Harvey Clare reports on U18’s south-east London derby and a title race that is getting tighter.
The race to the Development League Two title took another twist on Saturday as Charlton let a two-goal lead slip which earned South East London rivals Millwall a 2-2 draw.
The Addicks remain top of the league seven points from Watford who are second and eight points from Millwall in third.
Steve Avory’s men were slow to pick up momentum at the start and it was the visitors who created the first proper chance of the half.
Millwall also had a goal disallowed. Midfielder Harry Barnes ran down the length of the pitch to cross the ball in from the left hand side to the open Malachi Adefuwa who tapped it home from in-side the six-yard box.
The goal was ruled out for offside, angering the visitors. Ten minutes later, their mood worsened, as Charlton opened up the scoring. Defender Kenneth Yao played a great through ball to Terrigue Anderson whose blistering pace enabled him to get to the ball first. Anderson scored with a fine first-time strike.
It had been a half short on clear chances, but Charlton made it 2-0 in the 55th minute when Alex Willis played a through ball to striker Sulaiman Bah whose thunderbolt of a shot was unstoppable. Bah now has seven goals this season in 14 appearances.
Charlton could have sealed the game just a minute later when Anderson crossed the ball for Willis who headed home, but just as for Millwall in the first half, it was deemed offside.
The Lions came back into the game in the 61st minute when right back Alfie Carrol crossed the ball to Jihad Hoque who finished off the chance with a neat volley from his instep, beating Addicks keeper Jordan Beeney.
Just two minutes later Millwall equalized with their third shot of the game when Hoque picked up the ball deep into Charlton’s half and shot low into the bottom left corner.
Millwall came close to secure a victory in the dying moments of the game. Right back Carrol was found wide open but he didn’t take his chance as his shot went over the crossbar.
The Addick’s next game is at home against Crewe Alexandra where they will need a victory to keep ahead of Watford and Millwall in the title race.