Charlton 2 Watford 2

CHARLTON manager Alan Pardew insisted he had not given up on automatic promotion after seeing two precious points slip from his team's grasp on Saturday.

Charlton roared into a 2-0 half-time lead against former leaders Watford before conceding two goals in a minute of second half madness.

At the final whistle, Pardew strode on to the pitch to confront referee Paul Taylor who needed a police escort to his dressing room.

"I said to him that I hoped that he had got the decision right for their first goal because it looked offside," said Pardew.

"It could prove to be a massive decision in our season. But I'm still convinced we've got what it takes to grab an automatic promotion place.

"But we're going to have win most of our remaining games and Saturday's match at Blackpool now becomes especially important."

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Charlton, who were looking for a fourth straight home win, took a 16th minute lead when Darren Ambrose scored from close range after Luke Varney flicked on Zheng Zhi's cross.

They went further ahead when former Addicks defender Danny Shittu sliced Greg Halford's cross into his own goal in the 36th minute.

Charlton looked comfortable with the lead until the 54th minute when Watford substitute John-Joe O'Toole scored from a suspiciously looking offside position.

Seconds later, Shittu made amends for his earlier error when he headed in Matthew Sadler's corner.

Watford dominated for long periods in the second half when Jobi McAnuff went close to snatching the winner.

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Charlton: Weaver, Halford, McCarthy, Fortune, Youga, Sam (Thomas 77mins), Holland, Zhi, Ambrose (Cook 68mins), Gray (Iwelumo 78mins), Varney.

Subs not used: Elliot, Sodje.
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