POSTMATCH THREAD: League 1 Play-off Final - Charlton Athletic v Leyton Orient | Sunday 25th May 2025

Thank God for that. Don't think I enjoyed a single minute of that match but honestly once we went in 1-0 up at half time it felt a little bit like job done. Orient weren't offering much, minus some dangerous running from Galbraith, and it would have taken a big mistake from one of our players for them to score. We didn't make any. There were a couple of scary moments despite that, a shot flashed wide and a deflected shot hitting the crossbar, but the only time I genuinely thought like they might score was when Mbick binned that glorious counter attack off and they won a free kick in a dangerous area. I did not need 11 minutes of injury time, it's not like the ref was actually managing the game anyway so making us sit and stew was a pain but we held out.

On the team, Godden won every header, the back three were incredible, though a couple of times Ramsay was a bit lackadaisical chasing back and bailed himself out with his pace but I'm beginning to think we could probably afford to not bother fielding a keeper as he just blocks every shot anyway, Docherty and Coventry covered every blade, Small realised he had his full back beaten on the inside and then never received the ball again, Edwards battled for everything and ruined Agyei's day, and the front two scrapped and made things difficult for the Orient defenders. TC wasn't brilliant on the ball but he forced an absolutely cartoonish performance out of Beckles who Orient would have been relying on for a bit of leadership and I think that was genuinely a big factor.

Despite our squad not being huge we've hit a good rhythm with how we manage matches and bringing Anderson on after an hour and Chuks a bit after that decides matches in our favour. When Gilbert let their player through without fouling him and they hit the bar I turned to the people I was with and told them Gilbert wouldn't see the sun again and Karoy would be coming on. He was on the next break in play and did what he's there to do, winning the ball high up the pitch and making life hell for defenders. I thought it was a massive call from Jones to have Mbick on the bench instead of Kanu and a bit mad to bring him on. I get that he's a unit but with Chuks winning the high ball Kanu's running probably would have been more useful and the chance to kill the game falling to an 18 year old with hardly any experience went exactly how you'd expect it would and could have cost us dearly. It didn't though and the best thing which is still yet to sink in isn't just that we've won but that we've don't have to be in League One anymore and that really is a dream. Now we go into next season with only 2 of today's 11 currently set to not be here next season, meaning we can strengthen rather than replace. Exciting times but I think I'll be stressed for the next 6 weeks anyway getting this out of my system.