After the good display and terrific result at Portsmouth during the week, we were looking for more of the same against Wimbledon. Different game, different challenge for sure, but the assumption was that if we maintained the standards seen that would probably be sufficient to take the points and make it three wins in a row. In the event we were treated to an outright mix of good and bad, with a fair measure of relief at the end given that we did indeed take the points, not so much that we were hanging on but as we’d shown we were capable of giving away poor goals and being only one in front we were vulnerable.
Understandably JJ kept faith in the X1 who started against Portsmouth, the doubts being over whether Wimbledon would afford us the space to exploit that Portsmouth had and whether one or two would be able to last a second game in succession. Instead the changes were confined to the subs bench, where Burstow returned following his Chelsea transfer and loan back, taking the place of Leko, while Fraser replaced Watson. Still no place yet for the two young loanees John and Castillo.
In the first minute we carved out a decent opportunity as Dobson found Matthews, who played it in to Washington. His deft touch back put Morgan in a good position but a poor first touch and the chance was lost. Instead we fell behind almost immediately after. An Inniss foul gave them a free-kick from a not very threatening position and an ordinary ball in found two unmarked Wimbledon players inside our box. The ball was headed back and MacGillivray came out through a cluster of players to claim. Seemed danger over as he gathered it, but he never had it fully under control and stretching, possibly with a foul thrown in, coughed it up. One of theirs touched it around MacGillivray and another poked it into the roof of the net. Poor defensive organisation all round, sloppy goal to give away.
Before 10 minutes were up we had nearly fashioned an equaliser as Gilbey’s shot on the right side was deflected up and over their keeper but also just over the bar, and from the resulting corner Inniss powered a header from the back stick, just not towards the goal. And we had also been forced into a change as Blackett-Taylor went down holding without an obvious challenge and eventually hobbled off. Perhaps surprising that his replacement was Jaiyesimi, to operate on the left flank, rather than Purrington. I suspect the decision was influenced by the fact it was very early in the game, with JJ wishing to keep the attacking intent; if the replacement was in the final 30 mins and we were ahead it would probably have been a different story.
Before 20 minutes had passed we were level. Inniss, who had a pretty shaky start to the game defensively, showed again what a force he is in the opposition box from set pieces. Our corner from the right side found him moving beyond the near post, so he had to get power on the ball and turn it back towards goal. He managed both, although whether or not it would have gone in without their defender trying to clear and only succeeding in helping it into the net is an open question. I guess nobody will question awarding Inniss the goal.
Just after 30 minutes and we could have been down to 10 men but instead found ourselves in front, the common factor being DJ. He made a poor challenge with studs high, one that a ref might have interpreted as meriting a red rather than yellow card. Still on the pitch, he was able to take Aneke’s flick on from a throw and immediately jabbed the ball forward with the outside of his boot, giving it enough curl and pace to go beyond their defender and enable Washington to run onto it. Nobody was going to catch him and he always looked comfortable in tucking it away. It was an assured finish, but a goal which owed all to the excellence of the pass.
I’m sure all Addicks at that point felt, OK, early panic over, we’ve settled, are ahead now, should go on and win well. Instead we allowed Wimbledon to draw level with a goal as shoddy (from our perspective) as their first. A free-kick from a not dissimilar position to their opener, played into a similar spot. This time Aneke stayed with his guy beyond the far post, which left him unable to influence matters, Clare went with his only to find his way blocked, taking him out of the equation, while Inniss seemed to see danger in front of him and moved forward, only for the ball to clear his desperate leap. And moving in behind, now in acres of space, was their guy. He did well to stoop and direct his header beyond MacGillivray, but allowing him the opportunity was another collective defensive failure from a set piece.
Going in level at the break, the feeling was still ‘stop gifting goals and we are still favourites to win’. And that pretty much proved to be the case. We regained the lead on the hour with, predictably, another set piece. This time Morgan’s powerful corner was met at the far post by Famewo, who completely outmuscled his marker to head in from close range. To say that one from him was overdue is an understatement, but it was a good finish while Inniss was being manhandled on the goal-line.
The game was still open enough for Wimbledon to have their chances to take something from it. A move down their left pulled us apart, with the low cross picking out a guy in acres of space. His fierce shot beat MacGillivray but clipped the outside of the post. There was another free header from a corner, and into stoppage time their guy put in a powerful shot from a difficult angle, parried by MacGillivray, when the replays showed all he had to do was play it square and Wimbledon had two or three to tap it in. We had more chances too, with Morgan deciding to take another touch rather than shoot (just after he was replaced by Fraser; earlier Aneke had gone off for Burstow, who apparently was booed by a few, who really need to take a good look at themselves). But not surprisingly we were the happier to hear the final whistle.
It was a strange game for me in that just about everyone put in a very mixed performance. MacGillivray has to take some of the blame for their first goal and subsequently found it difficult to judge the flight of the ball, albeit in gusty conditions. Jaiyesimi played perhaps the pass of the season for our second, shortly after having made a very poor challenge. And Inniss had a poor start to the game, has to take some of the blame for both Wimbledon goals, but also scored; same might be said for Famewo. Morgan played well outside the box but inside it failed to take a couple of good opportunities, while Aneke seemed below-par and struggled to have an impact. It was by no means a ‘five-goal thriller’, rather four goals out of five from set-pieces highlighting the deficiencies on the day of both teams.
I think we realise that if we want to take points from the next two games, away at Bolton and at Wigan, we will have to be tighter defensively. Perhaps two tough away games might be what we need, rather than playing sides towards the bottom of the table at home and possibly not having the required discipline.
But perhaps the final word on the day should be one of praise for our club, for the behaviour towards Ben Jay and his family. The people concerned should feel proud of themselves and hopefully their actions will have helped a little Ben’s family and friends.
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