be fully recovered from his Watford injury.

Up front there was plenty of lively running from the front two but a familiar reluctance to actually pull the trigger, preferring to look for the opportunity to walk the ball into the goal.

Yes, we should have won this game, but the looming ban for Sven is the real disappointment. Thank you, Mr. Chittenden

Charlton team:

Ilic

Fortune, Youds, Todd, Robson

Deane, Stuart (Svensson 60), Collis, Robinson (Lopez 60)

MacDonald, Lisbie