Crystal Palace - 0
Birmingham City - 0
A loud boo was reserved for former manager Steve Bruce when he made his way down the side of the pitch to the dug out, and his reception was repeated every time he showed his face during the rest of the afternoon. This was immediately followed by one minute of silence to mark the passing of Elizabeth, Queen Mother over the Easter weekend, and then Stern John got the match underway.
The first positive move forward was made by Ade Akinbiyi, but he was forced off the ball by good play from Olivier Tebily. Steve Thomson then played a good ball into Clinton Morrison, but Nico Vaesen was awake to the danger, and came out and held on to the ball well. A long ball through to Geoff Horsfield saw him lose possession by fouling Curtis Fleming in the Palace defence, and then it was the turn of Dougie Freedman to be stopped in his tracks, once again by Tebily.
The first free kick of the match went the way of the visitors, but they wasted the chance, allowing Matt Clarke to get a good clearance that saw a promising move between Curtis and Clinton before the move fell apart following a half chance that was not taken. Aki Riihilahti then put a good ball into Steve, but he was unable to control the move, and the ball passed harmlessly over the line for a goal kick.
The first real shot on goal came from Birmingham, with Horsfield taking a pot shot that Matt did well to steer around the post, and then Hayden Mullins effectively dealt with the corner before any of the attacking players could get near the ball. A promising build-up involving Danny Granville, Ade and Aki saw Danny brought down about 25-yards out from goal, and Danny blasted the free kick just wide of the mark, with the keeper at full stretch but still nowhere near the ball.
A free kick at the other end nearly found Horsfield at the post, but Matt did well to avert the danger, and keep the scores level. Hayden did well to foil a good run on goal by Bryan Hughes, and just as quick the ball was at the other end, and Ade was forcing our first corner of the match. The cross was cleared by the defence though, but immediately it came straight back into the area, courtesy of Steve, and Ade forced another corner. Once again the attempt went astray, and the match settled down once more.
The match then seemed to become a little more end to end, with neither side really looking like scoring, and with Matt Clarke receiving treatment for some kind of injury things did not look too good for a while for the Eagles. Danny made another good run at the defence bringing Dougie and Steve into the play. The ball fell to Ade, but his tricky pass was deflected, and the defence was able to clear things once more.
A couple of good clearances by the Palace defence followed before Dougie got a cross in to Clinton, but for once he timed his run wrong, and the ball careered away to safety for the visitors. A free kick to Palace was followed by a free kick to Brum, which was dealt with by Dean Austin, clearing the lines once more for Palace.
Dougie managed to get the ball into the corner before crossing for Clinton, who once again was ruled offside - why does he always manage to end up in an offside position at crucial times? It happens very regularly.
Horsfield then played John in well, and just as it looked inevitable that he would score Matt came to the rescue once again with a fine save from almost point-blank range. Ade then laid on a shot for Steve, but his attempt sailed majestically over the bar, and away to safety for the visitors, and then a shot by Clinton was just tipped behind for a corner by a very athletic keeper in the Birmingham goal.
The corner led to another free kick to Palace, which was once again taken by Danny. This time the ball was helped on its' way by Ade, but it went just over the head of Steve, who was well positioned in the goalmouth if the ball had been just a fraction lower. Ade then played a shot across the face of goal that the defence and the keeper merely watched as it slowly passed everyone by, and went over the line to the safety of a goal kick.
Another corner to Palace was fired goalwards by Dougie, but a defending header kept the ball out. The resulting follow-up from Danny was fired wide of the mark, and the visiting fans breathed a sigh of relief that could be heard around the ground. A shot at the other end by John was well dealt with by Matt, and then the Blues got a free kick in a dangerous position for us. Palace cleared the danger though, and the ball was immediately swept up the other end of the field.
The half was rapidly running out, and though we had not scored we had managed to hold our own for once at the defensive end of the ground. Dougie got a final shot on goal, but his attempt was well saved by the keeper, and the troops marched off the ground for a well-deserved break, and presumably a pep talk from the respective managers. Trevor would certainly have been the more pleased of the two based on the teams performances in the first half, though I guess Steve would be well pleased with the fact that his defence had kept Palace out considering their attacking potency.
Immediately noticeable at the start of the second stanza of play was that Matt had not come back on to the field of play, and in the absence of Alex Kolinko, injured during his representative fixture, Cedric Carasso was brought into play. Let's hope that Matt's injury does not keep him out of the game for too long.
