Scott Brown content with a point after ‘game of two halves’

Scott Brown said it was only right that his Fleetwood side drew 1-1 at home to Charlton after a “game of two halves”.

The hosts dominated the first period and led at the break through Callum Morton’s goal. But Charlton were much improved after half-time and deserved their 77th-minute equaliser, scored by Miles Leaburn moments after he came off the bench.

And Brown allowed himself a sigh of relief after keeper Jay Lynch denied Charlton a last-gasp winner on the break.

“It was a game of two halves, I thought we dominated the first half and created a lot of chances and I think if we’d come in 2-0 up we’d have had a really good chance in the second half,” said Brown.

“They changed to a 4-3-3 in the second half, which we knew they would do after the way they’d played in the first half. They’d been quite conservative in how they pressed and how they adapted their style. They’re used to playing 4-3-3.

“In the second half we came out of the traps and started well but they started to get the better of us, their two wingers stayed high, cheated a little bit, and that caused us a few problems.

“I’m proud of the lads because they’ve dug deep once again, and Lynchy made a fantastic save late in the game as well to keep us in it. That’s what happens when you have a good goalie, he stood up for us.

“We need to manipulate the ball a little better, we didn’t do that in the second half and ended up on the back foot. We want to play with high energy at home, put teams under pressure and we didn’t do that when we lost Harvey Macadam and Dan Batty in the second half.”

Charlton travelled north without manager Ben Garner, who tested positive for Covid-19 in the week. Taking charge, his assistant Simon Marshall agreed each side had been on top for a half apiece.

Much improved after the break, the Addicks hit the goal frame twice as well as spurning the late chance for Jesurun Rak-Sakyi, leaving Marshall rueing their below-par first-half showing.

“It was a pleasing second half for us, I think everybody will agree with that,” he said.

“We created some good chances and scored a very good goal. We hit the bar and the post, and how it stayed out from the rebound as well I don’t know. It was a pleasing response after a wobbly first half.

“I think the wind was running down the pitch which made it difficult to get into a rhythm and we were a little bit tentative in terms of getting on the ball and controlling the game with the football, plus they were putting us under a lot of pressure.

“They have a number of players in the middle of the pitch with wide players coming inside and they hunt in a pack and put you under a lot of pressure and stop you getting into any rhythm. They do that really well, their goal is probably typical of how they play, put you under pressure and nick it off you.

“We didn’t have as much control as we thought we would in the first half but it’s pleasing to get a response like we did in the second half. That’s positive but we want 90 minutes of quality so we can come to places and get three points.”