Charlton got back to winning ways with a comprehensive victory at The Valley against ten man Exeter City.
A technical glitch meant Chris Powell’s Monday programme notes were repeated verbatim in today’s issue. With both teams wearing red socks, peripheral events surrounding the match did not go as smoothly as usual.
The big incident in the game happened early on when Daniel Nardiello stabbed the ball towards goal following Ben Hamer’s parry of Rowan Vine’s shot. The ball appeared to creep over the line but there was no signal from the officials.
Probably frustrated as much by his failure to get more purchase on the ball as the decision to play on, Nardiello berated the East Stand assistant. Following a further break in play, Nardiello let the official know feelings a little too vehemently and referee, Paul Tierney, was alerted to Nardiello’s comments. The vociferousness of the assistant’s flag waving seemed to indicate a red card was the likely outcome.
When Tierney duly brandished it, Exeter were reduced to 10 men with 72 minutes still to play. Five minutes later Chris Solly had a shot that came down off the underside of the bar that could also have been over the line. But it was Nardiello’s sending off that effectively ended the game as a contest.
Charlton made hard work of breaking the depleted visitors down and it required a quick exchange of passes between Wright-Phillips and Hayes to carve out the chance that allowed Wright-Phillips to put the Addicks ahead.
Paul Tisdale switched to a 4-3-2 shape at the start of the second half then quickly changed from two muscular strikers to a little and large pairing of Jimmy Keohane and Richard Logan.
Powell’s side struggled to increase their lead but the manager opted to leave things unchanged. Eventually, the Addicks did sew the game up. A good lay back by Wright-Phillips after 81 minutes fell invitingly for Dale Stephens. This time the classy midfielder made no mistake.
A win and a clean sheet will please the manager but he will be disappointed with the performance.
FULL TIME: CHARLTON ATHLETIC 2-0 EXETER CITY
Charlton line up: Hamer, Solly, Morrison, Taylor, Wiggins, Wagstaff, Stephens (Hughes 86), Hollands, Jackson, Hayes (Euell 78), Wright-Phillips (Pritchard 86).
Subs not used: Sullivan, Cort.
Goals: Wright-Phillips (43), Stephens (81).
Exeter line up: Pidgeley, Tully, Jones (Shephard H/T), Archibald-Henville, Duffy, Golbourne, Coles (Logan H/T), Dunne, Noble, Nardiello, Vine (Keohane 53).
Subs not used: Krysiak, Nicholls.
Sent Off: Nardiello (18).
Booked: Noble (35).
Referee: Mr Tierney
Attendance: 14,290