Doncaster Rovers 0 Charlton Athletic 1

We should have won the game by four or five after a dominant first half display but in the end we were clinging on and after recent criticism Craig MacGillivray made a terrific save at the death to secure the 3 points.

Doncaster were poor, but this was a much better and more confident performance from the Addicks led by a fantastic display from CBT who caused all manor of problems. Donny even changed their right wing back at the break to blunt his threat, but CBT roasted him too.

One such roasting was for the goal. CBT skipped past his marker in the box, and cut back to Stockley, who finished well in front of the travelling Addicks.

Just after that Stockley put a shot at an open goal against the bar after Washington had a one-on-one saved.

CBT has been one bright spot amongst the myriad of new loan and permanent signings, and I suspect the least thought was put into his arrival. He was eventually substituted after a lung busting display just after he was booked for returning to the field after being told to by the 4th official. He immediately stole the ball and was away and clear before the referee pulled him back and booked him!

CBT was a clear man of the match but Lavelle, Fraser, Dobson, Matthews and MacGillivray all deserve a mention.

The Charlton TV cameras weren’t plugged in for the majority of the first half for ‘network reasons’ and the studio panel and those that had paid had to rely on the commentary, but we pictured at least five or six gilt-edged chances being spurned including a tame penalty by Washington.

Charlton had four players booked which took our league tally to 99 yellow cards, the worst in the top five divisions.

The game did get a bit testy and I couldn’t work out at the end if the Charlton players were actually arguing with each other or it was a just a well worked ploy to wind the clock down.

It was good to see Jacko and the players celebrate a rare away win with the fans after the whistle. I was one of the 4,000 that made the journey to Donny for the play-off game in 2019, but huge credit to the 700 who were in South Yorkshire yesterday. That win was for them.

Jacko: “I liked the performance today, I liked what I saw in and out of possession. Obviously, that final bit was lacking but I thought we moved the ball well, I thought we got into some really dangerous areas, I thought there were some outstanding performances throughout the team and we created a lot.”

Gary McSheffrey: “We were lucky to be in the game at half time.”

Photo credit: Kyle Andrews