Relentless Noise...

 

And that, Ladies and Gentlemen, is why football is the best sport in the world! Charton 5 Cardiff City 4. What an unbelievable scoreline. What an unbelievable night.

 

Better bloggers than I will make sense of how the game unfolded, and they can all be found here. All I know is it was up there with all those other unforgettable nights I've witnessed at The Valley. I left the ground shaking my head in disbelief at what I'd just seen. No chance of sleeping! 

 

So much of Charlton's performance was disjointed due to the crippling injury list and mistakes were evident on both sides (you don't get scorlines like that without them), but yet again, Sir Chris and his battle-weary charges gave everything they had and more. Our talismanic Skipper, Johnnie Jackson lead by example and, as the picture above proved, quite literally rolled up his sleeves and dragged us back in the game when we was 0-2 down and looking dead and buried. Bradley Pritchard was immense. Stephens looked class in the midfield and deserved his goal. Hulse and Haynes looked dangerous. Elsewhere, everyone else played their part.

 

And if there was any doubt whatsoever that the real fans are behind Sir Chris, then the Covered End put on a power show as impressive as I can remember in support of our manager. The relentless volume from the North Upper was quite something. Even when Cardiff scored after just 3 minutes the Covered End, lead by two drummers, simply upped the volume (you could barely hear the Cardiff fans celebrating the goal) with a rousing rendition of 'Chrissy Powell's Red & White Army' that continued without a break for most of the first half. If ever there was a fine example of the 12th man it was last night. Within hours of the final whistle, a number of Charlton players had taken to Twitter to praise the support. Proof that backing the team gets results. To the idiotic minority: please take note.

Oh, go on then...let's indulge in at least one of the 9 goals scored, courtesy of jipscentral on YouTube. Dale Stephens puts us in front to the delight of the Valley faithful.

 

It was easy to forget that this was just another game in a long season; just 3 valuable points and a couple of places gained in the league table. But it means much more deep down. Everything about last night represents every reason why I am so proud to be an Addick. I love this club! Highs & lows, forever Charlton!