A late equaliser denied 10-man Charlton victory against AFC Wimbledon at the Cherry Red Records Stadium on Tuesday night.
Jayden Stockley nodded the Addicks ahead with a trademark header seven minutes after substitute Ryan Inniss was given his marching orders for a reckless lunge, but Zach Robinson’s 87th-minute meant Charlton had to settle for a share of the spoils.
Johnnie Jackson made three changes from Saturday’s defeat against Lincoln City, restoring Elliot Lee and Diallang Jaiyesimi to his starting XI whilst Jake Forster-Caskey earned a first start in 11 months following an ACL injury.
And Forster-Caskey proved to be an immediate cause of concern for the hosts’ backline as the midfielder crafted an early flurry of openings for the Addicks.
Stockley saw an overhead kick cleared off the line by Ben Heneghan after latching onto an inviting Forster-Caskey delivery, while Jaiyesimi profited from a neat Forster-Caskey flick but saw his goalbound drive blocked by Zach Robinson at point-blank range.
Moments later, Lee drove into the box with real purpose to cross for Conor Washington, though Nik Tzanev was alert at his near post to smother the forward’s effort.
Sean Clare rifled over from range as the opening period wore on, before Washington fired a first-time effort over on the stroke of half-time after latching onto Lee’s lofted pass in behind the hosts’ defence.
Sam Lavelle was forced off four minutes after the restart with what appeared to be a shoulder injury, though his replacement, Inniss, lasted just seven minutes.
Having taken a loose touch, the towering defender flew into a reckless challenge on George Marsh and was subsequently dismissed by the referee.
At the other end, Craig MacGillivray got down well to repel Paul Osew’s angled drive, before Akin Famewo denied Ayoub Assal with an outstanding last-ditch lunge.
Undeterred, though, the Addicks soon broke the deadlock.
Matthews produced a lung-busting run to take him to the byline on the right flank and the Welshman delivered a pinpoint cross for Stockley, who headed home with aplomb.
MacGillivray tipped over Will Nightingale’s header from Henry Lawrence’s deep-hit corner minutes later as the Wombles pushed for parity, and it arrived three minutes from time when Robinson stooped to head home substitute Ethan Chislett’s centre.
AFC Wimbledon: Tzanev; Nightingale, Heneghan, Csoka (Guinness-Walker 72); Lawrence (Chislett 79), Marsh, Woodyard (c), Osew (Mebude 72); Rudoni, Assal; Robinson
Subs (not used): Broome, Kalambayi, Ablade, Osei-Yaw
Goal: Robinson 87
Booked: Mebude 90+2 (foul on Famewo)
Charlton: MacGillivray; Clare, Lavelle (Inniss 49), Purrington; Matthews, Forster-Caskey (Famewo 58), Dobson, Lee, Jaiyesimi (Blackett-Taylor 64); Stockley (c), Washington
Subs (not used): Harness, Fraser, Leko, Burstow
Goal: Stockley 69
Booked: Dobson 54 (foul on Assal), Purrington 84 (foul on Assal)
Sent off: Inniss 56 (reckless challenge on Marsh)
Referee: Neil Hair
Attendance: 8,184 (1,100 from Charlton)