Coals Stoked For A Run – Charlton 1, Stoke 0

Charlton's promotion hopes were given a major boost last night with a battling 1-0 win over promotion rivals Stoke. With other results going in favour of The Addicks, we're right back in the hunt for cementing a play-off spot and are only 4 points off the top.

Last night's game was a fast and furious affair, at least until the ball found the hands of Stoke 'keeper Steve Simonsen – although his shocking display of time-wasting somehow vanished the moment Lloyd Sam opened the scoring with 7 minutes remaining.

Charlton had many opportunities throughout the game, yet struggled to translate them into shots on target. There was some delightful passing on display at times, but all too often the final ball was missing – there's a real need to find a killer instinct in the side.

That can be my only real criticism of the team though, as they out-muscled one of the hardest teams to play in the league. Stoke put up a worthy defence for much of the game, resorting to hopeful punts up to the lively Fuller, and a host of long-throws into the Charlton box.

Luckily, the defence were equal to the test. After almost every recent game I've had to treat myself to another slice of humble pie regarding Paddy McCarthy – he exercised the ghost of his poor performance at The Brittania earlier this season with yet another sterling display last night.

Bougherra was solid as well, and also played a hand in the attack. He came close to opening the scoring with a header going just wide in the first half, and a surging run and shot in the second was unlucky not to end in a goal.

Moving forward, Matt Holland was leading by example in midfield. This was probably one of the best performances I've seen from the veteran, who never backed out of a challenge and kept the ball moving. Zheng Zhi was also full of running, although will probably feel his end-product could have been better at times. Sam was lively and Ambrose often involved, although I feel they need to have a bit more confidence to put in a shot rather than look for the extra pass.

The strikers did their job last night against a physical side. Pardew opted for Iwelumo's strength and Gray's guile, and although they may not have had much of an impact in front of goal, they offered the ability to hold the ball up and bring the midfielders into the attack.

The anticipated late introduction of Varney gave the pace that was needed to unlock the game in the final stages. With 7 minutes remaining, the ball found Varney in the box via Holland with the goal begging. Varney could only strike air, but luckily his fluff left the ball at his feet in front of an advancing Simonsen. A smart cross found Sam on the line to nod in between 2 Stoke defenders.

The final stages of the game were tense, and Parkin was denied a dramatic late equaliser by a superb point-blank save from Weaver. Charlton then had a chance to make it 2, but Zhi made a mess of the opportunity after a quick break from Thomas. Stoke then appeared to lose it and resorted to kicking our players around, but luckily no injuries, no yellow cards, and an important 3 points were the result.

Pardew will be well pleased with what was achieved at The Valley last night – we proved that that playing football against even the most physical of teams can win you games at this level, providing everyone on the pitch gives it their all.

Let's hope this can continue in a winnable away tie at Scunthorpe on Saturday – an away win could really make things interesting at the top, and stoke the coals for an end-of-season run.