Charlton 0 Southampton 0

DEAN KIELY was the last to leave the pitch, dragging his feet and tugging at his soaked rag of a goalkeeper's jersey.

He looked precisely like a man who had spent a torrid evening carrying his Charlton team-mates on his shoulders. The good players know when their talent has made things happen, and before a television audience of millions on Monday, Kiely was never in doubt.

On a night when not even the inspirational presence of Olympic double gold medal winner Kelly Holmes could fire passive Charlton, Kiely spared the club the ignominy of losing to a Southampton side looking to avoid a third consecutive defeat in the Barclays Premier League.

There is no place to hide when your own supporters assail you with gleeful chants of "you're not very good" though jeers turned to cheers as Kiely made his way to the tunnel.

Handed the captaincy for the night in the absence of the injured Matt Holland and Mark Fish, Kiely showed once more that he perhaps represents the spirit of Charlton and when he is in touch with his game, then anything is possible.

And boy did he have to be at his best. Rumours of his demise as the club's number one choice following out of character slips at Bolton, and more recently Manchester City, proved unfounded as he produced a world-class save to deny Saints midfielder Rory Delap in the 58th minute when he somehow turned his shot over the bar.

In the 75th minute his speed of thought foiled James Beattie after Danny Murphy's appalling back pass had let him in. Charlton were also indebted to their Player of the Year for foiling David Prutton on a night when Saints must have cursed his brilliance.

When he was beaten, deep into second half stoppage time, Jason Euell was on hand to clear off the line from Delap.

Kiely's manager, Alan Curbishley, spoke of his attitude and appetite. And the praise was amply deserved.

He could not say the same about the rest of his team whose lack of creativity is becoming a worry. While Kiely had his work cut out, his opposite number, Antti Niemi, was virtually unemployed.

Afterwards, Curbishley was loathe to seek excuses, though he will probably welcome back influential skipper Matt Holland with open arms whenever he returns from injury.

For there were times on Monday when Charlton seemed less a team than a collection of players who expected things to happen by force of last season's feat of finishing seventh.

Crumbs of comfort were thin on the ground, though at least Charlton could point to a second clean sheet of the season and a back four, reinforced by the return of Chris Perry, that battled and scrapped to win a reprieve from defeat against modest opponents.

For much of the first half, both teams appeared nervous. Charlton's passing was nowhere near good enough as they constantly wasted possession, much to the fury of their irate supporters.

Dennis Rommedahl suggested he could emerge a match-winner with his pace down the left flank, though his final delivery was invariably inaccurate in a mistake-strewn half.

The second was little better. The 67th minute introduction of Jonatan Johansson for Francis Jeffers coincided with a mini-revival, but it was fleeting. When Southampton finally realised their opponents were so totally disjointed, they played with new-found self-belief and it was then that Kiely came into his own.

For home fans the final whistle could not come quick enough.