Lee Bowyer was adamant the penalty decision was the correct one as his side stole three points at the death at The Valley.

Referee John Busbie pointed to the spot after consulting his linesman who had adjudged to have seen Ben Reeves cross strike a Stanley hand.

Karlan Grant slotted the spot kick on 92 minutes to send the Addicks faithful wild as the Stanley players and coaching staff were left incensed.

“If you ask me if it was a pen, it was!” said Bowyer without hesitation.

“We had one of them at Scunthorpe that was half that distance away, lad puts his arms up, blocked shot, it’s a pen.

“There’s nothing controversial about it, it was a penalty.

“To me, you see so many given, and so many not given, it’s a difficult one.

“For me it's a penalty.

“We’ve had it against us this season, but it’s a penalty.”

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Despite being assured in his assessment he did see how a late decision could incense the opposition as he sympathised with the Stanley players.

“I feel for their players, they’ve given everything, and to have a penalty awarded last minute, is hard to take.

“Especially one like that where his arms were risen, it’s not a tackle where you half expect it.”

The three points keeps Charlton in fourth place, despite praising his goal scorer, it was the victory that was paramount as they chase Portsmouth at the summit.

“It was a good pen, for a young lad he showed great composure.

“But most important was the three point, it was massive today.

“It was ugly, wasn’t pretty at times. But when you have to dig deep, that’s a sign of winners when you win ugly as well.

“We’re four points behind Portsmouth who’s top, that’s nothing!

“We play them soon, I’m looking at Portsmouth, we’ve closed the gap (with Sunderland), today - that was massive.”

READ: Report - Charlton 1 Accrington 0