Academy Notes: James Vennings

Charlton Athletic U23s midfielder James Vennings spoke to Valley Gold for the first Academy Notes of the 2021/22 season after the 2-1 defeat at Wigan Athletic.

The 20-year-old who has been at the Charlton Academy since he was 9-years-old told Valley Gold:

“We got off to a great start when Mason Burstow put us in the lead in the 12th minute following a great passing move and good link-up play between Johl Powell and Euan Williams on the right side of the penalty area.

“After the goal, we struggled slightly to get to grips with Wigan’s rotation and they were playing through us a little too easily and were able to pin us in a few times. They had a good spell of possession and it ended up with them equalising. After this, we made a few tactical changes which allowed us to be more comfortable and this allowed us to have much better control of the game leading up to halftime.

“In the second half, we started a little slow and Wigan took the lead in the 58th minute after a mistake in midfield from myself turning over possession and they capitalised. After the goal, I felt like we completely dominated the game, we had possession and were constantly probing for the goal to equalise however it just wouldn’t come. Throughout the game, we displayed good spells of possession and good passing moves to create chances however we fell short on the night.

“I felt the game was a good battle between two good sides and we collectively felt that we were very unlucky to come away from the match with nothing. We are now sitting in 6th position after three games played.”

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