Bournemouth 0 Charlton 1 (Kermorgant 90).
Kevin Nolan reports from Dean Court.
As this scruffy, scoreless game lurched into three added minutes, it seemed that a corner hustled off Simon Francis by Rhoys Wiggins gave Charlton an ideal opportunity to wind down the clock en route to an increasingly important point. The bush telegraph was already buzzing with the news that the Addicks’ nearest promotion rivals were enduring late nightmares of their own elsewhere. An exacting, laborious afternoon was suddenly working out not too badly at all. But it was about to get dramatically better.
A succession of left wing inswingers from Danny Green hadn’t unduly troubled Bournemouth’s well organised defence but his latest and last delivery brought with it sudden mayhem to the Cherries’ six-yard box. Touched on by Danny Haynes, it was nodded goalward by Yann Kermorgant’s head through a madding crowd of striving bodies, was disconcertingly swung at and missed by Johnnie Jackson, then squirted clearly over the goalline. An instantly flagging linesman confirmed referee Oliver Langford’s decision to award a goal that all but propels Charlton into The Championship. With luck like this, they can hardly fail to make it. Just don’t expect them to apologise for what can only be described as legal robbery.
An unrecognisable shadow of the City slickers who dismantled Chesterfield on Tuesday, Charlton had struggled to make any impression on stubborn Bournemouth. Operating in pleasantly sylvan surroundings, with bowling greens, cricket pavilions and rugby pitches clustered around them, these streetwise Cherries are nobody’s mugs. A mere stone’s throw from Thomas Hardy’s vividly etched Wessex heaths, they might be cultural miles from the dockside likes of Tranmere and Hartlepool but they’re hard as nails. And since coming to the conclusion that posh Boscombe wasn’t pulling its weight, AFC Bournemouth have gone it alone for the better. They still harbour faint hopes of making the play-offs, though this wretchedly unlucky defeat hasn’t helped their cause.
Claiming that the home side was unlucky doesn’t automatically imply that their visitors were outrageously fortunate. Not a bit of it. Off colour, jaded and leg weary though they were, Charlton stuck together, endured and stayed in a drab contest until making the most of one of their rare chances. It wasn’t elegant but it’s no accident that they have regularly pulled off results like this one all season. With experts predicting an inevitable slide, their bloodyminded refusal to buckle has sustained them while those around them have faltered. For a study in team spirit, look no further than Charlton Athletic 2011-12.
A dreadful first half was shaded by Lee Bradbury’s men. They came close to grabbing the lead when top scorer Wes Brown slid in at the far post to connect with Scott Malone’s hard low cross but scraped the outside of Ben Hamer’s left post. In reply, a finely judged pass from ex-Cherry Danny Hollands sent Bradley Wright-Phillips sprinting clear of marker Miles Addison but his low angled drive was comfortably dealt with by Daryl Flahavan. Hollands was generously welcomed back to Dean Court, or Seward Stadium as it’s needlessly re-named, while the every touch of Wiggins, another Bournemouth old boy, was roundly booed. A football crowd is among the strangest of animals. Sensibly ignoring them, Wiggins stayed sound as a pound.
Genuine livewires but lacking edge up front, The Cherries continued to press, with Shaun McDonald’s snaps hot dangerously clearing the crossbar. Malone was an elusive wide man but the consistent Chris Solly contained him magnificently. Solly exceeded his brief shortly before the break with a superb recovery tackle to stop Wes Fogden in his tracks. That Charlton’s full backs are the best in Division One is beyond discussion.
On the end, no doubt, of a harsh word or two from management, the Addicks improved in the second period. When Malone tripped Green, Jackson’s cutely angled free kick set up Green to shoot ferociously from the edge of the penalty area. Seeing the ball late, Darryl Flahavan saved brilliantly. Back came the South Coasters, with Morgan heading Francis’ precise cross narrowly wide, before former Charlton youth graduate Harry Arter came within inches of notching a fine late goal. Leaving several tiring opponents in his wake, he ended a terrific solo run with a crisp low drive, which beat John Sullivan, a 70th minute substitute for ankle injury victim Hamer, but slipped agonisingly past the post. That was it, so it seemed, but there was one last twist in this game’s tale.
As Wiggins embarked on his lung-bursting late run to earn his crucial corner, Charlton’s pursuers were simultaneously collapsing like dominoes in various parts of the country. Even a point would have been more than useful but fate had singled them out for its special favour. This was their day. And it just doesn’t get any better than this day. The uproarious eruption around the away dug-out left no doubt about that. But with Colchester visiting The Valley on Tuesday evening, there’s little or no time to savour it. Tuesday’s a new day.
Bournemouth: Flahavan, Francis, Cook, Addison, Daniels, Fogden (Stockley 90), Arter, MacDonald, Malone (Tubbs 82), McDermott, Thomas. Not used: Gregory, Zubar, Cooper.
Charlton: Hamer (Sullivan 70), Solly, Morrison, Taylor, Wiggins, Green, Hollands, Stephens, Jackson (Russell 90), Kermorgant, Wright-Phillips (Haynes 82). Not used: Cort, Clarke.
Referee: Oliver Langford. Attendance: 8,034.