Rotherham United - 1 (Proctor 85.)
Crystal Palace - 2 (Gray 11. Shipperley 27.)
Rotherham got the match underway, and within seconds Paul Warne put in a good shot that Nico Vaesen, once more in the Palace goal, had to tip round the post to deny an early goal. The corner was sent in by Andy Monkhouse, but this time Nico held on to the ball without too many problems. Julian Gray tried to get the ball into the middle, but his pass went astray, and then Robbie Stockdale sent in a cross that Tony Popovic was on hand to deal with. Andy Johnson was caught offside, and shortly after Scott Minto fouled Wayne Routledge, who was already looking a handful for the Rotherham defence, and Michael Hughes took the free kick.
Mark Hudson was adjudged to have fouled keeper Michael Pollitt before Warne was caught offside, and it was Nico who took the kick this time. Wayne got the ball back into the area, but a good clearance by Phil Gilchrist averted the danger to the home side, and then a cross in by Danny Butterfield saw Shaun Barker get the clearance away. Neil Shipperley got a header in on goal, but it went wide of the mark, but almost immediately Wayne got free on goal, fired a shot at the keeper, which was parried away, and Julian had a simple tap in to open the scoring for the evening.
Rotherham got a corner that Monkhouse fired into the centre, Nico coming to our rescue once again, and then Danny B sent in a cross that AJ headed just over the top of the bar. John Mullin repeated that at the other end before a free kick was awarded to Palace for a foul by Warne on Aki Riihilahti. AJ was caught offside before Wayne handled the ball, and a free kick went the opposite way. A series of fouls ensued before Michael Proctor tried a shot that went wide of the posts, and then Martin Butler was booked for a foul on Danny B.
Monkhouse sent another shot wide, and Jody Morris got the ball into the centre, only to see Tony clear the danger once again. Michael was then booked for a foul on Morris, but despite pleas for a penalty a free kick was only awarded, and the chance to the home side went begging. Moments after this though the complexion of the game changed as Julian turned provider, and Neil simply headed the ball home to double our advantage.
Robbie Stockdale played the ball into the centre, but once again Tony was on hand to stop any further forward movement, and Gilchrist tried a header that went wide to the right of the upright. Julian put a cross in that was cleared by Gilchrist, and a series of fouls followed before Nico saved a shot by Proctor that looked destined for the net, following a corner.
A corner to Palace was wasted when Tony was pinged for a foul on Barker, and then Mullin fouled Wayne, and got booked for his trouble. Danny B tried his trademark long-range shot that was caught by the keeper, and despite a couple of minutes added on for stoppages during the half there was little further action. The sides trooped off, with Palace still holding a two-goal advantage, and one can only assume that Iain Dowie would have been pleased with the work effort. One more goal, and the game should be all but over.
The first action of the second half, once Palace had got the match underway, was AJ getting booked, for dissent, following a foul on Barker, and shortly after AJ was caught offside. Monkhouse cleared a cross into the area by Danny B, and at the other end Stockdale sent in a cross that Tony was in the way of once more. Proctor was caught offside, and Monkhouse tried a shot that Nico did well to hang on to. The home side made a change at this point, Warne being replaced by Richard Barker, just to confuse us with 2 players of the same surname on the pitch.
Mullin saw his cross cleared, yet again, by Tony, R Barker was caught offside and Stockdale tried a cross that Nico saved quite easily. Another corner to Palace was wasted, and a corner to the home side was well cut out by Nico. S Barker cleared the next corner, whilst Tony was still mopping things up at the other end. A handball incident involving Mark Hudson saw a free kick taken by Morris, but then Wayne tried a shot that was well blocked by Gilchrist. Mullin fired the ball into our area once more, and again Nico cut out the danger, and a foul by Tony on Proctor saw the big Palace man go in the book for unsporting behaviour.
Wayne tried another shot that went wide of the mark, and AJ tried one that the keeper managed to hold on to. A corner to Palace saw Wayne fire the ball in, and Michael shoot high over the top of the bar, and with only about 6 minutes left on the clock Rotherham won another corner. This time Monkhouse played the ball in, and as the ball cleared our area it came straight back in, and Proctor was on hand to slot the ball neatly into the back of the net. Now Palace needed to sweat out the last few minutes.
Aki was booked for a foul on Mullin, and Iain decided to replace him straight away, with Mikele Leigertwood taking his place on the field. An attempt by S Barker was kept out by Neil, back once again helping out the defence, and Proctor tried a shot that was saved by Nico. With only two minutes of added on time there was little else to report, and Palace headed home with the three points in the bag. Dare we say the play-off hopes are back on track? Two wins from the next two games, and just maybe it might be.
Colin Pryce
Rotherham United: Michael Pollitt, Shaun Barker, Robbie Stockdale, Phil Gilchrist, Scott Minto, Paul Warne (Richard Barker 57), Jody Morris, John Mullin, Andy Monkhouse, Martin Butler, Michael Proctor.
Substitutes not used: Nicholas Daws, Julien Baudet, Gary Montgomery, Paul Hurst.
Crystal Palace: Nico Vaesen, Danny Granville, Danny Butterfield, Tony Popovic, Mark Hudson, Wayne Routledge, Aki Riihilahti (Mikele Leigertwood 87), Michael Hughes, Julian Gray, Andrew Johnson, Neil Shipperley.
Substitutes not used: Dougie Freedman, Tommy Black, Shaun Derry, Cedric Berthelin.
Attendance: 6,001
Referee: Mr M Cooper