Charlton Athletic 1 Sporting Braga 2

CHARLTON completed their pre-season match preparation with Saturday’s 2-1 home defeat by UEFA Cup qualifiers Sporting Braga at The Valley.

The goals were the first conceded by the Addicks in public pre-season games.

The visitors, who included legendary three-times Portuguese Footballer of the Year Joao Pinto in midfield, took a 19th minute lead when left-back Ben Thatcher headed Paulo Cesar Peixoto's cross into his own goal.

The Portuguese La Liga side increased their advantage in the 40th minute when Peixoto beat Addicks goalkeeper Nicky Weaver with a spectacular 30-yard free-kick.

Charlton, who had dominated long periods of the first half without looking dangerous in front of goal, hit back in the 52nd minute.

When substitute Marcus Bent was tripped on the edge of the penalty area by Paulo Gomes, skipper Andy Reid touched the resulting free-kick to Darren Ambrose who scored his third goal in pre-season matches with a blistering free-kick.

Both teams wasted chances in the the searing heat, which suited Braga, managed by ex-Addick Jorge Costa.

Manager Alan Pardew said afterwards: "There were a lot of pluses in our performance against opponents whose quality we are not going to come across too often in the coming season.

"Individually, we looked up to speed and there were no injuries. In patches, we looked very good, though there is still work to do.

"Ours is a young side but one thing this team will carry into the Championship is disclipline and more than a little bit of flair over others. So we have got to make that count."

Pardew confirmed that England Under-21 midfielder Jerome Thomas, who missed the match through injury, had rejected the advances of Derby County in favour of staying with Charlton.

Fellow midfielder Andy Reid had also committed himself to the club while central defender Jonathan Fortune had turned down the chance of a move to Championship rivals Stoke to stay with Charlton after the two clubs had agreed a fee.

But midfielder Matt Holland will miss the first six weeks of the season after tearing a cartilage in the midweek friendly at Aldershot.

Charlton: Weaver; Moutaouakil, McCarthy (Worley 67 mins),, Bougherra (Fortune 67 mins), Thatcher (Powell 67 mins); Ambrose (Christensen 78 mins), Semedo, Reid (Dickson 78 mins), Sinclair (Fahy 46 mins); Iwelumo (Bent 46 mins), Todorov ( Sam 67 mins).

Attendance: 5,647.

* Keep up to date with all the news from The Valley every week in the Bexley Extra.