Charlton captain and Republic of Ireland international Mark Kinsella saluted his team after they beat Sunderland in one of Wembley's most astonishing games.

"No words can describe it," he said. "We battled to come from behind and we just kept going and going. Then it seemed to be going our way but they fought back. Every time we fell behind I felt we could lose but we just kept pulling them back.

Charlton hat-trick hero Clive Mendonca hit out at a minority of Sunderland fans who abused him after he ruined his home-town club's dreams. "As I was walking in after the match some of their fans, a small minority, were a bit nasty. That wasn't very nice. I'm gutted it's come to this."

Sunderland manager Reid kept his emotions in check but saved a special mention for hometown boy Michael Gray, who missed the vital penalty. "Our crowd's reaction to him was second to none. But I feel for the kid, he's heartbroken. But he's tough, he'll bounce back, he's a great kid and there's no problems with him."