Charlton - 2 Middlesbro - 1: In the sunny chill of south-east London yesterday, heroically defiant in the face of numerous distractions, a football match was played; but it lacked stage presence, at least until Darren Bent discovered a belated sense of theatre.
Alan Curbishley, the Charlton manager, had just spoken to the FA about the England job, it had just been revealed, and he spent the afternoon attempting to appear at once flattered and put-upon, a taxing role, even for an accomplished thespian.
Charlton and Middlesbrough, lodged just above the Premiership's sediment, were already realistically safe from relegation and yesterday's rival supporters had one eye on the FA Cup quarter-final between the clubs here in 10 days' time.
Middlesbrough also had Europe on their minds and had made nine changes to the side that had beaten Roma 1-0 in the last 16 of the Uefa Cup on Thursday. So much for plucking this match out of Saturday's original fixture list in order to give their players a rest. Their 10 outfield players had made 85 starts this season between them before yesterday. Poor right-back Tony McMahon was making his first appearance of the campaign - and it lasted 12 minutes before he hobbled off.
The general anonymity of the Boro side was not helped by their wearing black numbers on dark blue strips. Their players were not immediately recognisable, apart from Mark Viduka, thrust forward, alone, like a missionary, Ray Parlour in midfield and Ugo Ehiogu at the back.
And so this unreal, Playstation of a football match meandered along until, late in the second half, it surprised itself by developing a real competitive edge. Middlesbrough had shown some neat touches, especially for a scratch side, and had gone closer to scoring in the first half through Parlour and Massimo Maccarone.
But Charlton regrouped for the second half and Bent, who had his own England case to make, let alone Curbishley, then scored twice to give Charlton a slightly fortunate victory.
He nodded in his first goal in the 73rd minute after Chris Powell had crossed from the left. Eight minutes later Viduka equalised with one of his specials. He received the ball with his back to goal, shrugged off challenges from Hermann Hreidarsson and Luke Young before firing a dipper from 25 yards which flew over Charlton's goalkeeper Thomas Myhre.
Bent, though, had the final word, tapping in his 19th goal of the season in all competitions from Young's pass after 86 minutes. Curbishley, who looked much more comfortable discussing domestic matters, said: "Darren's a great finisher. He scores different goals. They're not all inside the box, they're not all outside the box and they're not all headers.
"It (the World Cup) all depends on what happens to Sven's squad, the size and shape of it. All Darren can do is put himself in the frame. He's delighted to have scored so many goals in the Premiership and to be around the England team. Now he's got 10 games left to get in Sven's face and it didn't hurt him today."
Guardian Service
