Nerves of steel – Michael Appleton hails Alfie May after penalty double

Charlton head coach Michael Appleton praised the ice-cool finishing of Alfie May as his took his season’s goal tally to 17 with a double to down his former club Cheltenham at The Valley.

May was signed in the summer from the Robins to score goals. That is exactly what he is doing – and at a prolific rate.

The Charlton striker’s brace against his old employer means that he now has 29 league goals in 2023 – a figure only matched in England by Manchester City’s Erling Haaland.

May struck twice from the penalty spot to see off Cheltenham.

Appleton said: “It’s difficult for him because he knows them so well – whether it is the goalkeeper or the outfield players. There was certainly more pressure on him tonight than there probably would be against anyone else.

“For him to have the calmness and nerves of steel to slot the two penalties away just speaks volumes of him.

“I keep reading that I’m not playing him in the right position but he’s doing alright considering that because he has scored a lot of goals from there and he looked like he could have got two or three more in that first half.

“He’s in a good place and I’m glad he’s in a good place because when he is then he is hard to stop.

“It’s the most satisfying victory since I’ve been here. We didn’t get off to the start we would’ve liked and it was a poor goal from our point of view to concede – for lots of reasons.

“After that we should have been out of sight by half-time with the amount of opportunities we had. I know the keeper made some good saves but we have to be more clinical in front of goal than what we have been tonight and certainly that first half – but the players held their nerve and limited them to very little, especially second half.”

Town saw their three-game unbeaten run in the league ended despite taking a 10th-minute lead through Will Goodwin’s header.

Lewis Freestone tripped Miles Leaburn for the first penalty, with Will Ferry deemed to have handled Tyreece Campbell’s cross for the second. #

Manager Darrell Clarke said: “When you come to places like Charlton you need the rub of the green – one or two decisions to go your way – and it didn’t quite happen.

“We started the game really well and then gave a really sloppy penalty away, we shouldn’t be diving in there.

“It’s a frustrated changing room. We thought it was a foul in the lead-up to the second penalty and he’s never going to try and deliberately handball it there.

“If we’d have got the second goal it would’ve made it interesting. I said to the boys we can’t afford to be too downbeat. We have got to stay positive. The lads have given me everything and that’s all you can ask.

“We’ve got a big squad but lacking a little bit of quality, rather than quantity. That will be the way it is until the window opens.

“We are massive underdogs in every game we play.”