Charlton U23s fell to defeat at the hands of Bristol City at Princes Park on Monday afternoon.
The young Addicks were already missing key men with Nazir Bakrin and Mason Burstow both serving suspensions having been given their marching orders in last week’s victory over Millwall and it was a similar story this time round with the hosts having to battle for much of the game following Ben Dempsey’s red card after 28 minutes.
Indeed, it was the visitors who made the brighter start, taking the lead with 21 minutes on the clock.
A long ball played down the right was picked up by Saikou Janneh who crossed low into the box for Louis Britton to sweep home the opener.
It got worse for Charlton just seven minutes later when Dempsey saw red, nudging Marlee Francois in the back as he approached goal, thus denying a goalscoring opportunity and giving the referee no choice but to reach for his top pocket.
Despite the one-man disadvantage, the Addicks did carve out a couple of half-chances towards the end of the first period with Dylan Gavin first hitting the side-netting before sending a dipping half-volley over the bar.
The home side continued to battle into the second half, but Bristol City very nearly added a second on 52 minutes, but for an outstanding save from Nathan Harvey who kept out Janneh when he was through one-on-one.
They did, however, get their second in the 65th minute via an own goal. A corner from the left was delivered towards the back post and one of Charlton’s trialists was unlucky enough to see the ball ricochet of him and past Harvey.
As the game wore on, the 10 men tired and the Robins added a third with nine minutes remaining. Some sloppy play at the back was punished by the visitors with Janneh nicking the ball off Jimmy Appiah on the edge of the box, before completely mis-hitting his shot, only for Sam Pearson to get on the end of it to slot home and round-off the scoring.
Charlton U23s: Harvey, Trialist, Appiah, Dempsey, Chin, Clayden, Powell, Henry, Santos (Trialist 57), Gavin (Okechukwu 72), Aouachria (Viggars 57).
Subs (not used): Harness.
Sent off: Dempsey 28 (denying a goalscoring opportunity)
Charlton fans can support the academy by signing up to the Valley Gold scheme. Valley Gold enables fans to support the clubs academy in unearthing the talents of tomorrow, as well as giving them the chance to win cash prizes.
Click here for more information on how you can become a Valley Gold member.
(Photo: Tom West)