>FA Premier Reserve League:

Charlton's reserve side passed their first major test of the season
on Wednesday night when Glynn Snodin's youthful Addicks out-pointed
London rivals West Ham in a cagey affair at Dagenham and Redbridge's
ground.
It was young professional Lloyd Sam – enjoying a rare outing up
front – that stole the headlines with a well-taken brace but Snodin
will have been equally pleased with his team's miserly defensive
performance.
The second string boss had earlier alluded to how his team would
perform without the the likes of mainstays Graham Stuart, Chris Bart-
Williams, Jonatan Johansson and Kevin Lisbie in his ranks and this
was the prefect test.
First-year scholar Nathan Ashton made a shock debut in the starting
line-up and performed outstandingly well, and there was also starting
places for Alex Varney, Lloyd Sam, and a 2003/04 debut for Karl
Beckford in what was certainly the youngest team to represent the
reserves this season.
It was also the first time the coach has plumped for a 3-5-2
formation but with Richard Rufus, Chris Perry and Michael Turner all
needing competitive football, it one of the few options available to
the former Doncaster Rovers joint manager.
It took Charlton just 90 seconds to get themselves on the score
sheet. There looked to be little danger for the Hammers when Stephen
Hughes' corner was cleared out of harm's way, but when the ball was
picked up by Neil McCafferty and swept back out the flag-kick taker,
Hughes bent in a delightful cross that Lloyd Sam met courageuosly to
bundle home with his chest.
Although it always looked as though something could happen for West
Ham whenever former Arsenal youngster David Noble got on the ball, it
was the visitors that were enjoying the lion's share of possession
with McCafferty and Hughes dominant in midfield.
Midfielder Mark Noble sliced a shot horribly wide having been
smartly teed up by his namesake, but that was about as close West Ham
would come in a largely scrappy opening period.
With Roger Cross' team defending high up the field, the majority of
Charlton's better work stemmed from players making forward runs from
deep positions, with the enterprising Ashton in particular working
hard to exploit the space in behind.
But Charlton also found goal-mouth incident hard to come by with
central defenders Phil Lumsden and Matthew Kilgallon sturdy at the
back, and the first 50 minutes came and went with Sam's effort the
only notable occurrence...

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For the second half of this Reserves match report by Terry Cordwell
at CAFC.co.uk, go to:
>http://www.cafc.co.uk/reserves/fixtures.jsp
[West Ham | Away , Report]