Liam Smith – a former Crewe loanee – opened the scoring at Gresty Road, before Charman applied the finishing touch to Mo Sangare’s cross midway through the second half.
It was to prove a decisive strike, as the Railwaymen rallied late on. Jordan Bowery’s tap-in set up a grandstand finale, but the League Two outfit fell short of an unlikely comeback.
With the Checkatrade Trophy still a first-team competition in the main, all of those who represented United were allocated a squad number ahead of the clash, with Charman taking No. 55.
And coming across his shirt in the dressing room beforehand was a moment to savour for the frontman, who was understandably pleased with how the following 90 minutes panned out.
“Just to have your name on the back of the shirt, it’s a massive thing. It makes me feel proud,” he told nufc.co.uk. “Coming out with your family’s name on the back of shirt makes you want to play well – you want to make them proud, as well. And as a team, you want to go as far as you can, because the further you go, the more experience you get playing against teams like these, and that can only be good.
“I think we did really well tonight. We passed the ball well, we played out from the back and used the wide areas well. I think we were deserved winners. We dominated the game and defended the box well from quite a lot of long balls.
“I do think we could have pressed them higher up the pitch, and stopped them getting close enough to put those balls in. But, it’s the first time most of us have played against a team like this – an EFL club – so it’s good.”
Almost 150 United fans travelled to Gresty Road to show their support for Peter Beardsley’s side, and Charman admitted they played a pivotal role in helping the Magpies get over the winning line.
“For the away fans to come and watch us, it’s massive,” he said. “They don’t have to come, so it just shows that they’re behind us all the way. We all appreciate that. We went over to them at full-time and clapped, because they were behind us for the whole game.
“We were all quite surprised by how many came, but it’s good to have them come down.”
