Forest Green Rovers 0 Charlton Athletic 1
That was a performance to put the top sides into complete panic mode…. they will not be looking nervously over their shoulder!
Blimey, a win is always a win, and that is five from seven, but we were easily second best tonight to the division’s bottom side.
We started great, first twenty minutes. The wide men CBT and Rak-Sakyi were causing all manner of problems. On 12 minutes after a couple of warning signs we scored. CBT firing in after a cross was deflected into his path.
We kept going and it was one-way traffic and when Aneke headed across the goal Rak-Sakyi got his connection all wrong and air shot a great opportunity. Still we probed – Fraser, Clare, Dobson, Kilkenny all playing deep up the pitch.
FGR came back into it a bit in the last 10 minutes of the half but didn’t really cause any flutters.
2nd half was a whole different picture. Duncan Ferguson’s lot were inspired and completely dominated the game. We were pinned back and had to rely on blocks, last minute tackles and luck.
We defended loads of corners and free-kicks as we retreated behind the ball. Fortunately most of the home side’s shooting was off, but we threw ourselves in front of what was on target and Maynard-Brewer made a superlative save down low to his right from a goal bound header. FGR’s only shot on target.
Not a victory for the ages, but it will have made the journey home for those hardy Addicks more joyous, maybe even romantic!
We need to be a lot better on Saturday.
Dean Holden: “Brilliant support getting right behind the players when we need them. Maybe we need to get them on some dating websites though because a thousand coming up on Valentines is a great achievement!”
Stats (CAFC first): Possession – 62% / 38%; Passes – 565 / 280; Accurate passes – 487 / 190; Shots (on target) – 14 (3) / 5 (1).
Chicago Addick 
We’ve screwed up so frequently against teams in the lower half of the division that I’m prepared to look beyond the performance and take the result. We don’t ever seem to play that well against teams that play deep and frustrate us into making mistakes, however we fare better against teams higher up the division who meet us on our terms which also suit their style of play.
We got the ball wide often enough and the pace of the wingers and the fall-backs overlapping caused FGR problems but we needed to play through the centre a bit more and there things got bogged down. Chuks Aneke was marked out of the game a bit too easily. But it was his first league start of the season and he was a bit too isolated from the midfield. Perhaps his role as an impact sub is where his talents really lie.
Michael Hector looked good in the few minutes he got, none of this playing the ball out patiently from the back stuff, just welly it downfield or into the stands.
I liked Hector’s cameo. More Les Berry than Thiago Silva.