Charlton 0 Preston North End 2 (Russell 11, Mayor 67)

Encouraged by a tiny train of doughty pilgrims from the Red Rose county, Preston North End helpfully cleared one of Charlton's cluttered decks by removing their second string from the Carling Cup last night. The visitors' reward, if reward is remotely the right word, is an even more daunting midweek shlep to Southampton for a third round tie next week. Home fans breathed a collective sigh of relief at that dismal prospect. "Better them than us" was the general attitude buzzing around The Valley. Unworthy, perhaps, but heartfelt.

Connected to a genuinely proper football club, it has to be said that North End's followers were a less toxic breed than their immediate predecessors from Exeter proved to be last Saturday. So disgruntled were two Devonians by Bradley Wright-Phillips' cheeky reaction to his opening goal that they were unceremoniously chucked out, one of them held symmetrically horizontal with a burly attendant at each corner. Bertie Wooster periodically left the Drones Club in identical fashion after a food fight went too far. The effect is irresistibly comical, totally undignified and punctures the self-esteem of the most neanderthal of football hooligans.

But we digress. Three days after his First X1 laboured in dismissing 10-man Exeter, Chris Powell completely rang the changes, as he had done when the Addicks impressively eliminated Championship opponents Reading in the first round last month. Mahogany-hued Preston boss Phil Brown, meanwhile, had himself more or less re-vamped the line-up which squeezed past Yeovil on Friday night. He was handsomely vindicated by the tape-to-tape superiority exerted by his reserves, who won more or less as they pleased.

Not that Charlton started badly, with Ruben Bover Izquierdo stinging the fingers of Andreas Arestidou from 25 yards. Preston's riposte was immediate; youth academy graduate Danny Mayor began 45 minutes of torture for Simon Francis by cutting inside the hapless right back to cross hard and low, a convenient ricochet leaving experienced Darel Russell the straightforward task of burying a low drive inside the left post. Francis' miserable evening promptly went from bad to worse, with a booking for chopping down Paul Parry, his half-time withdrawal by Chris Powell as much an act of compassion as the manager's tactical response to an already unpromising situation.

Not that Francis was exactly overshadowed by his colleagues, whose performance was as bad on this occasion as it had been good against Reading. Until Scott Wagstaff added his first team pedigree in the second period, they were aimless and gormless. Supposedly under threat from Danny Green for his first team place, Wagstaff added class to a losing cause. Green, on the other hand, seemed dragged down by the mediocrity around him, his solitary contribution a slaloming run which ended anti-climatically when he momentarily stepped on the ball before being crowded out.

Wagstaff was responsible for his side's few positive moments. A searing 25-yard drive was spectacularly tipped over the bar by Arestidou and a close range header from Jason Euell's stoppage time cross hit a post. John Sullivan was the busier keeper, though, an early save to keep out Russell's blockbuster the best of the game and his bravery at Adam Barton's feet earning him a painful injury. He could do nothing, however, to prevent Mayor from sealing the issue in the 67th minute.

Proving as elusive to replacement right back Yado Mambo as he had been to poor Francis, 20 year-old Mayor cut in again from the touchline to curl a fine drive beyond Sullivan's left hand on its way into the right corner. Preston's ticket to Southampton was duly booked, Charlton's lack of envy palpable.

There was prompt consolation for a small crowd and a pragmatic manager as news arrived of defeats for both Sheffield clubs and the failure of Brentford to beat Colchester at home. By default, the Addicks had moved to the top of League One and the Carling Cup paled into comparative insignificance. Brentford are due at The Valley in the JPT on October 5th. Don't expect a bloodcurdling cup tie from teams with more important items on their agenda. It could even be embarrassing.

Charlton (4-4-2): Sullivan 6, Francis 4 (booked), (Mambo 46,5), Doherty 5, Cort 5, Evina 6, Green 5 (Popo 76), Hughes 5, Pritchard 5, Bover Izquierdo 5 (booked), Benson 5 (Wagstaff 46,7), Euell 5. Not used: Hamer, Davisson, Warren, Smith.

Referee: F. Graham 7. Attendance: 5,130.

Charlton 2 (Wright-Phillips 43, Stephens 81) Exeter City 0

As Charlton's ragbag collection of "temps" and "casuals" lurched from one humiliation to another last season, Exeter City were among a number of supposed minnows who took full advantage of their disarray by beating them twice in the league. They joined other luminaries in Brentford (who added a JPT knockout for good measure) and Walsall in "doing the double" over Charlton's big-time Charlies.

