Wycombe Wanderers 0-0 Charlton Athletic: FLW report as Chairboys & Addicks battle to play-off stalemate | OneFootball

League One play-off semi-final action as Wycombe Wanderers hosted Charlton Athletic in the first leg.

Wycombe Wanderers and Charlton Athletic played out an entertaining 0-0 draw at Adams Park in the League One play-off semi-final first leg, meaning that it is all to play for next week when the second leg is contested at The Valley.

The first 45 minutes was a closely fought contest, with the Chairboys having the better of the chances but were unable to break the deadlock. This saw the sides go into the interval level at 0-0.

Matt Godden and Greg Docherty forced Will Norris into three incredible saves in the second-half to keep the scores level. This saw the game end goalless, which left everything to play for in the second leg in London on Thursday night.

Wycombe Wanderers 0-0 Charlton Athletic

First-half

The first test of the evening was for Will Mannion in the Charlton net. A wonderful ball from Cameron Humphreys was neatly faked and collected by Daniel Udoh. His low shot was parried out for a corner by the Addicks stopper.

Wanderers enjoyed the upper hand in the opening 15 minutes, with a few chances through Fred Onyedinma, but nothing troubling the Charlton defence yet.

The visitors still looked threatening on the break with Tyreece Campbell being the usual livewire for his side, giving the Wanderers defence plenty to think about.

A quick Wycombe break then saw Jack Grimmer burst away and whip in a cross which deflected to Luke Leahy on the edge of the box. The midfielder struck it first time, and it took another deflection on the way through, which allowed Mannion to catch.

Onyedinma was putting in a marvellous shift so far, chasing down every loose ball and winning it back or winning set pieces which gained his side territory.

Two breaks in play came as injuries to both Kayne Ramsay and Luke Berry meant the medical teams had to enter the field. Both Addicks players were able to continue after receiving treatment.

Tensions began to boil as Richard Kone and Macaulay Gillesphey squared up to each other. The Ivorian had been in the wars and was already booked. He certainly needed to calm down, as he was running the risk of a red card.

The half-time whistle blew, with the deadlock yet to be broken. Each side had plenty of positive moments, but it was the hosts who looked slightly more threatening in the opening 45 minutes of this 180-minute affair.

Second-half

It was a frantic start to the second 45, as both sides looked to gain what could be a crucial advantage heading into the second leg at the Valley on Thursday night.

Referee Farai Hallam missed a clear handball from Caleb Taylor right on the edge of his own box. That would be somewhat of a let-off for Wycombe, which could've resulted in a dangerous free-kick.

Mike Dodds was the first to shuffle his deck, replacing Onyedinma with the veteran Garath McCleary. The Nigerian had worked his socks off in the Adams Park sunset.

Leahy's deep corner was met by the head of Taylor, and then heroically cleared off the line by the Addicks defence. It was a truly captivating contest, as the pendulum of momentum kept swinging in favour of both sides.

Godden had Charlton's first shot on target of the match in the 70th minute. A defensive mix-up from the Blues allowed the veteran striker one-on-one with Norris, who managed to save his powerful drive.

The striker again forced another big save from Norris, after slipping between the Wycombe centre-backs and volleying towards goal. The number 50 then hit the bullseye with another key save to tip Docherty's close-range effort off the line from the corner.

After four added minutes, Hallam drew the contest to a close, signalling half-time in the tie. Wycombe and Charlton would have to be separated at the Valley on Thursday, as nothing could split the two sides at Adams Park on Sunday evening.

Wycombe Wanderers player ratings

W. Norris - 8

J. Grimmer - 8

S. Bradley - 6

C. Taylor - 7

A. Reach - 6

X. Simons - 7 (M. Westergaard 90+4' (N/A))

L. Leahy - 6

C. Humphreys - 7

F. Onyedinma - 8 (G. McCleary 63'())

D. Udoh - 6

R. Kone - 4

Unused subs: F. Ravizzoli, T. Bakinson, J. Low, G. Kodua, K. Sadlier

Charlton Athletic player ratings

W. Mannion - 6

T. Watson - 6 (T. Small 70'(6))

K. Ramsay - 6

L. Jones - 7

M. Gillesphey - 7

J. Edwards - 6

C. Coventry - 7

G. Docherty - 7

L. Berry - 6 (K. Anderson 70'(6))

T. Campbell - 7

M. Godden - 7

Unused subs: A. Maynard-Brewer, A. Mitchell, D. Hylton, A. Gilbert, M. Mbick

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Mike Dodds reacts as Wycombe hold off Charlton

Speaking to the press after the game, Wycombe boss Mike Dodds said: "We cancelled each other out I think.

"When you play against a Nathan Jones team, they're so aggressive in the first phase that you don't want to give them the momentum by making passes in front of them.

"That contributed to the fact it was quite messy at times, but at the same time, I felt that we learned from the previous game [Wycombe 0-4 Charlton], what they did better than us was they landed on the second balls better than us.

"When you do play against these types of teams, and you do the kind of nuts and bolts as well as we did this evening, you nulify their threats."

Nathan Jones fires dig at Wycombe after Charlton earn draw

Speaking to the press after the match, Charlton boss Nathan Jones said: "[It was a] tough game full of attrition.

"To come away halfway into the tie reasonably poised. I'm not saying we would've taken it because we always want more, but it's not a bad position to be in, to come away with a second clean sheet against Wycombe in three weeks.