Bristol Rovers 1 Charlton Athletic 0
And that is why we are where we are.
Last week inspiring and brilliant, this week prosaic and characterless. Same players, same problem.
It wasn’t much of a game, but after a dreadful 1st half and the same again after the break Joey Barton went for it and make positive changes and it was John Marquis again that was the difference.
Maynard-Brewer made a superb first half stop, but we were generally untroubled at the back until Dobbo handled in the box and Marquis scored the resultant penalty on 71 minutes.
Rather belatedly Holden made a couple of attacking changes but it took us until the last knockings of the game to up the tempo and put pressure and numbers on Rovers’ defence.
A couple of perhaps a little more than half chances, but it was a familiar prose and a little too late. Rak-Sakyi and Campbell were neutralized by Barton’s team selection, Leaburn isolated and Fraser and Morgan back to their irrelevant selves.
I thought Hector and Thomas were the only two deserving of clapping off plus AMB.
Despite a sell-out crowd the game and atmosphere resembled what it was…. an end of season mid table dead rubber, and sadly despite last week’s encouraging performance we were all brought back to reality with a bump.
Dean Holden: “I don’t think there was much in the game to be fair. I think they gave us the biggest credit with their team selection. They’ve left out Collins, who is arguably their best player, to block up that midfield. They’ve made it difficult for us, they’ve defended the key spaces and ultimately we’ve not been able to get our wide players and maybe Miles into the games as much as we’d have liked.”
Stats (CAFC first): Possession – 59% / 41%; Passes – 444 / 310; Accurate passes – 353 / 229; Shots (on target) – 6 (1) / 10 (3)
Chicago Addick 
Yes as though the sun was in their eyes.
Shout out also to the two official CAFC coaches that didn’t make the game. They really have to re-think the away service. No accounting for the weather or bank holiday traffic by those meant to manage it.
I hope those 100 or so fans are refunded.
Charlton are like a box of chocolates…plenty of variety but without the guide you can never be sure what the fillings are !!! It seems today the
Lid should have been kept tightly shut.
All fruit and no nuts. Happy Easter Chris.
You too CA !
We just cannot break down defensive teams that press us hard. There are too many contracts expiring soon and players afraid to run at players or make telling balls in case they make a mistake. That is why we often cannot break down poor teams. Barton packed his side out with grafters and left out his main strikers until he needed them to finish us off. Absolutely brilliant tactics.
The side picked itself and maybe that was the problem, we were a bit too predictable and easy to isolate individuals and stifle the team. Dean Holden should have switched it around a bit at half-time and was a bit reactive only bringing on late subs.
A draw would have been a fair result, neither side really deserved the win. The pen was a tad fortuitous for BR but then so was ours last week.
Glad that Thomas is playing well at left back. It is a new position for him and he will get better with experience, his height is an advantage at both defending and attacking set plays as our midfield and forward players lack aerial prowess except for Leaburn. It means we do not have to resort to using the back 3 system with it’s inherent limitations.
I hope that Holden can now give youngsters like Mitchell and Henry a chance to show their capabilities. As the second year U18s are a strong group this year next years U21 side should be worth watching, several may make the first team squad.
Kedwell has already established himself in the U21 side and I predict that he will be the next academy player to feature in the first team. Asiimwe and Bower could also break through next season.
Thanks rierti. I always welcome your opinion on the next generation.
I like Thomas at LB, and importantly he gives us more security back there. It does limit our offensive play although Thomas does have a decent touch.
The first sentence is so true.