Fulham 0 Charlton 0

After a disappointing cup defeat against Leicester City and what could be termed a 'lucky' point at Middlesbrough last week, Charlton bounced back in customary fashion to grind out a creditable point against Fulham at Craven Cottage on Saturday.

With the Addicks' season having entered the stage where results and performances have tended to tail off in recent years, the previous two displays could have had the doubters once again predicting an anti-climatic conclusion to the Valley men's campaign.

But while this energetic, combative display on a difficult surface was far from vintage Charlton, the performance will nevertheless have given Alan Curbishley every reason to believe his side can finish the club's centenary season in bold style.

Though a Fulham side that appeared to struggle hugely with playing Andrew Cole up front on his own had their moments, it was the visitors who were better value for all three points.

Shaun Bartlett had two chances in the first half; the first of which he'll still be wondering how he didn't score, and the excellent Danny Murphy and Paul Konchesky also went very close for the South-East Londoners.

That said, it was a third straight point on the road for Charlton after draws at Newcastle United and Middlesbrough, and Boro's 2-0 defeat at Aston Villa earlier in the day perhaps made the result even more pleasing with the Addicks now just two points off of the sixth place that could be the final European qualification spot.

Unsurprisingly unchanged from the previous week, Charlton were smoothly into their stride and the visitors should have been ahead after just three minutes.

Murphy, again an authoritative figure in the middle of the park, showed some great skill in the box before teeing up Konchesky in a dangerous position inside the left edge of the box.

The left midfielder's first-time cross was perfect for Bartlett, who was all alone at the far post, but the South African trod on the ball as he tried to get his shot away, and Zat Knight was able to make a desperate lunging block as Bartlett recovered from his blunder to eventually manage a strike on the turn.

Charlton looked ominous whenever they were able to get Murphy on the ball in promising positions, but Fulham were appearing similarly threatening from a series of free-kicks they were winning around the box early on - mostly through the probing Steed Malbranque who returned from injury.

The man mountain that is Knight was the obvious target for these set-plays, and the towering central defender should have put his side ahead from an 18th-minute Claus Jensen corner.

Rising way above a Charlton defence seeming unusually loose with their marking, Knight met the former Addick's flag-kick at the far post but inexplicably missed the target with his header.

It was Curbishley's men, however, that were making more purposeful use of the ball in open play and the away side created two clear chances in the next 10 minutes.

Luke Young had spent the opening 20 minutes of the game trying to keep flying Portuguese winger Luis Boa Morte in check, but the 21st brought about his first foray into opposition territory.

Managing to steal a yard on Carlos Bocanegra, the right-back drilled a ball across the six-yard box that Matt Holland inadvertently glanced on to Bartlett.

The path of the deflected ball meant that the lone striker was forced to hit his shot blind and on the turn, and the subsequent lack of power on the effort allowed Edwin Van der Sar to extend a long leg and keep the ball from crossing the line at the foot of the near post.

Six minutes on, Murphy was allowed to turn on receipt of Konchesky's ball inside, but after nimbly dipping inside Alain Goma on the edge of the box, the former Liverpool ace dragged his strike past the near upright when any shot on target would probably have done the trick.

Moments on an almost identical move again had Murphy in space 30 yards out, and this time the ever-improving midfielder released a searing drive that Van der Sar was grateful to be directly in line with.

The opening exchanges of the second period were as scrappy as the game had been, but Talal El Karkouri was desperately unlucky to go into Steve Bennett's notepad for out-muscling Andy Cole, who was looking to fasten on to Malbranque's throughball.

Even though Fulham were the home side, lone front man Cole was far more isolated than his Charlton counterpart and choruses of "four-four-two" from the Cottagers faithful urging Chris Coleman to give Cole a partner often rang around the ground.

The crowd's discontent only served to give Charlton confidence and the Addicks once again entered a spell of dominance.

After Murphy's right-wing corner had only been partially cleared, Konchesky collected the loose the ball and fired in a half-volley that Van der Sar had to claw away from the top corner.

Then, Radostin Kishishev clipped a neat pass into Konchesky who cushioned a ball off to Murphy, but this time Van der Sar was a mere bystander as the ball whistled into the travelling Charlton support.

With Middlesbrough's defeat surely in the back of his mind, Curbishley would have been tempted to try to steal all three points with a switch back to 4-4-2 as the game entered its closing stages, with an away win a massive result at this stage.

Francis Jeffers remained on the bench, however, and neither side were able to create a telling opportunity late on.

Fulham: Van der Sar, Bocanegra, Malbranque, Knight, Cole, Clark, Boa Morte, Bouba Diop, Jensen (John 72), Goma, Rosenior.

Subs (not used): Crossley, Volz, Legwinski, Radzinski.

Booking: Boa Morte 11 (foul on Thomas), Goma 40 (foul on Thomas), Cole 59 (retaliation).

Charlton: Kiely, Young, Perry, Kishishev, Holland, Hreidarsson, Murphy, Thomas (Johansson 74), El Karkouri, Bartlett, Konchesky.

Subs (not used): Anderson, Fish, Euell, Jeffers.

Booking: Kishishev 21 (foul on Boa Morte), El Karkouri 59 (foul on Cole).

Att: 18,290.

Ref: S Bennett

---