CHARLTON joined Villa with their third draw in as many games and manager Lennie Lawrence declared it:

"A fair result in every way."

He added: "I think it will be tight and close behind the big teams. So I am pleased with three draws."

Charlton produced spells of slick football to expose unbalanced Villa from the start.

And the sharpness of striker Paul Williams enbled Andy Jones to rifle Charlton ahead after only ten minutes.

The goal left Villa's defence red-faced, and after 30 minutes striker lan Olney replaced too-casual central defender Kent Nielsen.

Charlton, who surrendered a two-goal lead in the last few minutes against Millwall, then lost their lead to Villa even faster.

This was when Olney got the final touch from a goalmouth scramble.

Villa had soaked up real pressure after Charlton's strike, and it took Nigel Spink's save of the game to clear a Joe McLaughlin header.

"Joe was an inspiration over a hard 25 minutes in the second half," said Lawrence.