REPORT | Charlton 2 Swindon Town 2

Charlton rescued a point late on in a game of two halves at The Valley on Saturday afternoon, but were unfortunate not to come away with all three.

Goals from Hallam Hope and Matty Palmer saw the hosts go two goals behind but second-half strikes from Chuks Aneke and Andrew Shinnie saw the points shared.

The first chance of the game fell to the Addicks, with Ronnie Schwartz pouncing onto a poor back pass. The Dane’s strike came back off the post, but bizarrely the linesman put his flag up which was rightly ignored by the referee.

A few moments later, the visitors were ahead. A Swindon break saw Scott Twine find Hope on the left-hand side, who cut into the box onto his right foot and unleashed a low powerful strike past Ben Amos in the Charlton goal just five minutes in.

Charlton did not let the goal set them back however, as Jonny Williams took charge of the attack and floated a cross into the box to be met by Aneke. Unfortunately, his shot was saved by Mark Travers in the Swindon net.

On the half-hour mark, the Addicks were nearly level. Liam Millar won a free-kick just outside the Swindon penalty area, on the left-hand side of the box and his effort curled onto the crossbar, just inches too high from a stunning first goal for Charlton.

Despite Charlton's dominance, Swindon doubled their lead. The visitors launched a counterattack with the ball finding Diallang Jaiyesimi who passed to Palmer. The midfielder takes a touch past Millar, before taking a shot, which was fortunate to deflect off Deji Oshilaja and beat Ben Amos.

Half-time saw the introduction of Andrew Shinnie as Charlton changed shape, utilising a diamond midfield with Millar playing in behind the front two.

The Addicks came out and Darren Pratley, playing further forward this half, was threatening. First, an impressive run from Millar found Ian Maatsen who pulled the ball back for an on-running Pratley to hit. The midfielder had his shot blocked but soon was on the end of another chance. This time, Forster-Caskey’s left-footed cross found Pratley, who headed straight at Travers.

Charlton reduced the deficit on 57 minutes through Aneke, who bagged his 10th of the season. Millar received the ball from Pratley on the right-hand side of the pitch, just outside the Swindon box. The Canadian’s perfect cross looped over the defence and towards the back post where Aneke was there to pounce, diving in to head home.

Aneke nearly levelled the score 10 minutes later. An Albie Morgan cross found its way to Charlton’s number 10, who controlled before striking a powerful shot off the Swindon bar, taking the Addicks' woodwork count to three in the game. Fine margins.

Charlton were still creating, deep into the second half. Morgan combined well with fellow substitute Shinnie, whose shot was collected by Travers in the Swindon Town goal. A few moments later saw the introduction of Jayden Stockley, who could’ve opened his account with his first touch, his header finding the gloves of Travers from a corner.

Conor Washington, who entered the pitch alongside Stockley, came close just moments later. His run down the left-hand side troubled the Swindon defence. The striker cut inside before unleashing a shot, which appeared to hit an arm of a Swindon defender before falling to Forster-Caskey, whose shot made its way to Stockley. However, Stockley’s effort was deflected behind for a corner kick.

The visitors had a golden chance to restore their two-goal lead within the dying minutes. A quick break saw Matt Smith with the ball down the left channel. The midfielder dribbled his way into the Charlton box before pulling the ball back to Jaiyesimi, who dragged his shot onto the post from just behind the penalty spot.

This miss would come back to haunt the visitors as within the last minute of normal time, substitute Shinnie found the equaliser for Charlton. Millar played the ball to Forster-Caskey in the centre of the park, whose shot landed at the feet of Shinne. The midfielder showed fantastic composure to control the ball and slot past the onrushing goalkeeper from eight yards out.

With an additional six minutes of additional time, both teams pushed forward for a winner and Charlton had the best chance. Conor Washington latched onto a defence-splitting pass from Morgan before rounding the goalkeeper and firing his shot into the side netting from a tight angle.

That proved to be the last chance of the game as points were shared.

Charlton: Amos; Matthews, Gunter, Oshilaja, Maatsen (Pearce 71); Millar, Forster-Caskey, Pratley (Morgan 60), Williams (Shinnie 45); Aneke (Stockley 76), Schwartz (Washington 76).

Subs (not used): Harness, Gilbey.

Goals: Aneke 57, Shinnie 90

Swindon Town: Travers; Freeman (Odimeyo 72), Masterson, Conroy, Thompson; Palmer, Lyden; Grant (Payne 63), Twine (M.Smith 64), Hope (Pitman 82); Jaiyesimi.

Subs (not used): J Smith, Curran, Grant

Goals: Hope 5, Palmer 39

Booked: Twine (dissent), Thompson (dissent), Jaiyesimi (time wasting)


(Report by Nick Emms)

Read Time: 5 mins