Point Taken: Charlton Athletic 2-2 Imps

April 5, 2025 Gary Lincoln City, Matches, Reports 1

Michael Skubala
Credit Graham Burrell

If you’d offered me a point at the start of the game, I’d have grabbed it, chuckled and asked you not to call the police.

Charlton were the division’s in-from side, looking good for a late stab at the top three, and a team with both style and aggression. Nathan Jones has them playing good stuff, but with a fortitude that Addicks’ sides of recent memory just haven’t had.

If you’d offered me a point after 50 minutes, with City 2-0 up and the home crowd silenced, I’d have felt sick to my stomach at us throwing away two precious points. I say ‘precious’ points, but right now, they’re pretty much pointless points, given that we’re not going up or down. Still, a win at the Valley would have been nice.

After a bit of time has passed, when I look back on today’s game, I won’t feel sadness at us not having won it, but instead a certain amount of pride at the way we went about our business in London. In recent games against big clubs, one observation from some fans has been we lacked any real endeavour and creativity, and went for a point. This time, I think we went to win, and got the point we richly deserved.

Let’s not beat about the bush – Charlton are a good side. They started brightly, and I thought we were right up against it, but our goal showed exactly what you can do when there’s a big crowd waiting to be turned. Thierry Small, one of the few home players to catch the eye early on, tried his luck from the edge of the box inside five minutes, his shot skimming past the post and giving George Wickens something to think about.

Josh Edwards was next to test our nerves, stinging the palms of Wickens with a low drive, while the ever-impressive Tom Hamer got back to clear. Early signs weren’t the most comfortable, but we didn’t concede and we looked to be playing with a little confidence.

On 18 minutes, we gave a masterclass in silencing an expectant crowd. The Wrexham result earlier in the day seemingly put the automatics out of Charlton’s reach, and they slipped even further away when we got the opener. Ring’s delivery was as good as Tom Bayliss’s on Tuesday, and James Collins’ header was a carbon copy of Adam Jackson’s from Tuesday. Instead of Reeco lurking to poke home, Collins’ did it all by himself, and City had a 1-0 lead.

This was our 27th set-piece goal of the season, but only the ninth Charlton have conceded. Their defensive record from set pieces was (and still is) the third-best in the league, but up against us, with five more set piece goals than any other team, their record caved.

I felt we managed well after that. The only Addicks’ player who looked dangerous, Small, nearly walked the ball in after dancing past three City players. It’s a shame for him the finish was more Row Z than Top Bin. That was the best of their efforts after our goal, and while we didn’t exactly rain down fire and brimstone, we managed superbly. It felt quite tense around the Valley, and may have been even more so after a couple more corners. We loaded the box when we could for throw-ins and corners, and just before the break, we almost got our second.

Erik Ring again reminded us of the talent we’ve unearthed. His crisp volley from distance had real venom, forcing a flying save from Will Mannion. A second goal then might have been tough on the home side, but I’m not sure I’ve seen a player catch a ball quite as sweetly as Ring.

The first 45 were a joy for City. McGrandles and Hamilton purred together, completely controlling the middle of the park. Dom Jeffries came on for the injured Makama which was perhaps the only real downside to the first half. Makama, trying to get on the end of a delicious ball, seemingly had his heel clipped and he limped off, but Jeffries was a more than adequate replacement.

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