Charlton 0 Birmingham 0

Apr 11 2009

At the other end Rob Elliot kept out a couple of free-kicks from Hameur Bouazza, the former Addicks loanee who was revelling in the role of pantomime villain with his every touch being loudly booed by the home fans.

Shelvey sent a free-kick narrowly over the crossbar, while Blues defender Radhi Jaidi headed Bouazza's corner too high in first-half stoppage time.

The game improved after the break and Charlton winger Lloyd Sam almost caught Taylor out with an angled drive which the keeper palmed onto his own post.

Sam then curled another shot wide before defender Darren Ward had the ball in the Birmingham net, only to be denied by an offside flag.

Shelvey forced another smart save from Taylor with a low drive and Tresor Kandol headed over before the chance of the game fell to Zheng with 15 minutes remaining.

Taylor spilled a cross under pressure from Kandol and the ball fell to the China midfielder right in front of goal, but he scuffed his shot and Stephen Carr was able to block on the line.

In a lively finale, Elliot made two fine saves from Keith Fahey before Taylor superbly clawed away Shelvey's deflected shot.