Charlton Athletic's manager Chris Powell on the touchline

League One: Charlton Athletic 1 Rochdale 1

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Yann Kermorgant’s curling free-kick saw Charlton fight from behind to earn a point against Rochdale this evening as they extended their unbeaten league run to eight matches.

Jeers were audible at the final whistle from contingents of the home crowd after Rochdale took the lead through Nicky Adams and were resolute for much of the contest.

The French striker’s moment of magic galvanised his side, who offered more threat in the final half an hour, but a winner rarely looked like coming.

With Danny Haynes injured and Chris Solly missing the match, Chris Powell recalled Bradley Wright-Phillips and handed a rare start to Cedric Evina.

The moves saw Rhoys Wiggins switch to right-back and Danny Green remain on the left of midfield, with Bradley Pritchard stationed on the right wing. Initially, at least, it offered hope.

Wright-Phillips was presented with a fine opportunity to break his barren run after nine minutes. Following a flick-on from Yann Kermorgant, Pritchard teed up the striker only for him to fall over when attempting to hit a shot on the half-turn.

The former Manchester City came much closer soon when, following another intelligent header from his French strike partner, his fizzing effort from the edge of the penalty area flew inches wide of Peter Kurucz’s left post.

However, with the message from the home bench being to get the ball forward as quickly as possible, John Coleman’s visitors soon adapted.

Suddenly Wiggins’ unease when using his right foot was being preyed upon while Green’s preference to cut inside and launch in-swinging crosses risked becoming predictable.

One such delivery saw Wright-Phillips attempt to loop a header over Kurucz but the home side did not force the Rochdale stopper into a save of note for most of the period.

As the game remained goalless the home side began to look more and more edgy in possession and, sure enough, it was Rochdale who capitalised.

A misunderstanding between Dale Stephens allowed the visitors to counter-attack at pace through the impressive pairing of Gary Jones and Nicky Adams. The latter then showed quick feet to get away from his marker, before his deflected effort spun Ben Hamer after 53 minutes.

The lead lasted just four minutes as central defender Kevin Long was adjudged to have fouled Kermorgant off the ball and received a booking for his troubles.

Seeing the Frenchman fall to the floor has become a regular occurrence and either there has been a league memo to nullify his threat by any means possible or his theatrical demeanour is very influential with referees.

Said abilities pale in comparison with his free-kick taking though as he subsequently proved from the resulting set-piece from 20 yards out.

Suddenly the home side seemed re-energised and Wright-Phillips’s shot from close range was turned away for a corner before Stephen’s piledriver flew narrowly wide of the upright.

There was no lack of effort from the home side, but Rochdale’s extra man in midfield was effective in stifling their build-up play. The quintet should not imply the away side were overly negative though and if they can maintain this level of performance you would back them to beat the drop.

Scott Wagstaff and Leon Clarke were introduced, but neither had the desired impact for Powell’s side. For all their huff and puff the door showed little sign of being blown down.

Should Sheffield United win their game in hand the lead at the top of League One will be cut to four points and slight concerns will begin to creep into the minds of Charlton fans.

They are now unbeaten in their past eight league games, with five wins in that time, which suggests any such fears would be premature.

The discontent at the final whistle was certainly uncalled for given their season as a whole although supporters will have expected all three points from a midweek visit of a side in the relegation zone.

However you get the impression players and fans alike need to a resounding victory to regain any lost momentum.

Charlton Athletic: Hamer, Wiggins, Morrison, Taylor, Pritchard, Evina (Cort, 82 mins), Hollands, Stephens, Green (Wagstaff, 65 minutes), Kermorgant, Wright-Phillips (Clarke, 72 mins).

Subs not used: Sullivan, Hayes.

Rochdale: Kurucz, Widdowson, Long, Amankwaah, Darby, Jordan, Kennedy, Jones, Barry-Murphy, Adams (Thompson, 82 mins), Symes.

Subs not used: Lucas, Grimes, Tutte, Holden.

Attendance: 15, 067, including 121 Rochdale supporters.