In Slade We Chest



Maradona chests the ball past Peter Shilton

It took Maradona 20 years to admit to the BBC that yes, maybe he did use his hand to score his first score against England in the 1986 World Cup. Thierry Henry had the decency to admit that he had deliberately used his hand in setting up the goal that saw France go through to the 2010 World Cup Finals at the expense of Ireland. It’s isn’t clear whether Charlton keeper Ben Hamer and manager Chris Powell feel a bit foolish for continuing to protest the red card shown to Hamer in the sixth minute of the New Years Eve clash with Orient. The pair couldn’t even a agree with each other after watching the TV replays, Hamer maintaining the ball hit him in the chest, Powell admitting it hit his arm but that it wasn’t deliberate. Powell’s defence that “if you are a yard or two away from the attacker you aren’t going to put your hands behind your back” doesn’t stand up – there is no difference, putting your hands up is just as cynical an act deliberately putting hand to ball to stop a goal bound shot. One suspects that once the appeal is dealt with both would be more willing to admit to what was plain as day to both the naked and the square slow motion eye. Conveniently the appeal will allow Hamer to face Brentford on Monday before then missing the cup tie against Fulham – which reserve John Sullivan would have played in anyway.



Hamer, ball, arm

The impact that it had on the game is more debatable. Orient did start brightly and the opening 5 minutes were a mirror image of the following 85 – the home side edging possession and creating the chances. The only difference was that the early chance fell not to Smith or Mooney but to Leon McSweeney, cutting inside from left back and dragging a shot wide on his right foot. The Os were a constant threat down the flanks, particularly through the full backs, Jimmy Smith more of a threat with his runs inside to meet crosses that providing an attacking option down the wing. One can only presume Charlton didn’t expect Orient to attack from deep having been forced to play McSweeney and Terrell Forbes out of position at left and right back. We’ve got used to the value of the versatility of McSweeney but Forbes was a revelation, constantly marauding down the right flank at will.

Even with Charlton a man short I would not have expected Orient to dominate a table topping side so easily and the truth is that the Addicks only threatened late in the game – at the point you would expect them to tire. What impressed me so much was that Orient wouldn’t have expected the game to pan out the way it did and would have gone into the game with a plan to counter attack rather than control the match. But they adapted much quicker than the visitors, who constantly struggled to achieve a balance between being organised in defence whilst still providing a threat going forward, and failing to do either. After Matt Spring grabbed what was to be the winning goal on 25 minutes, Orient went on to batter Charlton before the break. The fact that they only had one goal to their name was down to a combination of a little bad luck, some poor finishing and even worse officiating. Most notable was the offside flag that denied Jimmy Smith a deserved goal. A deep cross from Matthew Spring caught linesman Stuart Butler looking around to see Jimmy Smith ahead of the last defender, steering the ball past sub keeper John Sullivan. Replays showed not one, but two Charlton defenders playing Smith onside when the ball was actually played. Earlier in the half Butler, standing in front of 2000 Charlton fans, flagged David Mooney offside when he was one on one with Sullivan, TV showing again that it was the wrong decision. Butler improved in the second half, correctly keeping his flag down when Charlton players made identical runs.

I hate you Butler

It would be harsh to criticise Smith for failing to get on the score sheet having been denied a legitimate goal. But he was either the man of the match for managing to get in so many good positions or one of the two men responsible for not putting the game beyond doubt before Charlton’s late rally. The same could be said of David Mooney. Charlton managed to mark Lisbie out of the game leaving plenty of space for Smith and Mooney and it was Mooney who was guilty of getting in great positions but failing to hit the target. Smith did miss one point blank header following the sending off but he saw other chances deflected away and cleared off the line. Mooney only managed to force Sullivan make one save, his last effort finger tipped away to the keeper’s right. However it was Mooney’s substitution that was mearly the turning point for Charlton. Having been a constant threat he was replaced by Tehoue who failed to have any impact and seemingly lacked any desire or willingness to put in the sort of effort that had made Mooney a thorn in Charlton’s side.

 

That allowed Charlton to throw caution to the wind and put Orient under pressure for the first time in the game. It nearly paid dividends but a combination of Lee Butcher and Ben Chorley kept them at bay. Butcher showed his opposing number, by then watching and tweeting from the stands, when to come out and clear the ball and when to stay on your line, twice making crucial interventions yards from his own goal. And when Butcher was beaten by a Rhoys Wiggins shot (one that wasn’t blasted over to the accompaniment of a terrific trumpeted “wah wah waaaaah” from the Tijuana Brass in the stands) Chorley had taken up the perfect position to clear off of the line. Charlton also had a decent shout for a penalty, Cuthbert pulling back Johnnie Jackson as he tried to beat Butcher to a low cross. However, it was only picked up on TV and none of the Charlton players (including Jackson himself) made any kind of appeal. In the grand scheme of things it would have been an injustice to have been denied the three points having had the majority of the chances and a legitimate goal chalked off.

Hamer uses his chest to tweet "Refs ad a panic for me...see for yourselves hit the chest"

It seemed appropriate that the year ended with scenes of jubilation at Brisbane Road. The abiding memory of the year will be the scenes at the final whistle following the first cup tie against Arsenal in February. It had a lasting impact as for the first time in many years the supporters were behind the team and manager in a way that wasn’t even the case during the 2005/6 promotion year. Incredibly this lasted even through the disastrous start to this season. Football is played between August and May and I hate the calendar year records trotted out every time Robin Van Persie wins another game for Arsenal. So here, as a postscript, is the league table for 2011 with all 17 teams that have appeared in League One throughout 2011 – a year that of course started with the Os being beaten by the league leaders and eventual champions 5-0 and ended up beating the league leaders 1-0. Happy New Year!

                                                    Points in 2011

Huddersfield Town                        98

Mk Dons                                          94

Charlton Athletic                           78

Leyton Orient                                 74

Sheffield Wednesday                    71

Bournemouth                                 71

Brentford                                         68

Carlisle United                                67

Exeter City                                       65

Rochdale                                          65

Colchester United                          64

Yeovil Town                                     63

Tranmere Rovers                            63

Hartlepool United                           61

Notts County                                    59

Oldham Athletic                              57

Walsall                                              56