CHARLTON 1 CITY 1

NOBODY will have been remotely surprised by the outcome at the Valley last night.

If ever there was a nailed-on draw, a meeting between the two sides with the most stalemates in Europe had to be it.

Bur while no doubt the bookies will have taken a bit of hammer from the end result, this contest was far from a case of the teams simply cancelling each other out.

City’s 18th draw – one ahead of Charlton – was one they had to fight tooth and nail for.

Having controlled the first half for large parts, only to then need an equaliser just before the break to go in on level terms, they then had to withstand a storm.

City have not faced a more testing 45 minutes than the second half at the Valley as Charlton, with nothing to play for but pride, launched wave after wave of attacks.

So while hopes for nicking second spot receded with results elsewhere, Stuart McCall’s men demonstrated their battling qualities – and enjoyed a fair slice of luck to boot.

Getting home in the early hours this morning, this will feel like a point gained.

McCall had made two changes from the side that finished off Coventry with a second-half salvo.

One was enforced as Alex Gilliead was ruled out with his injured hamstring. Timothee Dieng replaced him for a first start in seven games.

Neither of Saturday’s goal-scorers featured in the side.

Jordy Hiwula would not have been too surprised to find himself on the bench after scoring. It had happened to him each time after his three previous goals as well.

Billy Clarke took his place at the tip of a midfield diamond, with Mark Marshall once again pushed into an advanced attacking role.

Alex Jones, who got the opener at the Ricoh, was left at home to treat his dead leg in a bid to be ready to return for the weekend.

Charlton, for all their under-achievement this season, have tended to raise their game against the better sides and played to their potential.

But skipper Romain Vincelot wasted no time in announcing City’s intentions with a 30-yard thunderbolt that thudded the advertising hoarding past Declan Rudd’s right post.

The travelling fans were generating a tremendous noise as the visitors settled quickly although Tony McMahon fired wastefully over from distance.

Josh Cullen was at the hub of most of the good stuff and he was not short of black-shirted options. Marshall whipped a dangerous ball into the mix which Patrick Bauer diverted away from the incoming James Meredith.

Charlton must have felt like the away team as the City support continued to provide the volume. Most of the action was also concentrated at one end as the home side struggled to keep possession.

Rory McArdle peeled off at the far post to meet McMahon’s corner with a free header back across goal but fellow centre half Nathaniel Knight-Percival could not keep his effort down.

For all their territorial advantage, it was City’s best opportunity since Vincelot’s first-minute rattler.

Colin Doyle comfortably held a snap-shot from Lee Novak but Charlton had threatened little and City were soon back on the attack with Cullen’s dinked cross just too strong for Meredith.

So it came as a huge shock when the Addicks grabbed the lead ten minutes before the break.

McArdle clipped Ricky Holmes midway inside the City half and Bauer nodded down the midfielder’s free-kick for Jorge Teixeira to control and clip into the roof of the net.

It was a smart finish for a defender but a slap in the face for the Bantams who had been in control for much of the half.

But they were behind for only eight minutes.

McMahon’s corner came out to Marshall whose angled shot was spilled by Rudd and Dieng reacted quickest as the ball popped up to nod the rebound into the empty net from six yards out.

It may have been a gift from the Charlton keeper but it was no more than City deserved. To have gone in trailing at the interval would have been tough to take – although Doyle had to be alert to deny Tony Watt in added time.

Charlton forced two immediate corners at the start of the second half and there was a spot of discomfort with some heading pinball in the six-yard box, Vincelot denying Novak from close range.

Marshall, seeing plenty of the ball, flashed a cross-shot across goal but there was more edge to the hosts now and a ball sat up nicely for Andrew Crofts to try an audacious dipping effort from distance that dropped just over Doyle’s bar.

Then Holmes fired the ball across the six-yard box where the stretching Novak slid in to turn over.

And City had a massive escape on the hour as Watt blazed wide from right in front of goal after the ball deflected into his path off Fredrik Ulvestad. Charlton boss Karl Robinson threw his head in his hands in frustration.

But the pressure continued and Ulvestad was inches away with a bending shot past the post.

It was a complete role reversal from the first half as City clung on to survive the home onslaught.

But they saw it through and tried to get back into proceedings with Billy Clarke testing Rudd with a low drive at his near post.

That was the Irishman’s final involvement however as Hiwula got his chance with 16 minutes to go.

But it was Charlton – and Teixeira – who nearly had a second as the Portuguese ghosted in unnoticed to meet a Holmes free-kick. Fortunately for City, his header was straight at Doyle.

Set-pieces remained a constant danger. Another dangerous delivery from Holmes from just outside the angle of the box found a clutch of red shirts near goal and Bauer got a head to it but somehow the ball squirted out for McMahon to hack away.

Charlton won another free-kick 25 yards out. This time it was Johnnie Jackson driving over the wall and only a squeak away from the top corner with Doyle beaten.

Another heart-stopping moment – although once again they did not hit the target - but City held on for a draw that will have felt a bit more substantial than many of the others.