A late Alex Hennessy strike was enough to lift Charlton to a hard-fought 1-0 victory over Coventry United and make it eight consecutive wins in a row.
The Addicks, unchanged from their 5-1 FA Cup win over AFC Wimbledon, were on top and had plenty of chances, ending up leaving it until seven into stoppage time to strike.
A couple of early chances came and went early on for each side, as Mel Johnson almost dispossessed Coventry keeper Khiara Keating within seconds of kick off and a Coventry free kick was floated over everyone and out for a goal kick.
Yet, chances were at a premium throughout the first period. It was quarter of an hour until the first real chance when Johnson latched onto a throughball, cut inside and pulled back for Ella Rutherford but she couldn’t quite get enough behind the shot.
It was a good 10 minutes until the next good opportunity and it should have resulted in a Charlton penalty. A Beth Roe cross was handled by a Coventry defender, but the assistant referee turned the claims down. Keating then saved an Elisha N’Dow header from the resulting corner.
The visitors had their keeper to thank on a number of occasions. Keating got a good, strong hand to an Angela Addison shot after she was played through by Rutherford and Freda Ayisi’s follow-up was cleared to safety.
Moments before half time, Rutherford fired over a superb cross that was inches away from Emily Simpkins’ grasp and eventually put over by Ayisi.
In the second half, the hosts’ keeper Sian Rogers who was called into action to make some crucial stops, too. The first early on after the interval was a brilliant tip over the bar from a deflected Eleanor Ryan-Doyle effort.
Moments later Mia Ross glanced a header across the face of goal and wide, while Rutherford saw a shot easily saved by Keating. The striker was then forced off through an injury sustained when she fell.
Some scrappy play up the other end saw Coventry attempt to break the deadlock after a double substitution lifted their spirits, but Rogers came away with the ball in the aftermath.
Keating then was once more on top form when Ayisi was played through on goal and tried to round her, but the stopper did enough to put Ayisi off and see her side clear the danger.
Rogers made two excellent late saves to deny Coventry and the final say of the game came from Hennessy, who was played in and kept calm to slot the ball into the corner of the goal.
Charlton: Rogers, N’Dow, Johnson, Simpkins (Bruton 57), Ayisi, Addison (Hennessy 84), Skeels, Rutherford (Follis 63), Roe, Henson, Ross. Subs (not used): Gray, Soper, Roche, Bashford, O’Rourke, Logan.
Coventry: Keating, Mann, Alexander, Bartle (Cross 86), McAteer, Thomas, Jones (Green 70), Morris (Goodwin 70), Ryan-Doyle, Will, Wiseman. Subs (not used): Orthodoxou, Jhamat, Whipp, Rabjohn, Whiteman, Dudley-Jones.
Attendance: 556.
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