Yeovil Town 1-1 Charlton Athletic (From News Shopper)

Yeovil Town 1-1 Charlton Athletic

12:57am Sunday 22nd November 2009 in

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AKPO Sodje scored his first goal for Charlton while brother Sam saw red during the Addicks' 1-1 draw with Yeovil in horrendous conditions on Saturday.

Akpo, on loan from Sheffield Wednesday, unleashed a stunning 25-yard drive to pull the Addicks back to level terms after Jon Obika had put the Glovers ahead just before the break.

And Phil Parkinson’s men will be wondering how they didn’t leave Huish Park with all three points after a fantastic second-half resurgence following sibling Sam’s dismissal for a professional foul on the half hour mark.

With fierce wind and rain blowing directly towards the almost 1,500 unsheltered Charlton supporters, the conditions were on the hosts’ side for the first half and Ryan Mason and Scott Murray each came close more than once.

Addicks loan forward David Mooney continued his promising partnership with top scorer Deon Burton and only a brave challenge from Steven Caulker denied the Irishman on eight minutes.

However, Mooney’s contributions were unfortunately cut short as a long Yeovil clearance sailed well on the heavy winds, and Mason timed his run perfectly to fool the offside trap and go one-on-one with keeper Carl Ikeme.

With Ikeme well off his line, defender Sodje went all-in in an attempt to prevent the opener and only found the player, and as the last man he was given a mandatory straight red.

Mooney made way for Miguel Llera at the back, and the depleted visitors must have been counting the seconds until a regroup at the interval when the long ball again left the backline dumbfounded and sent Jon Obika through to slide first blood past Ikeme.

A goal down and a man shy, a second half comeback looked to be a tall order for Parky’s men but with Akpo Sodje on for the disappointing Therry Racon, it soon became difficult to tell which side had the numeric disadvantage.

Within minutes of the restart, a low free-kick from Llera was parried by Alex McCarthy and into the path of Sodje for a tap-in – but the linesman’s flag had already gone up.

However, the away side continued to heap pressure on Town and on 56 minutes, Akpo brought down a long pass from Llera and unleashed a wonderful drive from 25 yards.

Minutes later, an error from left-back Danny Hutchins put Sodje through again, but a fine save from McCarthy sent his effort onto the post.

With little over an hour played, Sodje again was Charlton’s main threat as he again brought the best out of McCarthy with a dipping shot that needed tipping over, before almost finding Lloyd Sam in the 6-yard box with a clever headed flick-on.

With 15 minutes remaining, Hutchins’ nightmare continued as his slip allowed Sam to enter the box with the ball at his feet, but a packed box managed to block several attempts on the Yeovil goal.

And in the dying moments of the game, Deon Burton set up skipper Nicky Bailey to drive a low shot for man of the match McCarthy to push around the post, before Grant Basey’s corner rode with the hard gusts and had to be touched onto the crossbar by the England U21 international.

Addicks boss Parkinson commented after the game: "To have come in at 0-0 would have been great for us, particularly in the circumstances, unfortunately we gave ourselves a mountain to climb. But we climbed it.

"Even at 1-0 down I told the players if we stepped onto them and were positive then we could go on and win the game.

"We did everything but win the game. It was a fantastic performance, full of character and commitment from the lads. And we are back in a good groove again.”

And Parky was full of praise for the travelling fans who braved the conditions, adding: "The highlight of the day was our supporters.

“For 12-1500 to follow us down and stand in the pouring rain in the open terrace was incredible.

"I said before the game to the lads that we owed the supporters an away performance after the Northwich and Carlisle games. And we certainly gave that.

"Hopefully they will be travelling home tonight proud of the Charlton team, and a little disappointed not to take three points.”

Charlton: Ikeme, Youga, Basey, Youga, S Sodje, Dailly, Sam, Semedo, Bailey, Racon (A Sodje 46), Burton, Mooney (Llera 31). Subs not used: Randolph, Omozusi, Spring, Wagstaff, Shelvey.