Wycombe and Charlton play out goalless draw in League One play-off semi-final first leg
Godden & Docherty see late chances for Charlton saved by Norris
Second leg is on Thursday at The Valley (20:00 BST)
Winner will play Stockport or Leyton Orient in final on Sunday, 25 May
Live Reporting
Kate Holloway
Can Wycombe break the Charlton curse?published at 18:11 British Summer Time 11 May
18:11 BST 11 May
Wycombe v Charlton (18:30 BST)
Image source, Rex Features
There was a point this season where it looked like Wycombe Wanderers could finish with the title.
They went a magnificent 19 games unbeaten in 2024 before their party was spoilt in the final game of the year.
Guess who ended their undefeated run? That's right, it was today's opponents Charlton Athletic.
The Addicks won that game 2-1 before going on to destroy them 4-0 at Adams Park in April - even if Charlton did see forward Chuks Aneke sent off in added time.
Long story short, the Chairboys have got a score to settle with their visitors and what better time to do it than during an all-important first leg of the play-offs.
What you missed last nightpublished at 18:07 British Summer Time 11 May
18:07 BST 11 May
Saturday result: Leyton Orient 2-2 Stockport County
Image source, PA Media
You might have had one eye on yesterday's showdown between Leyton Orient and Stockport County but if not, here's a recap.
Both sides helped themselves to a penalty to end their first leg with two goals apiece and leave it all to play for when they face off at Edgeley Park on Wednesday.
But should Charlie Kelman's opening goal for the Orient have been allowed to stand?
A point between thempublished at 18:03 British Summer Time 11 May
18:03 BST 11 May
Wycombe v Charlton (18:30 BST)
Image source, BBC Sport/Getty Images
Just one point separated Charlton Athletic and Wycombe Wanderers in League One but form wise, it's not so tight.
Wycombe spent a huge portion of the regular season lingering around the top two but when it came to the end of the race for automatic promotion, they lost steam.
They were defeated in their final three matches to see them fall to fifth, while Charlton climbed into the top six and claimed fourth place by winning four of their last five league matches.
Ready for more?published at 18:00 British Summer Time 11 May
18:00 BST 11 May
Wycombe v Charlton (18:30 BST)
Image source, Rex Features
Whether you tuned into League Two's battle between Chesterfield and Walsall or not, there's plenty more to come from the EFL on this sunny Sunday evening.
Attention turns to League One for our second play-off of the day and oh, it's a good one.
Wycombe Wanderers host Charlton Athletic with both bidding to reach the Championship.
The Addicks have only lost one of their past eight games and will fancy their chances against a side that stumbled at the last hurdles of the regular season.
Charlton and Wycombe will meet in the return leg at The Valley on Thursday
Ian Woodcock
BBC Sport England
Wycombe and Charlton played out a largely uninspiring and cagey League One play-off semi-final first leg which ended goalless.
Daniel Udoh forced a good save from Addicks goalkeeper Will Mannion in the first few minutes but that was a rare bright moment in the first half.
Things got marginally better after the break and Will Norris in the Chairboys goal had to make key late saves from Matty Godden and Greg Docherty.
They will meet again at The Valley on Thursday to see who will play either Stockport or Leyton Orient at Wembley for a place in the Championship.
The stalemate means that none of the first legs in this season's EFL play-offs have been won by the home side - the first time this has happened since 2014-15.
Charlton had ended the season in fantastic form, with 16 wins from their final 22 league matches, including a 4-0 win at Adams Park just last month, to help them finish one point and one position above their fifth-placed hosts.
However, in a game where both teams lacked quality in the final third, it took them until almost the 70th minute for Godden to have their first shot on target.
That was straight at Norris in the Wycombe goal but the keeper was worked more by the striker's second attempt in the last few minutes and he then showed good reflexes to keep out Docherty's instinctive effort from the resultant corner.
Wycombe, who are looking to reach a third League One play-off final in five years, had lost their final three league games all to teams who are also in the play-offs and offered little in a match punctuated by fouls.
They were perhaps a touch fortunate not to be reduced to 10 men before the break when striker Richard Kone was only booked for a poor challenge on Kayne Ramsay.
Mike Dodds' men have now failed to score in five of their past nine matches but only runaway league winners Birmingham picked up more points away from home than the Buckinghamshire side in the regular season and nobody scored more goals.
Game was 'messy' - Wycombe boss Dodds
Wycombe boss Mike Dodds told BBC Three Counties Radio:
"Two really good teams cancelled each other out I think.
"When you play a Nathan Jones team they are so aggressive in the first phase we didn't want to give them the momentum in of making too many es in front of them which probably contributed to the fact it was quite messy at times.
"You need a moment and it didn't land for them and it didn't land for us.
"They've had one big chance and we've had one and it was a really tight, even contest."
Charlton boss Nathan Jones told BBC Radio London:
"It was a tough game, a war of attrition.
"We defended our box excellently and I felt we finished really strongly.
"It's evenly poised and it's not a bad place to be. We've got to win a home game to get to Wembley and I think we'd have taken that.
"I'm really proud of the performance because we showed a resilience. Would I have liked us to play a bit more and create a bit more and show a bit more quality? Yes."
Wycombe Wanderers have won just one of their last six games against Charlton Athletic in all competitions (D2 L3), a 1-0 home victory in the league in April 2024.
Charlton Athletic won this exact fixture during the regular season 4-0 in April, their biggest ever win across all competitions against Wycombe Wanderers in 15 meetings.
Wycombe enter the play-offs having lost each of their last three league games, the club’s longest losing run of the season, whilst they last lost four successive games in all competitions in October 2022.
Charlton ended the League One season losing just three of their final 22 league games (W16 D3), though all three defeats during that time came away from home – 1-0 vs Birmingham City, 3-0 vs Peterborough United & 3-0 vs Wrexham.
Wycombe have previously featured in six separate Football League play-off campaigns, earning promotion in two of those (1993-94 and 2019-20). On home soil at the semi-final stage, the Chairboys have only lost one of their six prior matches (W3 D2), winning their last 2-0 against MK Dons in May 2022 in League One.
This is the seventh campaign that Charlton will feature in the EFL play-offs and first since 2018-19 in League One. That season was one of two times they’ve earned promotion, also being promoted to the Premier League following the 1997-98 play-off final against Sunderland, progressing 7-6 on penalties after finishing 4-4 in extra time.
Only Birmingham City (375) and Leyton Orient (364) have recorded more high turnovers in League One this season than Wycombe Wanderers (339), while only the O’s (10) and Wrexham (9) have scored more goals following high turnovers than the Chairboys (8).
Only four players in League One this season have recorded more 10+ metre progressive carries than Charlton Athletic’s Tyreece Campbell (162), while recording the second-most shot ending carries (40) and scoring the t-second most goal ending carries (5).