Louis Mendez’s big-match verdict: Frustration at Oakwell point shows how far Charlton Athletic have progressed
BARNSLEY 2
Woodrow 34 Chaplin 48
CHARLTON 2
Gallagher 40 Taylor 89 pen
BY LOUIS MENDEZ AT OAKWELL
A point away to a side who are unbeaten at home in 17 months is not normally one to be sniffed at. Even more so when you go into the closing stages a goal behind.
So, it says a lot about the standards Charlton Athletic have set under Lee Bowyer that he came away from Oakwell on Saturday afternoon feeling slightly disappointed.
Millwall were the last side to take all three points home from a trip to Barnsley – a 2-0 win in March 2018.
Bowyer’s team may have rescued a share of the spoils thanks to Lyle Taylor’s exceptionally relaxed penalty a minute from time but the Addicks chief still rued the fact his side didn’t extend their perfect start to the Championship season with a third win.
Charlton were the most clinical team in the division coming into the weekend. Highest scorers with five goals but they were produced from only 14 shots – the least that any side had mustered. The attacking flair they displayed at times in South Yorkshire suggests they won’t have much trouble creating more chances during the campaign.
The particularly impressive Jonny Williams has somehow managed to find another level over the course of the summer. Bowyer had targeted the space in behind Barnsley’s forward-thinking full-backs throughout the contest and Williams made the most of it.
He gifted Chelsea loanee Conor Gallagher with the chance to cancel out Cauley Woodrow’s spectacular opener shortly before half-time with a strong run down the Tykes’ left-hand side.
Players like Williams can create openings out of thin air. That was his third assist of the campaign already and he’ll get buckets more as his confidence continues to grow.
Williams was the dangerman for the Addicks but he wasn’t the only man in black looking lively.
Jonathan Leko is still raw and unpredictable but he forced the issue at times in the first-half before tiring after the break. His low-cross nearly led to a first goal back in Charlton colours for Josh Cullen, but for a last-ditch block.
Conor Chaplin had edged the hosts ahead for a second time shortly after the interval but after a testing 10 minutes or so the visitors were able to grow back into the game before really pushing for a leveller. Bowyer chucked Chuks Aneke into the mix for the final 20 minutes and he added another dimension for Barnsley to think about.
Williams linked up well with the former Milton Keynes man as the visitors kept the pressure on – it finally told with the late penalty from Taylor that preserves that unbeaten start.
Returning to the Championship with a small budget is a daunting task but all the signs so far suggest that Bowyer has assembled a squad that isn’t out of its depth. Sometimes when you go away from home, you need to get your hands dirty. Charlton have the likes of Darren Pratley, who was an imperious nuisance on Saturday, to disrupt the opposition’s flow. Cullen can keep the midfield ticking. And Bowyer has the tactical nous and attacking options to hurt sides at their weakest points.
Much has been made of the bookies’ odds that made the Addicks favourites for the drop before a ball had been kicked. You can understand why – financial restrictions, off-field instability and player turnover would pose serious questions from the outside. Bowyer seems to have found the answers.
It’s been a great start and it’s still early days. Nobody expects to see a Championship top three comprising of Blackburn Rovers, Stoke City and Barnsley come the end of the campaign. But nobody was saying that Charlton will be troubling those at the top end of the division either.
Comparisons at this early stage to sides who will be are pointless.
The teams that the Addicks have faced and wrestled seven points from already are the type of middle-of-the-road opponents that the South Londoners were supposedly well short of before opening day. They’ve competed comfortably with them. There’s still more bodies to come in as well.
It may have been just a point on the road on Saturday. But Bowyer’s apparent disappointment shows just how far his side has raised expectations already.
Charlton (4-3-2-1) Phillips 6, Purrington 5, Lockyer 7, Pearce 8, Solly 6 (Oshilaja 24, 7), Cullen 7, Pratley 8 (Bonne 84), Gallagher 7, Williams 9, Leko 8 (Aneke 70, 7), Taylor 7. Not used: Amos, Sarr, Forster-Caskey, Lapslie.
Pictures: Sean Gosling
