Welling 0 Charlton 8

A MERE 63 days after they signed off last season with a win against Southampton, Charlton hit the ground running on Friday as they opened their pre-season schedule of friendlies with a resounding success at Welling.

Manager Alan Curbishley berated his players after they struggled to draw last year's corresponding game in what has become a traditional curtain-raiser for the two clubs.

This year a sell-out crowd of 4,000, including Charlton director and new BBC chairman Michael Grade, looked on as the Addicks packed their shooting boots before departing 24 hours later for China.

Curbishley said: "All the players picked up where they left off in training and I couldn't be more pleased. One or two reported niggling injuries but nothing serious.

"We left out one or two like Chris Powell because they weren't 100 per cent. All I hope now is that we return from China without any serious injuries."

The Charlton boss gave debuts to new signings, goalkeeper Stephan Anderson from FC Copenhagen, Morocco international centre-back Talal El Karkouri from Paris St Germain and midfielder Bryan Hughes from Birmingham.

Supporters will have to wait until July 28 and the pre-season friendly at Wycombe for their first sighting of £2m winger Dennis Rommedahl from PSV Eindhoven. Because Rommedahl and Claus Jensen were both involved in Euro 2004, they have received special dispensation to report back later.

But it was the old guard, and in particular Paolo Di Canio, who dazzled on a sultry night as he produced cameos of tricks and flicks to delight the crowd. By half-time, Charlton had established a 3-0 lead thanks to two goals from Jason Euell and a third from Graham Stuart.

The goal trickle became a flood after the break as Charlton stressed their superiority through Jonatan Johansson (2), Lloyd Sam, Jamal Campbell-Ryce and Stacy Long.

Charlton first-half: Royce, Sankofa, Fortune, El Karkouri, Konchesky, Stuart, McCafferty, Hughes, Thomas, Di Canio, Euell.

Second-half: Andersen, Sankofa, Fish, Ricketts, Hreidarsson, Kishishev, Holland, Sam. Thomas, Johansson, Campbell-Ryce. Substitutions: Fuller and Long for Thomas and Sankofa 53 mins.

Attendance: 4,000.