IT WAS a night of landmark goals at The Valley, but Charlton's strike heroes could not have been a bigger contrast with Francis Jeffers grabbing two in his first start, and Luke Young scoring his first Addicks' goal in his 100th appearance. Richard Mulligan reports.

For Alan Curbishley it meant consecutive home wins for the first time since March, and back-to-back Premiership wins for the first time since January after the 2-1 weekend win against Portsmouth.

Jeffers, who only signed two weeks ago from Arsenal in a £2.6m deal, grabbed two in five first-half minutes as he replaced the injured Shaun Bartlett in the starting XI.

The opener saw him sneak in front of the Aston Villa defence to head home, with the second coming about as his reward for being in the right place at the right time.

The double registered his first Premiership goals since March 2nd, 2003 - coming in a 2-0 win for Arsenal over the Addicks at Highbury.

But, after a season without any league goals while on loan at Everton, he moved to The Valley to get back on track in front of the net, and his delight as he raced down the touchline to celebrate his second showed just how important returning to the scoresheet is for the 23-year-old.

So two typical Francis Jeffers goals - yet there's been no such thing for Young since he moved to the club from Tottenham Hotspur in 2001.

That Charlton should register their biggest home win since a 3-0 stuffing of Villa in February 2003 - and a first Valley clean sheet since March - looked unlikely when David O'Leary's men sprinted out of the traps.

In just the opening few minutes they had hit the bar through Darius Vassell, and ex-Addick Carlton Cole - booed with every touch, as expected - had seen chances come and go.

Villa looked quick and agile up front, strong but creative in the middle, and the defence of Olof Mellberg and Martin Laursen dwarfed above Jeffers and Kevin Lisbie every time the ball was pumped forward.

So it was against the run of play, and a shock considering the height disadvantage, that Charlton should take the lead with a header in the 29th minute.

Fortunately for Jeffers, his own guile and an intelligent run by Lisbie allowed him the space to get on the end of Hermann Hreidarsson's wicked outswinging cross.

Lisbie had dropped back, taking Laursen with him, and as Mellberg was wrapped up with Jason Euell, Jeffers ghosted in front of Jlloyd Samuel to glance just inside the post.

The striker skidded to his knees to welcome a raptous Valley applause, but just five minutes later and he was celebrating again.

A long ball was pumped forward which Mellberg should have been able to deal with, but his attempted knock back to Thomas Sorensen bobbled off his shin and Jeffers was there to knock across the goalkeeper and into the back of the net.

But let's just rewind... Who was it who played the delicious ball forward that allowed Jeffers to sit on Mellberg's shoulder? No other than Radostin Kishishev, the Bulgarian who has looked so impressive since moving into central midfield for the Portsmouth game.

Until he was forced off with a minor injury in the closing stages, Kishishev was the most energetic player on the field; strong in the challenge and not afraid to put his foot on the ball.

Praise is also due to his central midfield partner, Euell, who caused havoc just behind Lisbie and Jeffers with a series of flicks and powerful runs, and was also not afraid to tackle back.

It was again the 30-year-old Bulgarian who played an inch-perfect slide rule pass into Lisbie's path four minutes after the second goal, the ball leaving Villa's defence flat-footed and allowing the Jamaican to skip through.

His touch was solid enough to get him past the defence, but was just a little too close to the goalkeeper - and although he scrambled a shot, it was pushed clear by Sorensen.

The Denmark international was injured in the process and would ultimately be replaced at half-time by Dutchman Stefan Postma, which would see a flurry of shots in a bid to test the new goalkeeper - not least a Hreidarsson shot from within his own half.

One goalkeeper not about to let anything past him was Dean Kiely, who looked desperate to keep a first clean sheet since the win at Anfield in April - even testing his reflexes when he produced a wonderful reaction save from Cole when the forward had already been caught offside.

He was also called in to action to somehow backpeddle and push a deflected Thomas Hitzlsperger shot over the bar, and in the second period saved well from Vassell.

But Villa's night was all but over when Young sped forward to make it 3-0 just before the hour mark.

Again it was Kishishev who played provider, spotting the gap on the right and aiming between David O'Leary's defenders.

Mellberg got a touch but that only served to slow the ball down, and, cutting in from the right, Young got to the ball just before the goalkeeper and prodded just inside the post.

It was a night of fabulous performances from Addicks heroes old and new with the likes of Kishishev, Euell and Lisbie running their socks off, while Dennis Rommedahl took further steps to integrating his pace and skill into Charlton's make up.

He was unfortunate not to win a first-half penalty when he seemed to be clipped by Nolberto Solano, and what looked an impressive shot after a good run past Mark Delaney was actually charged down his own teammate Lisbie.

But - with all due to credit to Young - it was Jeffers' night. Alan Curbishley has always wanted a prolific Premiership striker, and in this predatory form he may just have got his man.

Charlton: Kiely, Young, Hreidarsson, Fish, Fortune, Kishishev (El Karkouri 79), Euell, Murphy, Rommedahl (Hughes 82), Lisbie, Jeffers (Konchesky 76).

Subs (not used): Andersen, Johansson.

Goals: Jeffers 29, 34. Young 58.

Aston Villa: Sorensen (Postma 46), Delaney, Samuel, Mellberg, Laursen, Barry, McCann, Hitzlsperger, Solano, Vassell, Cole (Angel 72).

Subs (not used): De La Cruz, Whittingham, L Moore.

Bookings: Samuel 65 (foul on Lisbie)

Referee: H Webb Att: 26,190.