The U21s won their opening Professional Development League game of the season thanks to a wonder strike from Toby Ritchie, writes Simon Marland.
In a delayed kick-off after a switch of venue from The Valley to Charlton’s training ground, the Whites found themselves up against a more experienced line-up that included former Bolton loanees Reece Burke and Rob Apter.
The home side had the better chances of a scoreless first half with Micah Mbick hitting the woodwork and being denied by a smart Luke Hutchinson save.
After the interval Charlton continued to press but the Whites defence looked strong with Hutchinson making a number of decent stops to preserve his clean sheet.
The deciding factor then came in the 67th-minute when Ritchie spotted home goalkeeper, George Hardy, off his line and fired into the net from inside his own half.
Wanderers then battled to hold on to the lead and had to play through 14 minutes of added time after a hold-up for a serious-looking injury to Addicks’ midfielder Joshua Hebert.
During that time Sonny Coyne came closest to increasing the lead when he broke and shot narrowly wide but one goal – and a fitting one at that – was enough to get Julian Darby’s side off the mark at the first attempt in their new league.
Wanderers: Hutchinson, Wilkinson, Oliver, O'Neill, Paye, Irwin (Kirkpatrick 65), Lewis (Coyne 58), Leigh, Lawrence (King 58), Ritchie, Lott (Clement 72). Substitutes: Shillinglaw, Evans, Quirk.
Charlton: Hardy, Minto-St Aimie, Tagoe, Ouma (Amoah HT), Burke (Belton HT), McNamee-Burke, Hebert, Thomas, Mbick (Burnham HT), Apter (McMillan 60), Reid (Myloan 77).