Charlton ended their horrendous Premiership run with a victory at The Valley
which propelled them above FA Cup finalists Southampton in the table.
Alan Curbishley's men have endured a torrid time since reaching the European
places in late February, taking just a solitary point from their previous seven
matches.
But Scott Parker's inventive opener and a rare Kevin Lisbie header helped the
south-east London club halt that sequence and return them into ninth place.
James Beattie's late consolation hauled him back to the top of the Premier
League scorers' list but was not enough to stave off defeat for the Saints.
Without four centre-backs and fielding a makeshift defence, Charlton grew in
confidence as the contest drew on to defeat a Southampton side who return to
UEFA Cup action next season after a gap of two decades and could do so with
their first silverware since 1976 should they upset the odds and beat Arsenal in
Cardiff.
Jason Euell, recalled up front in place of defender Richard Rufus, was
Charlton's only change from the 2-1 defeat at Liverpool on Easter Monday and
only denied making full use of Parker's probing third-minute pass by a
well-timed Michael Svensson challenge.
Beattie was inches away from scoring a 23rd league goal of the season at the
other end, however, failing to get sufficient contact on a header from Wayne
Bridge's cross from the left.
And in an open start to the contest, Paul Jones was forced into the first save
in the eighth minute when Shaun Bartlett's physical strength led to a chance for
Parker, whose prod forward was wafted aside by the Welsh goalkeeper.
Parker then fired over in the 13th minute when David Prutton's slip allowed
Charlton to produce a swift counter-attack.
Charlton displayed some of the defensive frailty that has seen them ship 10
goals in their previous three homes games when Dean Kiely erred midway through
the first half.
Kiely, who yesterday announced his international retirement from the Republic
of Ireland, mis-hit a goal-kick straight to Beattie, who twisted inside and out
to curl his shot goalwards, forcing the keeper to turn over at full stretch to
atone for the mistake.
Another positive surge by Beattie then led to another Kiely save, holding a
shot on the run down to his right.
And as Saints' domination began to tell, Bridge burst into the area only to be
foiled by Kiely's sprawling legs.
However, it was Charlton who took the lead against the run of play just after
the half-hour when Parker surged through the Southampton rearguard for his
fourth Premiership goal of the season.
The England Under-21 midfielder, picked by Sven-Goran Eriksson for the full
squad against Australia in February, received Claus Jensen's lay-off 30 yards
out and set off goalwards, slicing through the defence unopposed to roll the
ball right-footed across Jones and inside the keeper's right-hand post.
It was the one moment of quality in the opening 45 minutes and inspired the
hosts for the remainder of the encounter.
Euell, whose 11 goals were instrumental in hoisting his side as high as sixth
place two months ago, went down under the challenge of Wayne Bridge in the area
five minutes before the whistle and before the locals had begun to appeal for a
penalty, Jones had beaten away Kevin Lisbie's rasper.
Brett Ormerod might have levelled just before the break when Fortune's slip
freed the in-form forward but Kiely smothered his advance.
Southampton could not be accused of lacking passion but there was a spark
missing from their play in the latter third of the field.
Captain Chris Marsden did try to orchestrate some fluency on the resumption by
directing them forward in a neat move of more than a dozen passes before lifting
his shot too high.
However, Charlton doubled their lead within seconds as Jensen dusted himself
off after being tripped to float in a free-kick from the left which Lisbie's
forehead glanced over the sprawling Jones.
It was only striker Lisbie's 13th goal for the club in 129 appearances and his
celebrations suggested as much as Charlton scored twice in a match for the first
time in eight games.
Paul Konchesky almost added a third 12 minutes into the second period after a
confident build-up which contrasted to their opening in the first half. Euell
was closed down on the edge of the area but Konchesky found room to send a low
drive narrowly wide.
Southampton manager Gordon Strachan reacted to the deficit by sending on
Fabrice Fernandes in place of Anders Svensson.
Jo Tessem, another of Saints' replacements, sliced wide as the visitors sought
a response.
But Charlton appeared the more likely to alter the scoreline with Jensen
getting under his effort and Fortune's powerful shot kept out by Jones'
agility.
However, Beattie tested the home side's nerves in the last minute as he
overtook Arsenal's Thierry Henry to head the goalscoring list outright with a
fine strike in the 90th minute.
When Radostin Kishishev's overhead clearance travelled only 10 yards, Beattie
controlled on his chest and lobbed a volley over Kiely from outside the area.
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