Gillingham's resurrection books place in mythology

Gillingham, practised at the art of the FA Cup upset, produced a sensational performance to come back from a dreadful start and secure a 3-2 victory over a Charlton Athletic side who have a Champions' League place in their sights.

Telford United, 12th in the Nationwide Conference, completed the only other upset of the day by clinging on to an early headed goal by the experienced striker Lee Mills for a 1-0 win at First Division Crewe Alexandra, who are only 30 miles away.

Elsewhere, the candles went out on the romance of the Cup. Third Division Kidderminster led their neighbours Wolves with a goal by the "Flying Postman" John Williams but the second delivery came late from Alex Rae to earn the Premiership side a 1-1 draw and a replay. Wolves' manager, Dave Jones, put the result in perspective when he said: "We were very poor - the stupid thing is we could have won at the death and that would have been very unjust on Kidderminster."

First Division Watford twice led Chelsea but had to settle for a 2-2 draw and a trip to Stamford Bridge; First Division Tranmere led Bolton but must make the short journey to the Reebok Stadium after being held to a 1-1 draw; Accrington Stanley, of the Conference, drew 0-0 at home to Second Division Colchester United; and Blackpool, also of the Second Division, were denied a home replay against Portsmouth by Yakubu Ayegbini's last-minute winner.

The Kent derby - Charlton going across the Medway from the south-east London part of the old county - got off to a stunning start with Ian Cox diverting the ball past his own goalkeeper to put Charlton ahead after only 37 seconds. The Premiership high flyers looked the part for all of 17 minutes before Tommy Johnson returned a clearance with interest to equalise. Within three minutes the game had been turned on its head with Mamady Sidibe giving Gillingham the lead. Charlton missed a chance to equalise before the Gills staged a rerun of their opening goal as Paul Smith made it 3-1. Carlton Cole's second for Charlton came too late to prevent Gillingham from adding to their upsets four years ago when they knocked out Bradford City and Sheffield Wednesday, then both still in the Premiership but now struggling. Charlton, you have been warned.

The Gills player-manager, Andy Hessenthaler, said: "It's one of the club's greatest achievements. We made Charlton look poor." And by familiar means, according to Charlton's manager, Alan Curbishley. "They did a Charlton on us. They were more aggressive and first to the ball. We've been doing that for the last six years to others and today they did it to us."

Chelsea's struggle on the heavy pitch at Watford started with controversy over whether the ball had crossed the line for Heidar Helguson's fifth-minute goal, the home side going ahead on the word of a linesman. Chelsea's manager Claudio Ranieri, ever the gentleman, was not about to complain; he made his point more subtly. "I make mistakes, as do players, referees and linesmen," the Italian said. "But sooner or later, all stadia, especially in the Premier League, must have a camera to say whether it's a goal or not - and not just because this happened to us today."

Duncan Ferguson scored two penalties as Everton beat First Division Norwich 3-1 and Tottenham Hotspur put paid to First Division Crystal Palace, 3-0. It was inevitable that Freddie Kanouté would score, given his running dispute with the club, and his hat-trick underlined just how much Spurs will miss him when he joins the Mali squad at the African Nations Cup later this month. One of Gillingham's scorers, Sidibe, has also been called up by Mali. Strangely, not many people have mentioned that.