Charlton cruised to a comfortable 4-1 win against Dagenham & Redbridge at The Valley on Tuesday evening.

On a wet evening, Regan Charles-Cook, Naby Sarr, Cristian Ceballos and Zakarys Bergdich made their first starts for the club. Tareiq Holmes-Dennis made his senior debut from the bench and Reza Ghoochannejhad made a scoring return after a season away.

A warning of what was to come ‎came in the 16th minute. Tony Watt was brought down just outside the area and Johnnie Jackson – back on free-kick duties with Johann Gudmundsson on the bench – clipped the bar.

Watt put the Addicks ahead after 26 minutes. Jackson latched on to a poor clearance to play Watt in. The Scot calmly shimmied inside before despatching a shot from the edge of the area.

Five minutes before the break, Karlan Ahearne-Grant doubled Charlton’s advantage. Watt was again involved, releasing the ball to the overlapping Ceballos. The ball eventually fell to Ahearne-Grant who finished decisely from close range.

A snapshot from El-Hadji Ba hit the woodwork just after the restart but the Addicks did not have to wait long for their third though.

A good move down the left culminated with Watt putting Bergdich through on goal. Bergdich made no mistake.

Midway through the half, Ceballos nearly added a fourth after some mesmerising trickery down the left.

But it was the Daggers who got the next goal. Andy Chambers cut in from the left and created a chance for Christian Doidge to reduce the arrears.

The scoring was completed 14 minutes from time when Johann Gudmundsson put Ghoochannejhad clear and the little Iranian converted from close range.

The match was exactly what Guy Luzon would have wanted, some valuable minutes for his players, no injuries and a comfortable win.

As he told me before the game, “Saturday was the first step, now we to carry it on.”
Charlton: Pope; Charles-Cook, Bauer, Sarr, Fox; Ceballos (Holmes-Dennis 74), Ba, Jackson, Bergdich (Gudmundsson 62); Ahearne-Grant, Watt (Ghoochannejhad 62).

Subs (not used): Mitov, Cousins, Makienok, Lennon.

Goals: Watt 26, Ahearne-Grant 40, Bergdich 57, Ghoochannejhad 77.

Booked: Ceballos 33 (foul).‎

Dagenham & Redbridge: Cousins; Nosworthy, Dikamona, Boucaud, McClure; (Doidge 58), Chambers, Jones, Hamalainen (Hemmings 58), Partridge (Passley 75); Ferdinand, Widdowson.

Subs (not used): O’Brien, Connors, Cureton, Richards.

Goals: Doidge 69

Booked: Nosworthy 15 (foul).

Attendance 5,100 (445 Dagenham).

Referee: Stuart Attwell (Warwickshire).