Charlton have had good preparation for the new season and they are undefeated during all of pre-season. For all of the pre-season results, check them out here.
Welling 1 Charlton 5
The Addicks first pre-season game was against Welling Utd at Park View Road. Charlton started well with the Welling keeper Glenn Knight twice-denying Jason Euell before pulling off a great save from Lisbie’s header after 20 minutes. At the end of the first half Welling took a surprise lead when David Powell shot was saved but only for Anthony Hogg to score the rebound.
Charlton got off to a great second half start through Mark Debolla when Welling failed to clear a Konchesky corner and Mark Debolla stroked the ball home from 20 yards to make it 1-1. Four minutes later Jensen made it 2-1 when he scored from 25 yards out and then it was 3 when Konchesky latched on to a Jensen pass to make it 3-1. Svensson then headed the ball down for Bart-Williams to make it 4 ands finally Debolla made it 5 after a great pass from Jensen. An impressive display for the Addicks with Claus Jensen looked back to his best. Debolla is one to watch this season.
Stevenage Borough 1 Charlton 2
Stevenage proved to be a tough test for Charlton. The 2-1 score line doesn’t show much but it was a tough contest, which the Addicks would be glad to come out 2-1 winners. Jensen was impressive again and showed some great passing abilities, Charlton did have the most of it but Mark Westhead in the Stevenage goal pulled off some great saves. It was Stevenage who took the lead through Jean Michel Sigere after a good cross from Scott Houghton. He rose above the Charlton defence to header home and put Stevenage in front at half time.
Charlton had equalised on the hour when Parker latched on to a Kinsella pass to make it 1-1. And it was Luke Young who made it 2-1 when he fired home from a Euell pass. Rachubka made his debut and looked a very good signing. This was a tough game but the Addicks came through it which shows good signs for the new season.
Southend 0 Charlton 2
I didn’t see this game as I was away on holiday but the Addicks same through and won 2-0 from goals by Johansson and Fortune with goals in both halfs.
Torquay Utd 1 Charlton 1
The Addicks got there first draw of pre=season against Torquay. The Addicks had a goal disallowed in the first half when Svensson was judges to have blocked the keeper when Fortune headed home. It was Torquay who struck first when Kevin Hill sent over a good cross and Luke Young headed into his own goal. The Addicks did equalise when Lisbie put away a rebound from Johansson shot. Charlton looked a bit out of shape in defence on this game which I hope the will improve on in the coming weeks.
Plymouth 1 Charlton 5
Another good display from Charlton saw them beat Plymouth easily by 5-1. It took 18 minutes for Charlton to take the lead through Steve Brown after the Plymouth keeper misjudged a Parker cross and Brown thumped it home from 8 yards. Four minutes later Euell managed to run through the defence to score and make it 2-0 at half time. Charlton made 8 changes for the second half and it didn’t take long for the third to happen when Rufus scored with a header at the near post after Young flicked Jensen’s corner on. David Friio did get a goal for Torquay but it didn’t matter as Charlton went on to score two more from Lisbie and Bartlett.
Reading 3 Charlton 4
Another game I didn’t manage to read about or see but I do know the scorers. Reading Scorers were Nicky Forster, James Harper, Alex Smith and Charlton scorers were Jonatan Johansson (2) and Jason Euell (2) – sorry for the lack of a match report.
Palace 1 Charlton 1
Charlton got off to a bad start when they conceded a very sloppy goal in the opening minutes. A Danny Granville free kick was headed in by Dougie Freedman to give Palace the lead. Charlton came close From shots by Robinson and Lisbie but it was an old Palace player who did score for the Addicks, after an hour had gone, Matt Svensson met a Konchesky corner and he volleyed home for the equaliser. Charlton were unlucky not to win the game when Stuart put Johansson through on goal only for JJ to see his shot tipped over the bar by Finn in the Palace goal.
Charlton 2 Porto 2
The last pre-season game was John Robinson’s Testimonial match vs. FC Porto and the return of Jorge Costa. It was good to see Costa but I would of preferred to see him in a Charlton shirt. As for the match it was a tough game for Charlton, you could see Porto was a good team and Charlton found it hard to keep hold of the ball. But we did go in front after a good Claus Jensen cross was put in by Graham Stuart on the far post. I think it was the only shot we had for the rest of the half as Porto dominated. They got their reward right at the end of the half when they headed home a good corner to make it 1-1.
The second half was brighter and saw Charlton create a few good chances but it was Porto who went in front from a 25 yards after the striker drilled it passed Kiely. But 15 minutes from time Johansson finally levelled the score when he was put through by Jensen and he fired it home at the near post, which gave the keeper no chance. Charlton could of won the game when a bad kick from the Porto keeper fell to Svensson who went round the keeper but his cross-missed Johansson by a few inches. A good result against a good team. Chelsea will be a good test next week and lets hope we can keep our good record against them.