Brendan Sarpong Wiredu’s late goal was not enough as Charlton suffered their first defeat of the preseason against Ebbsfleet United at the Kuflink Stadium.

The defender slotted the ball home superbly after Ayo Obileye’s converted penalty gave the hosts the lead, before a Fleet trialist put them two up in the second half.

Charlton would burst into life in the late stages of the game but, despite seeing lots of the ball, they struggled to find a way to contain an Ebbsfleet side causing them problems all evening.

Charlton, who recorded a comfortable 2-0 win against Welling United at the weekend, have now won one and lost one so far during this preseason.

Former Manchester United shot stopper Ben Amos started in goal just 24 hours removed from returning on a one-year deal and ex-Addicks youngster Callum Harriott, who is training with the club following his departure from Reading, was on the bench.

The hosts forced Amos into action early on before Lyle Taylor had one of the best chances of the half.

The striker thought he had potentially opened the scoring when he rounded goalkeeper Nathan Ashmore and fired towards goal, only to be denied by a vital block.

But Charlton seriously struggled with Ebbsfleet’s aggressive pressing game. Anfernee Dijksteel was forced to snuff out the danger when Sean Shields nearly took advantage of a lobbed effort over Amos.

And the defender was almost punished for his horrific pass back towards goal, only for a Fleet trialist to be denied by a crucial intervention.

The hosts were rewarded for their efforts when Purrington brought the same trialist down int eh box, with Obileye converting the resulting spot-kick on 43 minutes.

Bowyer kept the same starting 11 for the first 15 minutes of the second half, with Charlton going into the restart on the back foot.

But the Addicks fell even further behind when the unnamed Fleet trialist, number 19, latched onto a well-delivered Shields cross on 56 minutes.

Within minutes of each other, John Goddard’s teasing cross was agonisingly close to being capitalised on by Shields before Gozie Ugwu’s effort at close range just looped over the bar and out.

It wasn’t until the final 15 minutes of the friendly that Charlton played their best football of the game.

Substitute Abraham Odoh’s impact on the pitch was keenly felt when his superb pass found Sarpong Wiredu on the right side, with the fellow teenager finishing well on 88 minutes.

 

Had it not been for a last-ditch scramble to get the ball away from Odoh then Charlton could have grabbed an injury time equaliser, with Macauley Bonne almost nipping the ball off the goalkeeper’s feet.