Crystal Palace - 1 (Morrsion 34)
Sunderland - 1 (Phillips 23)

The reports vary in the number of games they think Palace have gone without being defeated. Suffice it to say that the only games that really count are games that are played in the League, and in that regard this was the 18th game that Palace have played at home since they were last defeated. It is also 9 games in a row (either home or away) since our last defeat. Perhaps we are due for a big fall when we visit Molineux next Saturday?

This game was so popular that it was being advertised as a sellout ages ago, though this was mainly caused by the management "reserving" 6000 odd seats for the visiting Sunderland supporters. I dare say they will reciprocate when next we meet by keeping us down to the usual few hundred seats that most teams seem to offer our long suffering away supporters! I really wish the management would look after our own supporters first, and then take care of the visitors. It proved very difficult for me to get three tickets for one of the Australian CPISA members who was visiting England, and we can't get there everyday. Thanks go to Mike for his usual great assistance in this matter.

The best crowd of the season saw a torrid opening to the match, with Palace looking fairly lively. Early chances to our two Chinese players, Fan and Sun, who shot wide and high respectively kept the crowd glued to their seats. It took until the 23rd minute for Sunderland to put together a decent attacking move, but when they finally did they showed why they are the Championship elect team. Their first corner of the match drew Kevin Miller out of his goal, and Kevin Phillips was on hand to simply head the ball home. 1-0 down. Things were looking ominous. We obviously needed to find some way of keeping them in their own half. They were going to do far too much damage to us if we let them near our goal.

At least that was the way the script appeared to be written. That it did not work out that way simply underlines the credit that should be paid to the youngsters that are currently going out on to the field in Palace colours.

Almost immediately we looked to be on track to level up the score. A 25 yard effort from Fan Zhiyi looked goalward bound until a fine save from Thomas Sorenson somehow kept the shot out. But we were not to be denied for too much longer. At the 34 minute mark a long range shot by Steve Thomson got mixed up between the defender and Leon McKenzie. Leon managed to put in a great shot on the turn, but once again the keeper was on hand to block the ball. Unfortunately, from his point of view, and to the pleasure of all the home supporters, all he could manage to do was parry the ball, being unable to hang on to the well taken effort. The ball bounced from his grasp, and there, challenging as usual was Clinton Morrison, who was able to force a fairly easy chance into the back of the net. Though fairly easy, the commendation must go to the players for the ability to get to those positions in the first place.

The remainder of the first half passed without much further incident, though it should be mentioned that outstanding performances were now in evidence from the Palace defenders. Though they could all be mentioned here, the plaudits were coming for Gordan Petric, who was surprisingly included in the starting line up. With Steve Coppell saying that he would not play Gordan, or Sasa Curcic for that matter, whilst their homeland was being bombed, it fell to Gordan's mother to urge him to play for the side! The way he marked Niall Quinn out of the game during that period made us more than glad to have him there.

All level at the break, and everything to play for. A win here would almost certainly seal the championship for the visiting Sunderland side, though there can be little doubt that they will achieve that mantle soon, and a win for Palace would stretch their amazing run of late. The second half of the match certainly saw Sunderland turn on an outstanding display. That they did not go back home with the full three points was mainly due to one player on the pitch, Kevin Miller. A number of great saves stand out, in particular a couple from Quinn, a rocket shot from Allan Johnstone, and a great reaction to a Nicky Summerbee effort.

There was no real news of any attempts of shots on goal by Palace, though a couple of corners came to nothing. It really was the Sunderland show, with a great cameo appearance by Miller in goal. A shot that finally beat him, from Quinn once again, looked as though it had "game" written all over it. The bar got in the way, and we all lived to fight another day! A good performance Palace. Is the game against Wolverhampton really such a forlorn hope?

Colin Pryce

Crystal Palace: Kevin Miller, Sun Jihai, Gordan Petric, Dean Austin, David Woozley, Steve Thomson, Craig Foster, Fan Zhiyi, Leon McKenzie, Clinton Morrison, Hayden Mullins.
Not Used: Sagi Burton, Andrew Martin, Wayne Carlisle.

Sunderland: Thomas Sorenson, Chris Makin (Darren Holloway 68), Michael Gray, Kevin Ball, Andy Melville, Paul Butler, Nicky Summerbee, Lee Clark, Niall Quinn, Kevin Phillips, Allan Johnston.
Not Used: Michael Bridges, Daniele Dichio.

Attendance: 22,096
Referee: Mr A P D'Urso (Billericay).