Charlton Athletic 2
Wagstaff 55
Eccelston 89

Argyle 0

by CHRIS PARSONS

TWO goals in a game with few chances condemned Argyle to defeat at The Valley and earned Charlton their first win at home since mid-November.

Both second-half strikes, the first an opportunist finish from Scott Wagstaff from a Marcel Seip back-pass and the second a neat finish from substitute Nathan Eccelston, meant sure that Chris Powell's return to The Valley was a happy one.

In fairness to the Pilgrims, they always competed, and were never totally outclassed. There were few real goal scoring opportunities and Charlton took theirs, leaving Argyle 'keeper David Button with little to do but claim crosses and pick the ball out of his net.

Argyle had their chances and were perhaps a little unlucky not to get something from the game, played out in front of a vocal home support.

Despite the fantastic 3-1 win at Milton Keynes on Tuesday night, manager Peter Reid was forced into to two changes.

Joe Mason and goalscorer at both ends, Onismor Bhasera both missed out with ankle and knee injuries respectively whilst in their place came Rory Patterson and his namesake with one less T, Jim.

Because of the two absentees, Reid named only six substitutes, one of them being 17 year-old Luke Young, promoted from the Youth team to step up to the professional game.

Meanwhile, Charlton remained unchanged from their 2-2 draw at Sheffield Wednesday last weekend, with new manager Chris Powell taking charge of his game at The Valley, desperate to get his home reign off to a winning start.

In an opening ten minutes devoid of incident, both sides looked to try and find their feet, committing small silly fouls and sliding in with mistimed tackles that referee Fred Graham sensibly put down to eagerness, despite calls from a vocal home crowd for cards.

But, as the game went on, Charlton slowly began to show threat, forcing Marcel Seip and then Curtis Nelson to make game-reading challenges to deny some clever Addicks' through balls.

Charlton were slowly trying to turn the screw but were thwarted with every ball by the Pilgrims' defence, leaving 'keeper David Button with little more to do than claim wayward crosses.

Argyle were getting forward on occasions and perhaps could have unlocked the home defence on 20 minutes with Paterson overlapping Bolasie in possession on the left flank. Sadly though, Yala chose to go inside, much to the disappointment of the Scottish full-back.

After much brinkmanship, Charlton finally carved out the first real goal scoring threat of the match when Scott Wagstaff cheekily tried to lob Button from a Francis through-ball. Luckily though, the on-loan stopper was more than a match for what was an audacious effort.

The save at one end sparked activity at the other end when Fletcher unexpectedly found himself in the clear within shooting distance. But as the Pilgrims' skipper prepared to pull the trigger, he was bundled down by Racon who was perhaps lucky to escape a booking. Patterson of the Rory variety took the resulting set-piece but saw his effort cannon off the wall for a series of unsuccessful corners.

An officials substitution five minutes from half-time caused some amusement for the watching crowd when referee Graham was replaced by his linesman, Nigel Lugg. The former was consoled by substitute Karl Duguid as he walked towards the tunnel, shaking his head.

The second half began like the first; without incident, with horrible slices from Árnason and Patterson giving rise to ironic cheers from three sides of the ground.

They were almost laughing on the other side of their faces just moments later though when Árnason caught a looping clearance perfectly on the volley and fired an absolutely incredible shot just over Addicks' 'keeper Rob Elliot's goal.

The Pilgrims had their tails in the air and had another chance soon after with Rory Fallon heading just over from a Patterson cross.

But then, against the run of play, the home side took the lead through an unfortunate Argyle error.

With what looked like loads of time, former Charlton loanee Marcel Seip passed a weak ball back to Button which was swiftly latched onto by Scott Wagstaff. Button tried his best to get there but was usurped by the winger, who deftly finished past the young 'keeper with superb confidence.

The Pilgrims were understandably shaken but defended the resultant goal-inspired pressure well, clearing with ease on all occasions.

They even began to look dangerous again themselves, twice unsettling the Charlton defence before Rory Patterson saw his overhead kick from a Clark corner gobbled up on the line by Elliot.

It seemed that if Argyle were going to get something from the match then a breakaway goal would be the most likely way of scoring.

Chris Clark was enjoying getting forward most, even playing in Fallon on one occasion. Sadly for the Pilgrims though, the big Kiwi was rightly adjudged to be offside.

A cheeky little free-kick routine involving a move with Clark, Fletcher and then Patterson almost proved fruitful ten minute from time whilst long range efforts from Clark, Árnason and then Bolasie worked Elliot but try as they might, there was no way through for the men in white shirts.

With the game slipping away from the visitors, Chalton made sure just one minute from time, with Valley debutant Nathan Eccelston slotting past Button from the right-hand corner of the area with a smart finish.

Charlton (4-4-2): 1 Rob Elliot; 2 Simon Francis, 12 Gary Doherty, 36 Christian Daily (capt), 19 Matt Fry; 7 Scott Wagstaff, 6 Jose Semedo, 8 Therry Racon (39 Nathan Eccleston 75), 4 Johnnie Jackson (11 Kyel Reid 65); 16 Alan McCormack, 23 Joe Anyinsah (9 Pawel Abbot 87).
Substitutes (not used): 14 Akpo Sodje, 24 Jonathan Fortune, 25 Ross Worner (gk), 34 Carl Jenkinson,.

Booked: Fry 39, Semedo 85

Argyle (4-3-3): 31 David Button; 36 Stephane Zubar, 35 Curtis Nelson, 30 Marcel Seip, 29 Jim Paterson; 6 Chris Clark, 4 Carl Fletcher (capt), 11 Kári Árnason; 8 Rory Patterson, 14 Rory Fallon, 19 Yala Bolasie.
Substitutes (not used): 1 Romain Larrieu (gk), 2 Karl Duguid, 3 Bondz N'Gala, 18 Jack Stephens, 21 Anton Peterlin, 34 Luke Young.

Booked: Bolasie 29

Referee: Fred Graham.

Attendence: 16,670 (868 away)