Crystal Palace - 7 (Adebola 21. 74. Mullins 47. Popovic 53. Freedman 55. 90. Walker og 75.)
Cheltenham Town - 0

The first half of this match gave no clue to the performance that would be witnessed at Selhurst Park in the second half. Cheltenham came to town on the back of an impressive 3-0 win over Norwich in the First Round whilst Palace had only achieved a 2-1 win over Plymouth Argyle, and even that took us into extra time to achieve. Though we had been victorious over the Robins in a pre-season fixture (3-1), we had never before met them at any level in an official match, either League or Cup, in our 97-year history. Would Cheltenham be able to test our mettle this time round?

A disappointing crowd of 4,901 turned up for this fixture, though one would assume that many more would now wish that they had been present to watch a display such as this, always assuming, of course, that they had not gone home at half time. Palace kicked off the match, and the first piece of action saw Wayne Routledge win a corner for the Eagles. Somehow the referee managed to award a free kick from the corner, to the visitors, and thus our initial hard work counted for nothing. A good cross in by Danny Granville found Dougie Freedman in the centre of the park, but he was unable to get the touch he needed to give Palace a dream start.

Hugh McAuley did well to get to a ball that caused us a moment of panic, Nik Michopoulos managing to hang on to it at the second attempt. McAuley sustained an injury shortly after, and following his departure, by stretcher; Lee Williams came on as an early replacement. A free kick to Town, for a foul by Dele Adebola achieved very little, and at the other end Tommy Black was offside as he attempted to play the ball in for Dougie.

Anthony Griffin put in a good cross that found Tony Naylor, but he simply blasted the ball over the top. The first goal was not far away though, and it appeared for all money that it was going to be Dougie that would score it. Set free on goal his shot went straight at the keeper, came off him, and agonisingly hit the post. Fortunately for Palace Dele was on hand to simply tap the ball, and bury it in the back of the net, thus securing his first competitive goal for the team. A corner to Palace saw a substitution take place, Dean Austin coming on for Darren Powell, but the corner did not yield the desired result for Palace.

Shaun Derry then made a forward move, his shot going wide of the mark, whilst at the other end Dean skillfully robbed Naylor of the ball just when it looked as if he might get a sniff at goal. Griffin then took a long-range shot at goal, the ball going well over the bar. John Finnigan somehow got clear of the defence, but his shot left a little to be desired, but it did give a warning to Palace that they needed to be alert at the back, Second Division opposition or not.

A free kick to the visitors was swung in, and though Jamie Victory got to the ball first his header went behind for a goal kick. A shot by Mark Yates brought Nik back into the action, and he released the ball upfield, the move catching Tommy offside as the dying moments of the half ticked away.

Just what might have been said in the sheds at the break can only be guessed at, but whatever it was I would suggest that Trevor Francis bottle it, and bring it out either at the start or the break in each and every game for the rest of the season. It obviously was a great motivational speech!

At the start of the second half an immediate substitution was made by Palace, Julian Gray coming on for Tommy. Within two minutes of the restart though Palace had doubled their lead. Wayne made a good move down the right, got in a perfect cross, and Hayden was on hand to head the ball home, and give the Palace faithful something more to cheer about. Wayne put in another cross shortly after, but this time Dele saw his shot blocked, and Town managed to get the ball clear of the danger area. Wayne then was the cause of Town conceding yet another corner, and this one paid dividends as Danny Butterfield floated the ball in, and it was Tony Popovic at the far post that headed the ball into the back of the net, and suddenly it was 3-0.

Two minutes later number four arrived. This time Hayden played provider, feeding the ball to Dougie, and a firm shot whistled straight past the keeper. Three goals in the space of 10 minutes had certainly killed the game as a contest, and Palace supporters were already fantasising as to just who their opposition might be in the next round. A couple of corners, this time to the visitors saw a good save by Nik, and then a speculative long-range kick from Mike Duff was easily dealt with by our new custodian.

Another good in-swinger from Wayne this time found Dougie, his header saved by Steve Book in the Cheltenham goal, then Nik made an equally impressive save from a close range shot from Mark Yates, which would never have counted even if it had gone in. The offside flag was already up, though the Palace keeper could never have had time to notice it. Another shot from Yates was blocked on the line, and at the other end almost half the team took a shot at goal before the keeper finally managed to claim the ball.

Will Antwi came on to replace Tony, and he received a welcome from the sparse crowd to celebrate his debut at this level. A high ball into the Palace area saw Nik rise well to claim the ball, and then with nerves obviously getting the better of the young man, Will put in a shocking back-pass to the keeper that Nik did well to boot out of play before the opposition got to it.

Palace won yet another corner, and this time it was Wayne that propelled the ball into the centre, and once more Dele was on hand to nod the ball into the back of the net, and claim goal number five. Within a minute Julian made a great run down the left side of the pitch, and as his cross sailed into the goalmouth area it bounced off a couple of the Town players. Unfortunately for Richard Walker the ball made contact with him last before it sailed into the back of the net, making it six for the night.

A free kick to Palace was wasted before Dougie was caught offside, and then Town won a rare corner at the right end of the pitch, as far as they were concerned. Palace dealt with the threat with little problem, and down the other end Julian won yet another corner for Palace, which once again was wasted. Just as full time was upon us though Dougie ran on to the ball, beat his way past the keeper, and simply followed the ball into the back of the net to make the score a magnificent seven.

Let's just hope that we can find a few more goals against Stoke on Saturday.

Colin Pryce

Crystal Palace: Nikolaos Michopoulos, Danny Granville, Hayden Mullins, Tony Popovic (Will Antwi 67), Darren Powell (Dean Austin 23), Tommy Black (Julian Gray 45), Danny Butterfield, Shaun Derry, Dele Adebola, Dougie Freedman, Wayne Routledge.

Substitutes not used: Sven Scheuer, Gareth Williams.

Cheltenham Town: Steve Book, Jamie Victory, Richard Walker, Mike Duff, John Finnigan, Anthony Griffin, Hugh McAuley (Lee Williams 13), Russell Milton, Mark Yates, Julian Alsop, Tony Naylor.

Substitutes not used: Shane Higgs, Stephen Jones, Paul Brayson, Damien Spencer.

Attendance: 4,901

Referee: Mr R Beeby (Northamptonshire)