Charlton halted their eleven match winless run with a pulsating 3-2 victory over Bristol City at The Valley on Boxing Day afternoon.
Lee Bowyer’s side led, got pegged back, went behind, levelled things up, before finally grabbing a late winner.
At the heart of the win were fast improving two goal Macauley Bonne, and academy products Alfie Doughty- who scored his first senior goal for the club – and Albie Morgan.
There was a price to be paid for the win though, the Addicks picked up yet another injury when Conor Gallagher had to be taken off in the second half. Hopefully, this time it will not mean a long term absence.
Team wise, Bowyer made two changes to the side that drew at QPR on Saturday . Deji Oshilaja and Morgan came in for Ben Purrington – who dropped to the bench – and the injured Jonathan Leko.
Skipper, Darren Pratley, was flanked by Tom Lockyer and Naby Sarr in the heart of the defence, with Adam Matthews and Doughty playing as wing-backs.
Purrington came on when Gallagher was injured, with Doughty being pushed further forward.
Charlton started brightly, and Doughty had an early shot blocked, before City had a sustained period of pressure. But the home side had the better of the first period and deservedly took the lead five minutes before the interval.
Morgan’s terrific through ball found Bonne, who lobbed the onrushing keeper. The ball bounced in the six-yard area before nestling in the back of the net.
Lee Johnson made two changes at the break, changed shape and was instantly rewarded when Andreas Weimann squared things up in the opening seconds of the second half.
Worse was to follow for Bowyer’s team. Half-time sub, Niclas Ellasson, took advantage when the Addicks failed to clear their lines by firing City in front on the hour mark.
But Bowyer’s team is nothing if not resillient, and their persistence was rewarded after 77 minutes. Dillon Phillips’ clearance found Lyle Taylor who played Bonne in. The Zimbabwean international swivelled, and found the roof of the net from a tight angle.
Five minutes later, Doughty scored the winner. Daniel Bentley stopped the youngster’s first shot, but he was on hand to put the rebound in the back of the net. It was no more than the youngster deserved.
A relieved Bowyer had this to say after the final whistle:
”I’m relieved, I can’t believe we’ve gone that long without winning.
“We’ve been in winning positions many times but we’ve just not been able to hold onto it is all. Thankfully, today, we managed to do that.
“There were lots of changes today. When we went in at half-time I thought it was quite an even game but if anything we edged it a little bit. It was a great finish from (Macauley Bonne for the first goal) and then they changed it at half-time.
“They did the same at their place, they changed everything and then before we knew it we were 2-1 down without really doing much wrong.
“Their first goal I thought was a good goal. The second one, we just need to clear our lines.
“That’s been our problems of late. We’ve conceded too many goals and you cant just go on and score three goals to win the game.
“We’ve been scoring two a lot! But the sooner you start doing things better defensively then the sooner we’ll start winning more games.
“But, fair play to the players. They just keep going and going and I just said to them that their resilience there was unreal and the togetherness is great. They just keep going to the end.
“It was good to see Alfie get his first goal, Macca got two. A draw would have probably been a fair result, but of late I think there’s been a few things that have gone against us, and today we got that little bit of luck.
“I said to the players: ‘You have to earn your luck. If you continue working as hard as you do, you will get rewarded I promise you.’
“Again, that’s what happened today, they just kept going and going and we went 2-1 down. But they kept going and the fans got behind them and we got the three points, which we maybe deserved, maybe not.
“But, there’s been many times that I’ve stood here and we’ve not taken the three points which we deserved, so I’m going to grab these three and move on.”
Charlton: Phillips; Lockyer, Pratley, Sarr; Matthews, Oshilaja, Morgan (Pearce 86), Gallagher (Purrington 52), Doughty (Solly 90); Taylor Bonne
Subs (not used): Maynard-Brewer, Ledley, Vennings, Davison.
Goals: Bonne 40, 77, Doughty 82.
Booked: Bonne 32 (foul).
Bristol City: Bentley; Hunt (Eliasson 46), Kalas, Williams, Rowe (Dasilva 46), Moore; Brownhill, Nagy, Massengo (O’Dowda 83); Dehediou, Weimann.
Subs (not used): Gilmartin, Wright, Smith, Semenyo.
Goals: Weimann 46, Eliasson 60.
Booked: Brownhill 18 (foul).
Referee: Keith Stroud (Hampshire).
Attendance: 18,058 (1,260 Bristol City)