By Sean Wozencroft
August 1 2003

City picked up the pace in the second half to come back from a goal down and beat Charlton tonight at Ninian Park. Jonatan Johansson put the visitors ahead only for Graham Kavanagh and Andy Campbell to give the Bluebirds the victory. City showed good moments to eventually break the Premiership team down and inflict the first pre-season defeat on Alan Curbishly's men.

City lined up: Alexander, Barker, Vidmar, Gabbidon, Weston, Robinson, Bonner, Boland, Kavanagh, Campbell, Earnshaw

Ironically making his City debut against his former club, John Robinson was our man of the match. The midfielder showed excellent workrate and made some good runs. The 32-year-old will be pleased with his opening match in blue.

City were slightly slow in the first half and failed to capitalise on a fair amount of possession. Our passing was good and we kept the ball well, but the final delivery was sadly lacking. Again we resorting to lumping the ball rather aimlessly to Earnshaw, who did not stand a chance in the air against Athletic's big defence.

Jonatan Johansson gave the Londoners the lead on the 20 minute mark after a horrendous error by Danny Gabbidon. The Welsh defender somehow managed to stand on the ball, leaving the Charlton striker to easily beat Alexander and open the scoring.

But City kept plugging away and had a couple of chances to bring the scores level before the interval. Vidmar, making his Ninian debut, blasted over from outside the area whilst Campbell was unlucky from an acute angle.

The half time interval saw the promised celebrity penalty shoot-out, featuring such stars as Neil Jenkins and Carl Dale. Jenkins eventually won after successfully converting his two spot-kicks past George Wood.

With all the rumours about a new striker coming to City, there was a brief hush as Nathan Blake walked out of the Ninian tunnel and onto the pitch. Unfortunately he wasn't there to commit his future to City, but instead to support his friend Scott Young…or so we were told. With Wolves signing strikers left, right and centre, I still have my fingers crossed.

City increased the pace in the second half and started to cause damage to Charlton's defence. Earnshaw was guilty of holding onto the ball for too long on occasions, whilst Campbell and Kavanagh both had chances to bring the scores level. The most pulsating moment of the second period was when Vidmar charged through from central defence to attack before laying the ball off to Earnie.

City eventually did find the back of the net after Robinson was pulled down inside the area. Captain Kavanagh took the spot kick and converted neatly.

City continued to press and at times it was good stuff. Charlton rarely troubled Alexander in the second period and City began to dominate.

City swapped Bonner for Maxwell and also gave Swedish trialist Jesper Bjung a run out in place of Robinson. The midfielder looked lively but didn't have enough time really to make an impact. He has impressed Lennie during training.

Maxwell looked sharp and made numerous good runs, including one break which took him from inside his own half into a potential shooting position.

Play-off hero Campbell headed home the winner with ten minutes remaining after a pinpoint cross from Kav. It was a good finish by the £1m striker, lopping the ball over the Charlton 'keeper.

The man of the moment, Scott Young, replaced Robert Earnshaw for the last nine minutes or so. He got a great reception from the City faithful but unfortunately he couldn't find glory on his special day. A true servant to the club at the age of just 27, Young deserved this.

City held on for a morale-boosting victory. We are far from being the finished article, but at least there were some encouraging points to take from the game. One or two more players and we'd have a strong squad, I'm sure of that.

Keep an eye out for any news about a new striker…it's likely to break soon.