London pride flowed southeast rather than east. Charlton’s Valley rather than Leyton Orient’s Brisbane Road will be a Championship venue next season. A free-kick from Macaulay Gillesphey proved enough, continuing the comeback trail for his manager, Nathan Jones. In the aftermath, as is his way, Jones thanked his Lord by screaming thanks to the skies. His team had proven his self-belief in his qualities as a manager when many others have doubted him.
Wembley had been a sea of the red of both teams, rocking with noise in the lunchtime sun. Two clubs who have suffered while many of the capital’s clubs thrive had a chance to put things right again. Jones, after his troubled, misfiring, misunderstood spell at Southampton has been explicit that completing this mission was something akin to redemption. Opposite number Richie Wellens, an experienced lower league campaigner, a Wembley winner with Salford in the EFL Trophy, will just have to go again.
Charlton looked to continue their winning record over Orient, fourth facing sixth, the Addicks seven points superior in regular season. At Wembley, that gap often felt narrower, paper-thin, when Orient pushed desperately for a late leveller as Charlton fans watched through their fingers.
Not that the playoffs can be relied upon to echo a 46-game campaign but Charlton began with the greater aggression, as Jones’ teams – especially at Luton – have always exhibited. Set pieces, another Jones specialism, soon became the key battleground.
Initially, both teams felt the edginess that can clog these matches, impairing passes and manoeuvres usually a matter of course. Charlton looked to Matty Godden, their leading scorer, while Orient to Charlie Kelman, their equivalent. Both found themselves having to hold the ball up rather than get on the end of anything. Kelman was restricted to six passes in a first half of frustration, Godden just three more.
It took Kayne Ramsay’s awareness to cut out Orient’s first real attempt at a coherent attack, just as Ollie O’Neill was shaping to shoot. Omar Beckles, O’s skipper, was meanwhile dealing comfortably with any bombs being sent over by Charlton. No player was given time to think on the ball as the freneticism continued.
A break in play broke the seal. After a charging Tyreece Campbell was brought down, a free-kick chance presented itself to Charlton. From an inside-left position Gillesphey, a classic journeyman once of Newcastle, Carlisle, Brisbane Roar and Plymouth, bent his left-foot shot round an insufficient wall and Orient keeper Josh Keeley. The disappointment on Keeley’s face reflected he felt he had let one in, both hands were close to the ball.
In response, Orient looked to the ball-playing skills of Jamie Donley, but Charlton’s brick-wall defence, with clean sheets in the semi-final with Wycombe, saw out the first half in some comfort. Kicking towards their fans in the second half, Jones pogo-ing away in his technical area, Charlton set sail for the second tier, where they last played in pandemic times, having had three different ownerships since.
Their opponents have suffered just as much turbulence. Orient, their absence from the second tier stretching back to 1982, including two seasons in the National League, looked to Donley and Ethan Galbraith but Charlton had reduced their opponents to long-distance Hail Marys. One of them, Jack Currie’s piledriver, came off Campbell and behind for a corner from which Jordan Brown fired narrowly over.
Next, another deflected shot, this time off the crossbar from Currie, before a free-kick chance, more central than Gillesphey’s, saw Donley’s shot set off a frantic pinball session. This was Orient’s moment and Jones made changes to kill time and stem the flow.
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Keeley kept Orient in it when Charlton substitute Karoy Anderson’s run set up Greg Docherty for another deflected shot. From the resultant corner, as the second ball came in, Charlton feet flailed at the spinning ball that could complete the job.
Jones introduced extra beef in Chuks Aneke and Micah Mbick, Godden and Campbell’s skills sacrificed. That preceded a lengthy break in play after officials suffered a communications breakdown. Technology has proven a mixed bag over playoff weekend; 11 minutes were added on. It was Charlton who resumed with a greater header of steam, Aneke’s effort forcing another Keeley save, Orient having lost the snap that had their opponents previously at desperation stakes. As Addicks keeper Will Mannion keeper claimed crosses, Jones and his team were on their way.
Having made sure to commiserate with Wellens, Jones launched into his moment of celebratory salvation.