Fuller's a Wiley Old Fox

No, I'm not referring to the latest concoction to come from the West London Brewery, but Charlton's centre forward Ricardo Fuller who effectively won the game for Charlton on Saturday with his tactics.  His year's in the premiership paid off when he managed to earn us two set pieces that eventually won us the game after being 2-0 down after 20 minutes.

A win was required at the Valley

The experienced forward first broke free from the pack connecting with a long ball kicked out by the defence.  His pace was never going to beat the Bolton defenders to goal, but they chose to cut across his path which was his cue to take a tumble.  The contact was minimal but referee Kettle's view was such that it could only mean a second yellow card for the defender who was dismissed.  The resulting free kick from Kermogant was well struck and resulted in a goal by Dervite from the rebound.
The second incident was a Fuller classic, that we have seen a number of times, as he was clipped while charging into the 18 yard box. I was surprised to see Kermogant step up to take the resulting penalty as he's not our regular from the spot.  Another blogger (thank you Dr Kish!) has pointed out that as Fuller was injured he had to leave the field of play unable to take the penalty, hence the change.  While Fuller is a master of this tactic, I am surprised that we don't see Pritchard getting more penalties.  His lighter frame, faster pace and somewhat awkward style would make him a trickier contender for opposition defences and he should attempt a few more runs into the box.

As I said in a previous posting, Fuller has to start the game to achieve these outcomes.  While I have every respect for Danny Haynes and would like to see him start too, his pace makes him a far more dangerous impact subsititute over Fuller.  As Fuller can't play the full ninety minutes anymore this seems a good compromise.

Bolton are a team of large players but they seem to be taking too many tips from their rugby playing neighbours.  I counted three rugby tackles on the Charlton players including a head dump on Kermogant and a high neck tackle on Pritchard, both of which would have been a sin bin offence and earned a citing after the game in rugby.

We still have a tough run in to the end of the season starting with Brighton on Tuesday, but with 50 points I feel a lot more comfortable than I did at 3.20 on Saturday afternoon.  I hope that Fuller's shoulder keeps him in contention for the run in but the win will have bolstered the whole squad and we have a good travelling contingent for the trip to the Seagulls.

I celebrated with a few pale ales from and and resolved not to delay renewing my season ticket until the last minute.

Happy Easter