I spoke to Ross Worner who confirmed that, perhaps surprisingly, he was starting ahead of new boy, Luke Daniels. Parky shuffled his pack following a string of unconvincing displays recently. Miguel Llera’s height saw him edge out Matt Fry as Gary Doherty’s defensive partner. More surprisingly, Scott Wagstaff’s endeavour was preferred to Kyel Reid’s flair on the left and Joe Anyinsah’s impressive cameo last week saw him preferred to Pawel Abbott up front.
Charlton started by far the brighter of the two sides and took a sixth minute lead. Liverpool loanee, Peter Guslasci, spilled Johnnie Jackson’s free-kick and Wagstaff was on hand to prod the Addicks into the lead. The visitors dominated the first period but picked a trio of yellow cards towards the end of the half.
Simon Francis was perhaps lucky to escape with just a caution for a rash challenge and was followed into Phil Gibbs’ notebook by Jose Semedo and Lee Martin. Francis and Semedo continued to skate on very thin ice after the break but the referee failed to notice a clear pull on Joe Anyinsah’s shirt when the striker was set for a clear run on goal.
The second-half witnessed a dramatic transformation as Tranmere imposed their aerial game on their visitors. Racon cleared off the line in the 53rd minute but to no avail as the gargantuan Showumni put the hosts level. Benson had Charlton’s best chance of the half but guided his header just wide of Guslasci’s right-hand post. Racon and Llera completed a quintet of yellow cards for the Addicks as their challenge fizzled out.
Parkinson’s team could, and should, have been out of sight by half-time. Their continuing lack of a real cutting edge will prove a serious handicap in their bid to escape from League One.
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