Charlton U18s 3 Gillingham U18s 3
Charlton's U18s started their pre-season campaign with a thrilling 3-3 draw against Gillingham at Sparrows Lane on Friday.
Goals from Brook Myers, Ibrahim Fullah and a sensational second-half finish from Kai Enslin saw the young Addicks come from behind to claim a draw in their pre-season opener.
Gillingham created a handful of chances within the early exchanges and took a ninth-minute lead when the visitors' right-back latched onto a through ball in behind, took the ball to the byline and passed the ball back across the box to the Gills' number ten who slotted home.
The opposition’s lead lasted a mere nine minutes, with midfielder Myers drawing Charlton level. The 17-year-old received the ball on the edge of the box and sent a curling left-footed effort towards the far corner, clipping the underside of the bar on its way in.
The visitors regained their lead eight minutes later when Joshua Ogunnowu fouled a Gills attacker after being dispossessed inside his own box. The resulting spot-kick was coolly dispatched past goalkeeper James Batt.
Gillingham soon added a two-goal cushion shortly following a swift counter-attack which culminated with the visitors' number nine netting his second of the game.
Jason Pearce's side pulled one back before the interval. Micah Mbick used his physicality to win the ball inside the final third and the ball fell to Fullah, who curled a low effort into the bottom corner from the edge of the 18-yard box.
The young Addicks started the second period an entirely new XI. Enslin made an instant impact, remarkably catching out the Gills stopper by scoring directly from a deep left-footed corner.
Reuben Reid almost completed Charlton's turnaround on the hour-mark but saw his thunderous effort crash back off the crossbar.
Jude Sadler was called into action shortly after as the ball was played in behind the Charlton defence, sending Gillingham's forward one-on-one with the keeper, who was quick to react and made a fantastic save, pushing the ball out for a corner and keeping the scores level.
Charlton (first half): Batt, Brown, Cann, Danso, Ogonnowu, Berry, Fullah, Amoah, Burnham, Myers, Mbick
Charlton (second half): Sadler, Okwumo, Hunter, Dawkins, Ashburn, Safa, Holden, Tagoe, Yamoah, Enslin, Hadfield
Subs: Belton, Reid, Bell, Sol-Loza
(Report by academy reporter Alex Forrest)
