I must confess, it was probably the lure of standing on a terrace that convinced me to head up to Peterborough last night. I'm old enough to remember watching football matches from packed, swaying terraces (mainly Arsenal's North Bank with my Gooner supporting mates) that moved like troubled waters tormented by forceful winds. Not that I was expecting anything quite like that yesterday, but a healthy following of around 800 Addicks, lead by the Covered End drummers, certainly created a fantastic atmosphere under the gable roof covering the Moy's End at London Road. Boro' will need to loose this terrace very soon to comply with league regulations (assuming they remain in the Championship), and I can't help thinking it will be a shame.
In my last post I'd written that it had been 28 years since I last stood on this terrace, and the truth is that little, if anything, has changed. Not that I'm complaining: football nostalgia is too often ignored in this era of modern football. Or perhaps I'm just too much of an old sentimentalist!
To the game itself then. Er...I don't do match reports. Quite frankly, I'm rubbish at them. Plenty of very good ones can be found here over the next day or so.
Given that I sit overlooking the half-way line at the Valley, I always find the perspective of watching football from behind the goal so distorting. I loose track of players and a sense of positioning. I find myself worrying about just two things: has the ball gone into our goal or have we scored.
Yesterday, both of those things happened twice...is that enough of a match report for you?
All I would add is that I thought young Harriot grew in to the game, which is encouraging as our obvious lack of finances mean Powell is forced to look for that spark from within. Once again Johnnie Jackson puffed out his chest and lead the fightback in typical fashion and Haynes looked dangerous throughout. I know it might be harsh, but I'm not convinced Button has improved the goalkeeping position, and I can't help but wonder whether Hamer may have got to their long-range equaliser. All irrelevant in the end, and I suppose a draw was a fair result.
What all this means is Charlton consolidate their position mid-table, jumping over Millwall in the process to move up to 14th (which is always nice, of course). On the face of it, with results elsewhere falling kindly, it was a good night's work and a good point gained. A quick glance at the league table and things look pretty comfortable, but the reality is a little darker if you study the form table, where only 3 teams sit below us.
With just 6 points seperating us with Barnsley in 22nd, a win from anywhere very soon would certainly make us feel a lot better.
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