Birmingham 1 Charlton 1

THE curious myth which insists the Premiership is the finest league in the world took another battering at St Andrews on Saturday.

A dreadful match saw an unconvincing Charlton move to eighth in the table with their first away point of the season. That, in itself, is eloquent condemnation of the match.

Long before a ball had been kicked in earnest this season, Birmingham and Charlton were tipped to rise from the foothills of the Premier League and ruffle feathers among the elite. Early days these may be, but indications suggest such confidence was mis-placed as both continue to misfire.

Birmingham manager Steve Bruce insists his side will get better. Charlton's Alan Curbishley made the pertinent point that reaching eighth was no mean feat for a side still attempting to piece their act together.

Of the two managers, Curbishley could at least derive a modicum of satisfaction from a match that was not pretty and threatened to become a squabble as Birmingham's Robbie Savage continually tested the most disciplined temperaments among the Charlton players.

At least Curbishley and his team could enjoy the ride home after the horrors of conceding four goals at both Bolton and Manchester City while on the road this season.

His back four once more proved their collective resilience for the second time in six days after shutting out Southampton last Monday. What Charlton need now is for the midfield to complement the defence with more prosaic virtues.

Birmingham, who had won once in the league in five games before Saturday, never looked capable of improving a record that still awaits a first win against Charlton at home in the Premiership. In fact they have not managed a top-flight win against the Addicks since November, 1956.

Bruce and Birmingham would have known what was coming when Curbishley set out his stall with an ultra-defensive line-up for which Jason Euell, Dennis Rommedahl and Francis Jeffers were sacrificed. Former Blue Bryan Hughes, Talal El Karkouri and Jonatan Johansson were summoned as replacements with Morocco international El Karkouri handed a holding role in front of the back four.

Birmingham were stifled. Their supporters became impatient and for 19 minutes Charlton's Luke Young revelled in the role of an unlikely match-winner with his second goal of the season. The defender, who scored his first after more than 100 appearances for the club in the 3-0 defeat of Aston Villa last month, turned up where Birmingham least expected him.

After a forgettable first half, the match was meandering towards a goalless draw when Young struck in the 49th minute.

Danny Murphy made the break and played in Johansson whose low cross demanded that goalkeeper Maik Taylor be called into action for the first and last time in the game.

But as Savage and Izzet collided, Taylor took his eye off the ball and it squirmed past him where Young was lurking on the left ready to finish.

Charlton's chances of registering a first away win of the season increased when Birmingham were reduced to 10-men with Damien Johnson's dismissal for a second yellow card in the 57th minute. Having been cautioned for an appalling challenge on former team-mate Bryan Hughes in the 14th minute, he did not need referee Uriah Rennie to waggle a second yellow after tripping Johansson. He simply walked off.

Bruce pulled the fat from Birmingham's fire in the 61st minute with a double substitution that saw skipper Kenny Cunningham and Clinton Morrison replaced by David Dunn and Dwight Yorke. Yorke celebrated his debut by rising to meet Izzet's corner and thumping home a header for a 68th minute equaliser.

Though substitute Euell spurned the chance to snatch a late winner, Charlton had made their point. Three attempts on target, two by Birmingham, tells its own story of the match.