Charlton U21s 3 Cardiff City U21s 4
Charlton’s U21s suffered a 4-3 defeat against Cardiff City U21s on Friday afternoon, in an entertaining seven-goal encounter at a wet and windy Sparrows Lane.
The young Addicks began on the front foot, winning an early corner through Josh Hebert, which was met by Reece Burke, but his header sailed over the bar. The hosts enjoyed a flurry of set-pieces during the opening 10 minutes but were unable to test the Cardiff goalkeeper.
Their positive start was rewarded in the 12th minute. The ball was fed into Mylona in midfield, and he spotted an opportunity to shoot from just outside the box. He unleashed an excellent effort that nestled into the top-left corner to give Charlton the lead.
Cardiff responded quickly and almost levelled six minutes later, when Isaac Davies saw his effort turned past the post by Tiernan Brooks. The visitors continued to apply pressure, and their persistence paid off. Hayden Allmark found space inside the box and was given too much time on the ball; he was able to get his shot away and bring the visitors level.
Despite their promising start, Chris Lock’s side began to come under increasing pressure as the Bluebirds grew into the game. The away side took the lead on 33 minutes when Jake Davies delivered a corner that Gabriel Keita met with a powerful header, rising highest to put Cardiff ahead.
The young Addicks went into half-time trailing 2-1.
The away side carried their momentum into the second half, with Herbie James testing Brooks early on. The Charlton goalkeeper got down well to deny the visitors’ number nine and keep the young Addicks within touching distance.
Minutes later, the home side found their response. On 49 minutes, Ellis McMillan brought Charlton level as his deflected effort found the bottom corner to make it 2-2.
Riley Hilaire-Clark came agonisingly close to putting the Bluebirds back ahead just three minutes later, rattling the crossbar with a powerful effort.
The game was end-to-end, and Bradley Tagoe almost produced a moment of individual brilliance on 59 minutes. Holding off the Cardiff defence, the winger twisted and turned before getting his shot away, but it fizzed narrowly across the face of goal.
The away side regained the lead in the 69th minute after pouncing on a defensive mistake at the back by Charlton, with Jake Davies finding the net again to make it 3-2.
Tate Elliott found himself in an advanced position inside the box in the 72nd minute and got the better of the Cardiff defence, only to see his effort crash against the crossbar.
As the clock ticked down towards the 90, Charlton continued to search for a way back into the game. Enslin produced a wonderful solo effort to reduce the deficit to 4-3, to give the hosts hope of salvaging a point.
There was an opportunity for the home side to level the scoring deep into stoppage time, when Shia-Lee Burnham struck the crossbar in the 95th minute. Chris Lock’s side fell to a narrow 4-3 defeat at Sparrows Lane.
Charlton’s U21s are next in action on Monday, October 26th as they travel to south Wales to face Swansea City’s U21s (1pm GMT).
Charlton: Brooks; Hebert, Minto-St Aimie, Burke (Elliott 78), Laqeretabua, Tagoe (McNamee-Burke 88); Belton (Kobashi Enslin 78), Thomas (Burnham 60); Washington-Amoah, Mylona, McMillan
Subs (Not used): Tas, Valentine, Davis
Goals: Mylona 12 McMillan 66, Kobashi-Enslin 87
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