Bryan Hughes and Birmingham City will look back on a last minute mis-kick, when a winning goal looked almost certain, and reflect that, after a desperately poor afternoon, a draw was probably a fair result for two teams who served up a true dog's dinner of a game.
"Apart from Mikael Forssell, I doubt there's a player we would have wanted it to drop for more than Bryan," said Blues boss Steve Bruce after the match.
"He's a great finisher, but he's failed to make any sort of contact with the thing, and we have to make do with a point. That's just the way it goes."With the prospect of Europe still alive and in the minds of both sides, a degree of urgency and excitement seemed a reasonable expectation, only to be dispelled through the course of a dreadful first 45 minutes.
Neither side found themselves capable of stringing together even the most basic of passing movements, as the thought of either playing in Europe next year seemed ever more fanciful.
No shot managed to find its way onto the target, leaving Dean Kiely and Maik Taylor in their respective goals to exchange long, aimless punts, triggering yet another passage of uninspired football.
The wry laughter from the crowd, which greeted the announcement that there were going to be first-half highlights shown during the break summed the mood up rather nicely.
Paolo Di Canio replaced the injured Shaun Bartlett at the break, as Alan Curbishley sought to put an end to the game's slumbering tempo and while the South African had looked one of the marginally more effective players on display, the arrival of the veteran Italian at least offered the prospect of greater entertainment to come.
Kenny Cunningham's error on the hour mark presented Jonatan Johansson with the chance to claim the first shot on target of the whole afternoon, only for Taylor to safely hold his tame effort and maintain the deadlock.
Curbishley's decision to introduce Carlton Cole for the misfiring Radostin Kishishev highlighted his side's need to create something in the final third of the pitch, and five minutes later, Jon Fortune should have done better than fire over after spinning free from a flicked-on Claus Jensen corner.
Birmingham waited until the 65th minute to launch their first effort on goal of the afternoon, as Forssell fired a free-kick over the bar, a statistic which summed up the afternoon.
Against the run of play, Birmingham seemed to have claimed the crucial goal six minutes from time however, thanks to some shocking defending from the home side.
Matthew Upson nodded a deep cross back across the six-yard box, and Clinton Morrison headed home from five yards out without a Charlton defender troubling to challenge.
"They showed great character to get back from a goal down," Curbishley reflected afterwards.
"A lot of clubs would have thought that the game had got away from them at that stage, but they kept plugging away and grabbed an equaliser which keeps it very tight for that Champions League spot.
Birmingham's joy was shortlived though, as Matt Holland rose well to head an equaliser just two minutes later, latching onto Chris Powell's fine, far post cross.
It was an equaliser that left Steve Bruce feeling understandably deflated.
"We've let in far too many goals like that, and it's going to take its toll by the end of the season," he added.
"It's a long ball to the far post, and we've not defended it nearly well enough. You've got to feel like you've taken a kick in the teeth when that happens, and we certainly do."MAN OF THE MATCH: Stephen Clemence – Was a steadying influence for the Blues in a poor game that had no real stars.