Vital Win

Dillon another good performance including a world class save.

It's hard not to agree with Bowyer's view that we made hard work of yesterday's win.

Having dominated the first half with Barnsley's only real effort being the one that produced that outstanding save from our No.1 we looked very shaky after they equalised.

We seemed to stuggle to get going yesterday in front of a big Valley crowd that was boosted by the free ticket offer. There was no lack of effort from the home fans to motivate the lads.

It was clear that retaining Taylor even if only until the end of the season was vital and his overall performance was clear evidence of that. We could have spent a few million in the transfer window and not got a player of his ability and he is integral to any success.

Lyle's goal on 9 minutes was the boost the team needed. Barnsley's frustration was shown in some nasty and persistent fouling. Sadly the inconsistent referee " aided " by the totally ineffective East Stand did little to help. 

The Tykes number 18 was very lucky not to get a second yellow in the first 45 minutes. The Man in the middle gave yellow cards for far lesser offences.

Taylor was the target for abuse from the away fans and in response he did his best to wind them up. He didn't have to try too hard to be fair. 

Andre Green playing despite the sad loss of his grandfather earlier in the week scored the crucial second in time added on in the first period. A fine shot that was fired into to the bottom corner.

2-0 is always a tricky lead ( Glen Hoddle was right on that ). Given our recent habit of conceding goals early in the second half there was every reason to be nervous!

Thankfully we overcame the opening few minutes without Barnsley scoring. However, the withdrawl of Williams and Taylor saw the Tykes get a foothold in the game and go on to score on 71 minutes.

The Addicks were then foreced into a rearguard action for the rest of the game. Barnsley went on to hit both post and bar as we were a little fortunate not to concede again.

Stout defending from the Addicks eventually ensured that Barnsley didn't add to their goals tally. 

A crucial 3 points secured was a big step towards the goal of moving up the table. We now have a full week before the next vital game against Stoke comes up.

The additional players will help to add competition for places as well as offering Bowyer the chance to rotate his squad a little. Hopefully other players will return from injury to further boost that.

We must hope for much better luck with injuries for the remainder of the season. If we do then we have a good chance of staying out of the relegation zone.