Shrewsbury 4-3 Charlton

New signings Pawel Abbott (2) and Lee Martin sent the away side into a comfortable lead in the space of seven first half minutes as the Addicks looked to advance beyond the first round for the first time in three years.

But goals from Jake Robinson, Daniel O’Donnell, Matt Harrold and an own goal from Yado Mambo saw Town achieve the impossible and leave Charlton’s makeshift side as red as their Macron shirts.

Manager Phil Parkinson made wholesale changes to the side that began the League One campaign with victory at home to Bournemouth; no less than eight players entered the starting line-up at The New Meadow.

Ross Warner, recently signed from Woking, came in for Rob Elliot in goal while Simon Francis and Mambo made their full Charlton debuts in defence.

Joining them on the back line was Miguel Llera, who missed the Cherries clash through suspension, and Chris Solly, one of the three Addicks to keep their place albeit this time on the left hand side.

Also retaining their spots were Scott Wagstaff on the right and Abbott up front, serving as a lone striker this time around.

The new-look midfield consisted of young professional Alex Stavrinou, Therry Racon and South African new signing Bally Smart, with Martin playing just behind Abbott.

But while the Addicks got off to a bright start in the opening minutes, a clever ball by Martin to beat the offside trap and feed Abbott was catastrophically fumbled high and wide from close range by the Polish forward.

The home side, fresh off an opening day win of their own against Bradford, began energetically themselves and saw a good chance flash wide on the quarter-hour mark courtesy of Robinson.

But despite withstanding some impressive passing attacks, the visitors took the lead against the run of play as a long delivery from Mambo at the back found Abbott, who made up for his prior miss by controlling well under pressure and firing low past Ben Smith.

And within minutes, he had completely erased all memories of his first attempt on goal by doubling his tally – and Charlton’s lead – after squeezing between two Shrews to convert Martin’s low cross after the on-loan Tractor Boy had embarked on a dazzling dribble down the right.

Not to be left out of the scoring, Martin was next up to send one into the home side’s net after advancing down the centre and placing a 20-yarder into the bottom left corner.

Before the 3,700 fans in attendance could be placed at risk of going more than a few minutes without a goal, a lapse in concentration between Stavrinou and Mambo allowed Robinson to race in and pull one back past an onrushing Worner.

The goal conceded didn’t stop the Reds from hunting for more, and another sublime run from Martin took him past the keeper and inches from a brace of his own only to be denied by a goal-line block from Town skipper Ian Sharps.

Moments later, the Addicks were back down to a solitary goal’s lead as Mark Wright’s cross from the left was turned into the back of the net by Mambo, capping six nightmare minutes for the youngster.

The action continued to pulsate following the interval, though the next goal came just after the hour mark – and completed a remarkable comeback from the League Two side as Daniel O’Donnell headed home from Lionel Ainsworth’s corner.

At the half-way point in the second period, the Addicks should have regained the lead when Martin raced onto a ball down the middle and fired onto the upright, with Abbott going two-for-two on goals to shocking misses for the night on the rebound.

And despite putting further pressure on the home side with a Llera free-kick and a subsequent corner, the Shrews broke immediately and their swift passing move was rewarded by Matt Harrold’s finish for a remarkable turnaround to the humiliation of Parky and his players.

With Gary Doherty, Kyel Reid and Akpo Sodje on from the substitutes bench, the stunned visitors tried to find a way back into the tie and Reid’s good interplay with Abbott led to a close range shot being deflected into the side netting.

Charlton: Worner, Francis, Llera, Mambo (Doherty 72), Solly, Wagstaff, Stavrinou (Sodje 82), Racon, Smart (Reid 60), Martin, Abbott. Subs not used: Elliot, Jenkinson, Jackson, McCormack. Att: 3,700.