A good sequence of passing moves by Palace saw Dougie eventually fouled by Michael Hughes, and the resulting free kick, taken by Danny, saw the save of the match from Vaesen, tipping the ball just around the post for a corner. He then dealt well with the corner, and the play flowed to the other end of the ground, where it was surprising to see Ade defending a free kick with great aplomb.
Cedric got his first touch of the ball, a good clearance upfield finding the Palace players swarming all over the ball before another incident gave us yet another free kick. Once again Danny took the kick, and once again only superb reflexes from Vaesen saw the ball this time being tipped over the top of the bar. The ball from the corner came to Ade, but his attempt was cleared off the line.
Birmingham then made a substitution, replacing Tommy Williams with Australian Stan Lazaridis. Aki managed to block a dangerous looking cross into the centre of the park, before a good move set up Clinton for a shot, his attempt being blocked before the ball went out for yet another Palace corner. The keeper once again was equal to the task, and play went inexorably onwards towards the final whistle.
Clinton was once again caught offside before a free kick at the other end saw Jeff Kenna take a shot at goal that beat Cedric, all finishing well as the ball went wide of the mark. Dougie played a good ball aimed at Ade, but once again the defence cut the move out, though Palace did manage to win yet another corner.
Danny again took the kick, but though the keeper managed to fist the ball away it fell kindly to Curtis, who was so surprised that his shot spun safely away from the goal, and the match remained even. A long-range shot by John went well wide of the goalmouth, causing little concern even for the most fatalistic of Palace supporters, but then Dean had to make a crucial tackle when Birmingham suddenly seemed to have an extra player or two in our area.
John then put in a much better shot at goal, but once again it went wide, and then Lazaridis put in a cross that Cedric did well to hang on to. Julian Gray took to the field, replacing Shaun Murphy - Trevor could not possibly be accused of not going for the win, replacing a defender with an attacking wing player. Curtis then got the ball in well to Clinton, but somehow he managed to miss from only a few yards out; nine times out of ten you would expect Clinton to convert chances like that.
Yet another free kick to Palace sailed into the centre, and this time it was Dean who got a head to the ball, the shot not being controlled at all well unfortunately, and it merely passed harmlessly by for a goal kick. Tommy Mooney was sent on to replace Horsfield, though the next attacking run was once again from Palace, but Clinton again managed to get caught offside, and the play broke down. Mooney fired a long range shot goalwards, but Cedric hung on to the chance, and then a free kick at the other end met the usual fate, Vaesen palming away the shot taken by Danny.
Clinton sent a shot over the top of the bar, and then Tebily almost got through on goal, his shot being blocked at the last moment by a resolute Palace defence. Another free kick saw a change of tack by Palace, this time Aki tapping the ball to Dougie, but his shot went over the top, and the chance was once again wasted. Tommy Black then came on for Dougie, and Paul Devlin came on for the other side, replacing Bryan Hughes.
Clinton again got free on goal courtesy of a good move by Tommy, but this time he overran the ball, and the chance went begging, and the Palace faithful were starting to wonder just how many more chances we might be able to squander in one afternoon. The answer was not many more, for there was precious little time left, and though Palace fired in a couple of more half chances they never really looked like getting any closer to scoring. Cedric had what turned out to be the last touch of the game, and though the Palace faithful would have nominated Danny Granville as the man of the match there was no doubt on either side that the star of the day was none other than Nico Vaesen. In all honesty he saved Birmingham from a fairly hefty defeat, and they can thank him for ensuring that Brum remain in the top six. One doubts somehow that they will be good enough though to make their way in the Premiership should they get that far, and they too may well be best served with another season in this Division getting ready for a realistic attempt next season.
Colin Pryce
Crystal Palace: Matt Clarke (Cedric Carasso 45), Sean Austin, Hayden Mullins, Dougie Freedman (Tommy Black 84), Clinton Morrison, Steve Thomson, Aki Riihilahti, Shaun Murphy (Julian Gray 72), Danny Granville, Curtis Fleming, Ade Akinbiyi.
Substitutes not used: Simon Rodger, Jovan Kirovski.
Birmingham City: Nico Vaesen, Stern John, Geoff Horsfield (Tommy Mooney 75), Bryan Hughes (Paul Devlin 85), Michael Hughes, Curtis Woodhouse, Michael Johnson, Tommy Williams (Stan Lazaridis 55), Damien Johnson, Olivier Tebily, Jeff Kenna.
Substitutes not used: Ian Bennett, Nicky Eaden.
Attendance: 19,598
Referee: Mr S J Baines (Chesterfield)