Boanas' side now need to beat league leaders Arsenal in their next game, and then hope that Fulham beat Arsenal in the following game, to stand a chance of claiming the crown.

Boanas accepts that their chances, while mathematically still possible, are slim at best.

"Today's result keeps us involved," Boanas said. "Mathematically we still have a hope, and it's down to us to beat Arsenal in the next game and then hope that Fulham do us a favour after that."

Boanas was not satisfied with the stuttering performance against Gary Green's side, and he was critical of the pitch.

"I'm not happy and the girls aren't happy," Boanas said. "It wasn't the kind of pitch you could play football on and we were forced to play a long ball game."

Boanas was at least happy with the response of his team after going 1-0 down to an eighth minute Claire Trafford strike.

Charlton came back into the game with second-half goals from Emma Coss and two superbly taken strikes from Eniola Aluko, and Boanas was pleased with his team's display of character.

"The big positive to come out of today was that we came back and showed a bit of character," Boanas said.

The Charlton boss, although not holding out too much hope of winning the league, has been pleased with the way the season has gone overall.

"We had a lot of changes to the squad during the summer so at the start of the season if you had offered me this position I would have taken it," Boanas said.

In the only other game to be played in the Women's Premier Division Birmingham leapfrogged over Leeds into fifth place in the table to keep the pressure on Bristol Rovers for fourth spot.

Goals from Alex Scott and Sally Lacey secured a 2-0 win for the midlanders, who are now just one point behind Bristol Rovers in the table with a game in hand.