Charlton manager Nathan Jones said he was pleased to have League One top scorer Alfie May spearheading his attack as the striker’s 19th and 20th league goals of the season earned a 3-2 win over Carlisle.

Charlton did not have it all their own way, going behind to a 20th-minute volley from Luke Armstrong, but goals either side of half-time from May and Daniel Kanu helped to resume normal service.

Taylor Charters equalised with a 63rd-minute penalty after Armstrong was fouled by Macaulay Gillesphey but 15 minutes from time May pounced on a Sam Lavelle back-pass to claim the points.

“He’s a wonderful player,” Jones said of his striker, who arrived for his own media duties with a bottle of champagne.

“He’s a clever player, he’s a great lad and he’s brilliant around the place. He thinks about his game, he thinks about his movement and he doesn’t just go and play off the cuff.

“He’s scored goals wherever he’s been, he’s come here and he’s been scoring goals. His dip coincided with a dip in the team’s form, which can happen, but all you have to do is keep giving these players confidence and keep talking to them and Alfie’s responded fantastically well.”

The result moves Charlton 10 points clear of relegation but Jones insisted he remains focused on his team playing well.

“It wasn’t [about] survival, it was about getting performances,” he said. “Yes, we want to make sure that we don’t get sucked into any kind of relegation thing but we want to finish as high as we possibly can because we want to build.

“We’re not just planning for now, we want to build for the future as well.”

Carlisle boss Paul Simpson felt his team merited a much-needed point.

“The players have worked extremely hard today and probably deserved something out of it but unfortunately we go away with nothing again, which is the story of our season,” he said.

“For long periods I thought we looked decent. I thought our shape was good. I thought the plan that we had was good.”

“I’m pleased with some individual performances. Harry [Lewis]. Dylan McGeouch got on the ball and passed the ball well for us. Harrison [Neal] had another good game. Good for Luke to get a goal.”

Unfortunately for Simpson, individual errors cost the Cumbrians. “We’ve just given really poor goals away today,” he said.

“We just haven’t reacted well enough for the second goal. It’s a throw-in and we’ve not squeezed high enough up the pitch to make us nice and compact.”

“The third goal is a mistake and it’s just one of those things. We’ve got to clear our lines in that position.”

Alfie May scored twice as Charlton secured back-to-back League One wins for the first time this season, beating Carlisle 3-2.

After a 20th-minute volley from Luke Armstrong gave the visitors an unlikely lead, Charlton turned the game around with goals either side of half-time – May following up a deflected shot from Daniel Kanu in the 37th minute and Kanu himself crashing home from close range in the 54th.

Carlisle manager Paul Simpson had asked his players to show pride and they did so, Taylor Charters equalising from the penalty spot after Macaulay Gillesphey had fouled Armstrong.

But the hosts’ quality eventually told, May latching onto a loose back-pass from former Addick Sam Lavelle and rounding the keeper to claim his fourth goal in four games after just one in the previous 13.

Charlton’s first home victory since November means they now find themselves comfortably in mid-table, 10 points above 21st-placed Cheltenham and quickly forgetting any relegation concerns.

Carlisle’s 10th loss in 11 games means they will almost certainly go down.

Late strikes from Tyreeq Bakinson and Alfie May earned Charlton a 3-1 League One win at Cheltenham to ease their relegation fears.

The improving Addicks took a first-half lead through Daniel Kanu before Liam Sercombe’s 70th-minute leveller set up a tense finish.

But the late double lifted Nathan Jones’ side seven points clear of their hosts and the drop zone.

It took 19 minutes for them to break the deadlock, with Conor Coventry releasing Tennai Watson on the right and his low ball was turned in by Kanu for his 10th of the season.

May was denied by Liam Kinsella’s block in the box and Luke Southwood blocked another May effort, but the rebound was skewed wide in the 33rd minute.

Matty Taylor saw a low shot deflected wide, but Charlton were on top for much of the first half.

Cheltenham equalised when Jordan Thomas weaved past two defenders and forced Harry Isted into a low save, but he could only parry it to Sercombe, who tapped home.

But Bakinson struck four minutes from the end with a low shot that Southwood reached – but could not keep out – after George Dobson’s pass.

And former Robins hero May added the third in the 90th minute, tapping into an empty net after collecting Freddie Ladapo’s pass as Charlton extended their unbeaten run to six.

Louis Appere scored with 10 minutes remaining as Northampton fought back to draw 1-1 with struggling Charlton in Sky Bet League One.

The Addicks led after just four minutes at Sixfields when their opponents failed to clear their lines and the ball dropped to Karoy Anderson on the edge of the box and his shot took deflected past goalkeeper Louie Moulden.

Daniel Kanu was close to converting Conor Coventry’s fizzed cross before Moulden saved from Alfie May as Charlton enjoyed much the better of the first half.

Northampton failed to create anything of note before the break but they were almost level early in the second half when Mitch Pinnock slammed the ball into the side-netting.

The visitors continued to threaten on the break and May headed against the post.

However, they were pegged back in calamitous circumstances.

Goalkeeper Harry Isted was caught in possession by Sam Hoskins and the ball fell to substitute Appere, who gleefully rolled it into an empty net to rescue a point for his team.

Derby boss Paul Warne admitted his team did not look like a promotion side after they were beaten 2-1 at home by strugglers Charlton.

