KARL PURRS AT BEST-EVER SAVE
AN EXCEPTIONAL performance from goalkeeper Ben Amos not only secured victory for Charlton and extended their unbeaten run to six games but had his manager hailing one save as the best he’s ever seen.
Jake Forster-Caskey struck the only goal of the game in the 74th minute, and Amos made two wonderful stops in the last five minutes as the Addicks hung on.
Having already demonstrating fantastic reading of the game to deny Bradford’s top scorer Charlie Wyke a first-half header, Amos repeated the trick to close down the big Bantams striker as he unleashed a shot from a great position.
But the pick of the saves came from the resulting corner, as Amos reached behind him to pull Matt Kilgallon’s header away from the top corner.
Charlton boss Karl Robinson said: “We dug deep and we relied a lot upon our keeper to get us out of trouble.
“That’s the best thing I’ve ever seen live from a goalkeeper – the way he clawed that from behind him.
“And not just the save: then he did an overhead kick to kick it out of play and stop their lad tapping it in.
“And there was the save he made in the first half, the save he made just prior to that – so here our goalkeeper was magnificent.”
Bradford keeper Colin Doyle did his part for his own side five minutes into the game, tipping Ricky Holmes’ surprise longrange effort wide of the post.
Former City man Billy Clarke had the next pop on goal on 27 minutes, shooting just wide from the edge of a crowded box.
City’s best chances both came from set-pieces, with Wyke’s header forcing that first Amos save in the first half and Timothee Dieng turning the ball over the bar from six yards in the second.
The game was hampered throughout by the wet and blustery conditions, and Holmes almost got lucky ten minutes after the break as a gust of wind blew his cross against Doyle’s crossbar.
The goal finally came 16 minutes from time, with Forster-Caskey slotting home Tariqe Fosu’s ball back across the goal from Chris Solly’s delivery.
Plenty in the ground felt the ball didn’t actually cross the line for the throw-in that led directly to the goal, but Bradford boss Stuart McCall said: “I don’t want to harp on about that.
“It’s a decision that’s ultimately maybe cost us, but we’ve still got to do better once they do take the throw in.
“Having said that, I think our second-half performance was very, very strong and that gives us a lot of encouragement with the players we’ve had missing in this one.
“If not for a couple of outstanding goalkeeping saves we’d have certainly taken something from the game, if not all three points.”