Charlton Athletic U18 defender Ollie Hobden spoke to Valley Gold for Academy Notes following the recent 1-1 draw at home to Reading.
Speaking at Sparrows Lane, after the game, he told Valley Gold:
“We dominated the game throughout, however, the visitors’ game plan was very clear, they were determined to sit in and weather our storm and when they regained possession, they were keen to hit our last line, fight for 1st and 2nd balls and attack our goal.
“This worked to their advantage and in the 13th minute, they were able to flick it past our backline and attack our box, this resulted in them winning a penalty and slotting it past Henry Molyneux in our goal.
“This further played into the visitors’ hands as they were able to execute their game plan further getting more players back and time-wasting at most opportunities. However, we had the majority of chances, but they were all met by a blue and white shirt, either clearing a cross or a corner.
“In the 2nd half, there were three huge chances for us as Kai Enslin was sent through on goal early after the break but couldn’t make it count as he rifled it over. Henry Rylah was then sent over by a pass from me which he took first time and looped it over the keeper, however, the keeper did incredibly well to recover and push the ball over the bar. A nice bit of combination play down the right-hand side had me through on goal, but the keeper was able to push my shot away with his legs.
“Reading’s luck was soon to run out and in the 85th minute, a Royals defender failed to deal with Mason Hunter’s diagonal ball forward and sent the header straight over his own goalkeeper’s head levelling the score.
“The last 5 minutes followed the same pattern as most of the game. We were attacking heavily, but Reading were defending their box very well and we weren’t able to put ourselves ahead. The two dropped points leaves Millwall 4 points ahead of us in the table, yet there are plenty of games left to reduce this gap and carry on our streak of being unbeaten in the last three.”
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