City's 3-1 victory at The Valley was especially demoralising, being accomplished in front of a bumper crowd of over 24,000, lured by the club's attractive offer of £5 admission. Not for the first time, the Addicks choked under the spotlight, a failing which they hope to put right when the offer is repeated for Chesterfield's visit on September 24th.

At home to the Grecians again on Saturday, after a top-to-toe summer re-organisation, newlook Charlton began the process of exacting retribution from their opportunistic tormentors. They made a successful start to their quest for vengeance but not until a huge slice of luck loaded the dice firmly in their favour after just 10 minutes.

The visitors were holding their own during a few give-and-take opening exchanges when loan signing Rowan Vine adroitly made space for a left-footed snapshot which surprised Ben Hamer but was touched aside by the full-length keeper. Closing in at the far post, under crucial pressure from Rhoys Wiggins, much-travelled striker Danny Nardiello managed an unconvincingly scuffed effort which, to most naked eyes, appeared to have squirmed over the goalline before Hamer scrambled the ball clear. Not so, ruled referee Tierney, leaving the unfortunate striker beside himself with frustration.

Some 10 minutes later, Nardiello's simmering sense of injustice boiled over. With the action far afield, he seized the chance to give Mr. Tierney's assistant referee, a chap as crisp and decisive as Pontius Pilate, a piece of his mind. " You're a *******" waste of space, he announced, " and while we're at it, you're also a ****** **** of ********, not to mention a complete ******." In anyone's book, his outburst constituted foul and abusive language. Mr. Tierney agreed and ordered him off after the asterisks were filled in for him.

Nardiello's disgruntled colleagues were left to negotiate some 70 minutes with 10 men and, to their credit, made a fair fist of it. They were lucky to remain level when the outstanding Chris Solly's cannonball rocketed down from the underside of the bar and is generally believed to have crossed Lenny Pidgeley's goalline before it was hacked clear. For the officials to overlook one over-the-line incident may be regarded as misfortune: to completely miss another looked very much like carelessness.

Keeping their heads admirably while refusing the obvious temptation to flood City's penalty area with a barrage of high balls and over-ambitious long passes, the Addicks switched the ball around patiently without making much of their numerical advantage. A glorious through ball from Danny Hollands, which struck its flying recipient Scott Wagstaff unluckily on the heel, was the way forward but the first signs of frustration were beginning to show when, two minutes before the break, their steady pressure told on the beleaguered Grecians.

Picking up Mike Morrison's clearance inside the area, Bradley Wright-Phillips exchanged incisive passes with Paul Hayes, broke away between outmanouevred centre backs Troy Archibald-Henville and Richard Duffy and clinically beat the advancing Pidgeley with the outside of his right boot. His fifth goal of the season was dedicated to those Devonians unwisely taunting him for his Plymouth Argyle connections.

The second period, though confidently expected to be a stroll, developed into a grind as Charlton's chronic inability to finish off apparently stricken opponents returned to haunt them...almost. Wright-Phillips again combined cleverly with Hayes but the latter's concrete-heavy touch allowed Pidgeley to smother the close range effort.

Wright-Phillips was in irresistible form but twice shot narrowly wide. A second goal was sorely needed to soothe The Valley's jangled nerves because the gutsy visitors were far from finished. Then, with 10 minutes remaining, Charlton polished them off with a second well-worked strike. Almost as effective as a provider this season, Wright-Phillips chased down Scott Wagstaff's pass near the right byline before cutting back a low pass behind Wagstaff. Meeting the chance 15 yards out, Dale Stephens drilled the clincher into the bottom left corner, effectively dispelling memories of his glaring miss under similar circumstances against Sheffield Wednesday in midweek.

So revenge it was, a dish they say is best served cold. This time, it was sort of lukewarm but no less tasty.

Charlton (4-4-2): Hamer 6, Solly 9, Morrison 7, Taylor 7, Wiggins 6, Wagstaff 7, Hollands 8, Stephens 7 (Hughes 86), Jackson 7, Hayes 7 (Euell 78), Wright-Phillips 8 (Pritchard 86). Not used: Sullivan, Cort.

Exeter (5-3-2): Pidegely 6, Tully 6, Archibald-Henville 6, Coles 6 (Logan 6,46), Duffy 6, Jones 6 (Shephard 6,46), Dunne 7, Noble 7, Golbourne 6, Vine 6 (Keohane 6,52), Nardiello (sent off). Not used: Krysiak, Nichols.

Referee: P. Tierney. Attendance: 14, 290.