For the second time in four days, Derby lost after going in front and Warne knows they have to improve to have a chance of going up.

Derby had a lot of possession in the first half and went ahead in the 39th minute when Eiran Cashin headed in a corner.

But it was different in the second and a rush of blood from goalkeeper Joe Wildsmith allowed Charlton to draw level.

Wildsmith brought down Daniel Kanu and Alfie May sent him the wrong way with the resulting penalty.

Another mistake gave Charlton their first win since November when Ebou Adams let Kanu in and although Wildsmith blocked his shot, Karoy Anderson scored his first senior goal with the rebound.

“Very frustrated, I thought the first 20 minutes our play was really good without creating clearcut openings and I was really pleased with how we played first half,” Warne said.

“Second half we didn’t start as well and there’s a massive turning point. Joe’s held his hands up, but it’s a mistake.

“That was disappointing from our point of view and then another mistake in the middle of the pitch and they punished that.

“It isn’t a performance of a team that’s going to get promoted and that isn’t the level of performance that we expect.

“We have shot ourselves in the foot no end of times this season at home, more so than away, and tonight we got punished for our mistakes, and we have to be better if we are going to be successful.

“We didn’t have enough, that’s the honest truth. It’s really disappointing because in a position like that with so few games left, you need to see games out and manage them better.

“We didn’t have enough great performances in the second half to justify the three points.”

Charlton manager Nathan Jones admitted his side’s half-time team-talk was the catalyst for t

“It was a game of two halves,” the Welsh boss said. “The first half, we were nowhere near the levels we demand. We were tentative, we weren’t aggressive enough and we allowed Derby to do certain things we didn’t want them to do.

“We had a few words at half-time and in the second half I thought we were outstanding. We over-ran them, we were aggressive and I’m really proud of the second-half performance.

“And that’s what they’ve got to learn, they haven’t won for a long time, so we are having to cross milestones in terms of things, but that second-half performance was everything I wanted from my team.

“Now we are showing form that can take us forward.”

Ian Evatt was seething for a second successive weekend despite Bolton battling back twice to deny opposite number Nathan Jones his first win as Charlton boss in a 3-3 draw.

Evatt was sent off and then later charged with allegedly using foul and abusive language during his team’s draw at Northampton last Saturday.

And he was livid once more as referee Ross Joyce did not stop play for a head injury to Josh Dacres-Cogley in the build-up to Daniel Kanu putting Charlton 3-2 ahead after 61 minutes.

Substitute Jon Dadi Bodvarsson rescued a point for promotion-chasing Bolton 19 minutes from time.

Victor Adeboyejo had put the home side 1-0 up but the Addicks led 2-1 at the break through Thierry Small’s first goal for the club on debut and Lloyd Jones.

Paris Maghoma scored a spectacular equaliser six minutes after the interval only for Kanu to cap a fine display with a low shot that went in off a post.

“He (Dacres-Cogley) landed on his head,” claimed Evatt. “He is clearly holding his head. He is down on the floor.

“We know the impact of head injuries and how serious they can be. At that point no-one could have known how serious it could be.

“The referee told me he (Dacres-Cogley) had sat up. But I have watched the footage back after the game and he didn’t at any stage.

“A few ricochets later it is in the back of the net. It is baffling considering what happened with their goalkeeper at the end.”

With Bolton pressing for a winner referee Joyce halted play to allow treatment to Charlton keeper Harry Isted.

“It doesn’t matter whether it is a goalkeeper or not; it’s not a head injury,” argued Evatt, who also claimed he heard “bad language” directed at the officials.

“It just feels like the world is going against us with decisions, with suspension and with injuries. We have lost four key members to our team.”

Charlton chief Jones was full of praise for his team’s point ahead of games against Bolton’s promotion rivals Portsmouth and Derby.

But he claimed not to have seen anything untoward before Kanu scored.

“I don’t know what happened,” he said. “Well done, that’s one thing he (Mr Joyce) gave us today.

“I didn’t see it. I thought it was a good goal.

“To come here and to score three against one of the best and arguably the best footballing side in the division and to be able to do what we did showed we are progressing.

“It was a positive performance, it was an energetic performance and at no point did we look to contain.”

Luke McCormick’s stoppage-time strike sealed a first League One win of the season for Bristol Rovers in a dramatic 2-1 victory over Charlton at the Valley.

Daniel Kanu had cancelled out Scott Sinclair’s opener before McCormick struck at the death.

Charlton edged the opening 45 minutes and Corey Blackett-Taylor lashed a left-footed shot across the face of goal while Karoy Anderson’s inswinging corner clipped off the top of Matthew Cox’s crossbar.

The Gas went ahead in the 58th minute, with Sinclair turning in from close range after Aaron Collins reacted quickly to set him up following Ashley Maynard-Brewer’s parry from Antony Evans’ free-kick.

Sinclair lobbed narrowly wide and Lucas Ness made a fine sliding tackle to deny John Marquis.

Kanu, 18, collected his first league goal, threading past Cox in the 73rd minute from Anderson’s pass.

Charlton manager Dean Holden was booked after Rovers substitute Josh Grant was only shown yellow for clipping Alfie May, who had hit the post moments earlier, as he looked to go through on goal.

McCormick’s winner came in the seventh minute of added time. He chested down Grant Ward’s pass in the box and hit a first-time volley beyond Maynard-Brewer at his near post.