Charlton Athletic 2 v Watford 2

The proverbial game of two halves yesterday. In the first 45 minutes Charlton picked up pretty much where we left off against Palace. Solid at the back, busy in midfield and looking dangerous up front. In the second half we were caught cold by two goals in a minute and were unable to fight-back. Paul Taylor, the referree, was dire and favoured Watford in many of his decisions. Call me petty, but coming from Hertfordshire hardly inspires a view of neutrality.

Anyway, to the game. I was disappointed to see us set-up with the same eleven that scraped a draw in Sheffield on Tuesday. I am assuming Bougherra is still injured as I believe he deserves a place ahead of Jon Fortune if fit. Fortune had a reasonable game yesterday but is playing at his peak and Bougherra will develop into a more consistent performer. I thought Ambrose and/or Sam deserved to be dropped following a number of games where they have not done enough, especially in the second half. With Cook and Thomas as the options, I would had Ambrose on the bench.

Nonetheless we set about the task with some determination and the opening goal was a well-worked gem. Halford played up to Gray who knocked on for Varney to collect in space before pulling the ball back through the turning Watford defence for Darren Ambrose to ram home from 8 yards. It all looked so easy and we continued to make the running before going two-up after 36 minutes. This time Halford burst down the right and fired in a low and hard cross which was curling back towards the on-rushing Varney and Gray. A desperate lunge from Danny Shittu was all it needed to divert the ball passed Lee and it looked all over. Charlton strolled off in the winter sunshine at the break and everyone in red looked happy.

Watford obviously took a rollocking at half time because they were out and ready to kick off fully five minutes before Pardew's men ambled back. The Watford tempo had quickened and they were visibly concentrating better than in the first period. After ten minutes they got the bit of good fortune they needed. The accomplished Tommy Smith picked up a Charlton clearance and turned back against the tide of on-rushing players. He cleverly played the ball through a gap behind the Charlton defence and O-Toole was clear to beat Weaver unopposed. From my vantage point in the East Stand I couldn't be sure, but O'Toole and another yellow shirted player looked offside. It was pointless looking to the referree as he hadn't seen anything all game. He missed a blatant corner in the first half when Lee palmed an effort wide and was reluctant to penalise several tackles which had merited bookings. As Charlton re-started I commented to a mate that we had to keep possession for three minutes to settle the game and get going again. Watford went straight downfield and won a corner. The ball in was met by Danny Shittu head and shoulders above the nearest challenge and he atoned for his earlier own goal. No further chorus of "there's only one Danny Shittu" from the North Stand.

The game was still there to be won. Level-pegging having scored twice with home advantage and fully half-an-hour to play. What was disappointing was we failed to fightback. We battled well enough but when we needed an inspirational run from someone, there was no-one to do it. I can't help thinking Andy Reid might have made a diference in the second half. Holland and Zheng Zhi were too busy scampering around the midfield to breakout. Lloyd Sam had enjoyed a decent first half but was again mis-firing and Darren Ambrose had dropped out altogether. Varney and Gray were still fighting up front but were short of support. It was time for a substitution but we waited another 13 minutes before Lee Cook eventually came on for Ambrose.

Cook got a noisy reception - from the Watford fans who clearly haven't forgotten his acrimonious transfer when he left them to join his beloved QPR in 2004. He was given the privilege of two men marking him for the rest of the game but still managed an impressive showing. He was fouled reepeatedly but delivered half-a-dozen decent crosses which were all well- defended.

Thomas came on for Sam and Iwelumo for Gray but we still couldn't find the urgency we needed and we actually spent the last ten minutes playing in our own half. If anything, Watford might have snatched the winner and it look a great last-ditch block from Jon Fortune to earn the point.
Paddy McCarthy was excellent today and good enough in his position to be able to pay attention to supporting Jon Fortune and Greg Halford. Apart from Cook's lively home debut there wasn't a great deal from the rest to comment on.

For me, it's time to stop dreaming about automatic promotion and concentrate on getting the points we need to finish with a play-off place. Looking at the table this morning, there is a far bigger risk of losing our play-off place than winning automatic promotion. A finish outside the top six will be unacceptable with the squad we have and the opportunities we have already missed.

Bah humbug!