Couldn't Have Asked For More

With only a couple of other games being played, and none of relevance for our position, we knew the parameters ahead of last night’s game: win and we move up to 14th, creating a gap of seven points from the relegation zone (albeit with Cheltenham and Port Vale having two games in hand) with Carlise at The Valley up next; lose and we have Cheltenham back breathing right down our necks, just a point behind with the two in hand; draw and we take what positives there are and move on. It wasn’t a game to go into to play for a point but the emphasis was on ‘must not lose’ rather than ‘must win’, with neither team likely to care a jot about how.

Neither should we. We won, we breathe easier this morning, perhaps even in a lighter moment as the coffee kicks in to wonder what all the fuss was about. The game itself carried echoes of Saturday, when we failed to take chances to extend a lead and ended up surrendering two points, as well as many games we have seen in the past. We led again at the break but had spurned several good opportunities to score more. We struggled more in the second half and to their credit Cheltenham put us under increasing pressure as we seemed to tire. They did indeed equalise, like Northampton, and with 20 minutes left on the clock looked quite likely to go on and win the game. Earlier this season and last the chances are that would have happened. But now Jones was able to look to a stronger bench to make changes and introduce fresh legs. One of those brought on scored a good second, rather against the run of play, and we were even able to enjoy the final moments as a defensive slip and Small’s persistence gave May the chance to finally put the ball in the net against his former club.

The team was unchanged from Saturday, with Jones opting this time against any rotation, perhaps influenced by the fact that Aneke, having apparently been rested on Saturday because we needed him for last night, remained absent. The only adjustment was Jones returning as a sub, with Edun not making the squad.

Now whoever labelled football as ‘the beautiful game’ hadn’t seen anything like the opening period last night. Every ball quickly hit long by both sides, no time taken on the ball, no thought given to a pass, everyone closed down, throw-ins the opportunity to deliver a long one. To say it wasn’t pretty is a massive understatement. But again, neither side will have given a monkey’s given what was at stake - and to be kind you’d describe the period as one when both teams were looking to soften up the other, to win the key battles and achieve a kind of dominance. Then, just before 20 minutes were up, for some reason we had out of nowhere a little slice of football – and a goal.

Isted’s long clearance dropped to Dobson on the right and for some reason instead of lofting it forward once more he played it inside to Coventry. As for the pass for Kanu at Derby, he delivered a perfectly directed and weighted ball between defenders for Watson to run onto. His low cross was in turn met adroitly by Kanu, who directed it low and into the net.

That goal gave us a lift and rather deflated Cheltenham and it’s fair to say that for the remainder of the first half we created chance after chance which we failed to convert. That said, Cheltenham threatened at times, able to pressure by getting the ball into our box, without creating real chances, with our defensive cover generally good. And they did have a decent shout for a penalty, when Watson clumsily challenged their guy around the goalline and didn’t get near the ball. Replays at half-time indicated we could have had no complaints had it been given.

The half-time stats would seem to suggest equality: near split possession, nine shots for each time, two on target for them, three for us. But they don’t tell the story. Before the half-hour May almost doubled our lead as a long ball dropped for him and Kanu, only for his shot to be blocked by a prostrate defender. Watson almost provided a repeat of the goal with another low cross, a May corner was turned against the bar by their keeper, and from the next one Small got to the ball only for his header to go wide. Next up May bore down on goal, his shot was parried but came back to him, only for the chance to be hashed, then from another Isted clearance flicked on May chipped the keeper only for the effort to land on the roof of the net. Dobson got into a good position at the end of a good move but couldn’t get a shot away, May had another shot turned away, and finally Small put in a cross from the left which Dobson headed over.

There was more than enough in all of that to have seen us clear by half-time, but of course we’d seen it all before on Saturday, so confidence in the end-result was qualified. And whether as a result of Cheltenham improving, us tiring, or both, the second half was to be a different affair.

Basically our chances dried up and they enjoyed greater possession. We had greater difficulty clearing our lines, upping the pressure. And it told with around 20 minutes of normal time to go, not long after Edmonds-Green went off injured, replaced by the returning Jones, which might have unsettled us a little. Watson was bypassed down their left and another weary-looking challenge was avoided, their guy cutting across the face of goal. His shot didn’t seem especially threatening, but Isted was able only to turn it away rather than gather it and the loose ball was put into an empty net as their guy was first to it.

On the balance of play at that moment, irrespective of our first-half chances and given past experience, I suspect most Addicks would there and then have taken the point, fearing that with the momentum in their favour Cheltenham could well get the winner. But we saw out the next 10 minutes or so and then made a double-change, with Bakinson and Ladapo replacing Anderson and Kanu. And the fresh legs made a difference.

With around five minutes to go Dobson won the ball well after a throw-in had been cleared and with players still forward the ball was returned into the box. Bakinson did well to control it on his chest and as it dropped put in a shot on the turn which went under their keeper and into the net. It was the sort of finish which we had been waiting for since he arrived.

Now we had just five minutes and what proved to be five additional minutes to see out – but again the spectre of games past was not absent from our minds. Instead this time we were spared nail-biting closing moments as their defender slipped, allowing Small to collect the loose ball inside the box. He squared it to an unmarked May, who was able to run it into the empty net. He will have been very grateful after all his attempts on goal to have been presented with the goal and was probably thinking about what level of celebration was appropriate before he’d even scored.

So a most satisfactory result and suddenly the focus is not on the winless run but on being undefeated in six, including the top three, with two of them won (and should have been three), up to 14th in the table (yes, we have played more games than others), and with Carlisle at home and Fleetwood on the road up next. The expectation will be that after these two games we can put aside any fear of relegation and start planning the summer hols. Of course football seldom works like that, the scope for what would now be viewed as banana skins is apparent. Jones and his team will not need reminding and will no doubt stress that the job is as yet far from done. Just that for now at least we couldn’t have asked for more.