Oliver Norburn’s stoppage-time penalty denied Charlton three points as they were held to a 1-1 draw with Shrewsbury Town at Montgomery Waters Meadow.
The Addicks took the lead after 71 minutes when Ben Watson netted his first goal in Charlton colours. Watson’s effort fortuitously found its way in via a Shrewsbury defender, but the 35-year-old will claim it, nonetheless. It didn’t prove to be enough though, as Norburn snatched a point for Steve Cotterill’s side in the 95th minute from 12 yards out.
Lee Bowyer made five changes from his side’s frustrating loss at The Valley on Tuesday. Akin Famewo, Jason Pearce, and Ian Maatsen returned to the Addicks’ back four to join Chris Gunter, with Jake Forster-Caskey and Chuks Aneke also coming into the starting line-up.
Chances At A Premium
After a quiet opening 15 minutes, Charlton’s first real chance of the game came when Alex Gilbey found space on the left. His cross found Aneke whose flicked header drifted wide after evading the onrushing Pearce, who was seeking that all-important touch at the back post.
Both sides lacked a cutting edge with clear-cut chances proving hard to come by as the Addicks struggled to break down a resolute Shrewsbury defence, despite dominating possession.
Millar gave the Addicks a warning 10 minutes into the second period when he let fly, but, thankfully for Charlton, his curling effort struck the top of the crossbar.
Minutes later, Gilbey created a chance for himself when he cut in from the left before firing just wide from the edge of the penalty box in what was his last contribution of the afternoon.
Fresh Legs
Bowyer freshened up his midfield just after the hour-mark when he replaced Gilbey and Forster-Caskey with Albie Morgan and Jonny Williams, before bringing on Omar Bogle for Aneke seven minutes later.
The Addicks had the lead soon after. Gunter’s cut-back found Watson whose goal-bound effort found its way past Shrews stopper Matija Šarkić after a Shrews defender tried to clear.
The hosts hit the woodwork again when Amos tipped Josh Vela’s effort onto the crossbar, before scrambling Josh Daniels’ rebound off the line with an outstanding reaction save.
Late Drama
Charlton’s number 13 was in action again with another superb save, this time tipping Jason Cummings’ shot round the post in what proved to be a busy final 10 minutes for the ‘keeper.
Moments later, he was once again at full stretch, producing another diving save to deny Oliver Norburn’s curling strike.
But the drama didn’t finish there.
In the final minute of stoppage-time, referee Anthony Backhouse awarded a penalty to Cotterill’s side after Gunter’s foul on David Edwards inside the 18-yard box.
Norburn stepped up and made no mistake as he found the bottom-right corner to steal a late point for the Shrews.
