Morais fires Latics

MORAIS THE MERRIER: Athlet TOWERING PRESENCE . . . Zander Diamond wins an aerial battle with Charlton’s Yann Kermorgant.

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Charlton 1, Athletic 1
Deserved draw at leaders is secured by super sub’s late strike

WHEN more than a small handful of supporters of the league leaders remain in their seats after the final whistle to heckle the opposition, you know that a job has been done successfully.

“Boring, boring Oldham,” the Charlton fans chanted, while gesticulating at Paul Dickov’s players as they headed down the tunnel.

Few feelings appeared to have been hurt among the visiting posse of chuckling, high-fiving players.

Leaving aside a sizzling strike from substitute winger Filipe Morais to level the scores six minutes from full-time, those vocal home fans who had gone the extra mile to send out their impotent message had a half-understandable position.

Athletic weren’t thrilling. And they were content claiming a draw against the npower League One leaders once Morais’ spark of inspiration – too often lacking so far this season – had brought down the collective mood at a packed Valley by levelling up Darel Russell’s opening strike.

It was a disappointing result for Charlton given the context of six wins from nine home league games played previously, all without defeat.

The other side of the coin, though, is that Dickov’s men had every right to approach the contest with a safety-first mindset.

Athletic took to the field minus three-quarters of the first choice back four. Jean-Yves Mvoto continues to be missing due to a problem with his hamstring, Kieran Lee was absent with ankle ligament damage and Paul Black felt a tightness in his groin and wasn’t risked.

Heads were being scratched as to how Athletic would go about filling those empty defensive slots.

As it turned out, the logical choice of David Mellor at left-back was accompanied by what looked an off-the-wall decision to field Josh Parker – who told the Chronicle three weeks ago he considered himself to be a striker, first and foremost – in Lee’s place at right-back.

If it was a scratch line-up, it didn’t look like it. Athletic were as well organised as their high-flying opponents and showed, visually in the form of head-wound victim Nathan Clarke, a willingness to battle for everything.

With displays like this, it is easy to see how this team have lost only two of the last 13 games in all competitions. Perhaps understandably, given the changes made, Athletic started nervously as the home side dominated in territory terms without creating a scoring chance.

A nasty clash in the 14th minute saw Clarke and Charlton striker Yann Kermorgant race to the doctor’s room to have stitches in head wounds, reducing both sides by a player for a 10-minute window in which the only meaningful action came when home centre-back Michael Morrison glanced a header wide from winger Danny Green.

Tom Adeyemi had stepped in to the breach as an emergency centre-back in Athletic’s defence and just after Clarke had returned to the fray, the on-loan Norwich man tangled with Morrison with the home crowd baying for a penalty which didn’t arrive.

Green had a good chance to put the home side ahead when outpacing Mellor, racing into the area and pulling a shot wastefully three yards wide of Alex Cisak’s goal.

By around the half-hour mark, Athletic finally started to put together their own period of pressure.

James Wesolowski’s pull-back had too much pace on it for Adeyemi and after Luca Scapuzzi had somehow danced past two men near the left touchline, he teed up Chris Taylor to blast a 20-yard shot which forced a flying save from Charlton goalkeeper Ben Hamer.

On the stroke of half-time, Bradley Wright-Phillips burst into action to capitalise on Shefki Kuqi giving away the ball. Receiving a pass from Kermorgant, the striker shifted the ball onto his right foot and snapped in a low shot which Cisak did very well to stop.

Charlton started the second half on the front foot. First, Danny Hollands shot into the side-netting after being released by Wright-Phillips, then Zander Diamond blocked a goalbound shot from Wright-Phillips.

Cisak produced a save to be proud of soon after. As Wright-Phillips was released down the middle by Green he attempted to step around Athletic’s ’keeper, only for a superbly-timed dive and stretch from the Australian allowed him to flick the ball against the striker’s heels and out of play for a goalkick.

However, the opening goal came thanks in part to a Cisak mistake.

Matthew Taylor’s floated cross was hopeful rather than laced with intent, but in only tentatively stepping halfway off his line, Cisak allowed a rising Russell to nod a header over him and into the corner of his net.

Athletic manager Paul Dickov decided to try to change the flow of the game by bringing in two new focal points in attack, Matt Smith and Morais, after 66 minutes.

It took some time to pay off – the game entered a long lull after the first goal – but in the end, the visitors could even have taken three points.

Morrison blocked Kuqi’s shot following a flowing move down the left involving Mellor and Morais.

And only seconds later, Athletic were level. This time Taylor was slipped in down the left and his pull-back to the edge of the area was lined up and cleanly despatched, with the side of his right foot, by Morais in front of a good, gleeful following from the visitors.

Taylor had a crack with his left foot from 25 yards which flew wide and it appeared that Wesolowski refused to go down under a slightly rogue challenge in the area.