Preston North End - 4 (Etuhu 48. Alexander 50. Lewis 79. Healy 90.)
Crystal Palace - 1 (Derry 71.)

Palace went into this match desperate to put behind them their loss in the Carling Cup to Aston Villa, and looking to start their climb up the League ladder. Of course, Preston had their own ideas, principally to stay in the top 10 of the table, and it was eventually to prove that way.

Palace fielded a 'new look" side, relegating Dougie Freedman to the bench, making our recognised strikers Neil Shipperley and Tommy Black, and Kit Symons took his place in the heart of the defence.

The first few moments saw a foul by ex-Palace player Ricardo Fuller on Shaun Derry, the free kick being taken by Tommy. Rob Edwards got a cross in on goal that Graham Alexander cleared before the same scenario was played out the other end, Eddie Lewis firing the ball in and Kit making the clearance. David Healy was caught offside, the free kick being taken by Thomas Myhre, and a foul by Healy on Kit saw Rob take the kick from deep in our own half.

A shot on goal by Fuller was well cut out by Tony Popovic, the resulting corner being cleared by Kit, before Lewis tried a shot that went wide of the upright. A foul by Chris Lucketti on Tommy saw the ball being cleared by Marlon Broomes, and Tony cut out a corner to Preston. Alexander then sent the ball into our area, and Michael Jackson headed the ball dangerously close to the net, the ball going marginally over the top of the bar. Neil tried a shot over the bar, leaving Jonathan Gould the simple task of taking a goal kick, and then a foul by Healy on Gary Borrowdale saw Tony fire the ball back into the Preston half of the pitch.

Healy fired the ball in from long range, which Tony cut out, and Dickson Etuhu was caught offside, the free kick being taken once more by our keeper. Gary won a corner that Michael Hughes steered into the centre, the keeper punching the ball to safety before a cross in by Alexander was again cut out, this time by Gary. Etuhu tried a snap shot that Thomas did well to hang on to, and then a foul by Shaun on Fuller saw a free kick in a dangerous area for Palace, Lucketti's header going over the bar. Another corner to Preston saw Tony once again clear any danger, and Lucketti, who seemed to be all over the pitch, cleared a corner at the other end.

Healy produced another fine save by Thomas, and another corner to our hosts saw Paul McKenna fire the shot once again over the bar. A foul by Eddie Lewis on Danny Butterfield followed, and then Alexander slipped Healy free of his marker, the header being well dealt with by Thomas once again. McKenna forced Thomas into yet another fine stop before Danny tried a shot that went wide of the left hand upright.

A corner to Preston saw Lucketti miss the target, and another cross in to our area, this time by Broomes, was left for Kit to mop up any danger to the Palace goal. Lewis got a cross in to the penalty area that Brian O'Neil headed wide of the mark, and then Michael crossed the ball in, Jackson clearing the danger once more. Healy put the ball back into our area, only to see Thomas hang on to the ball, and Danny tried a good shot that the keeper at the other end managed to snatch out of the air.

Without further ado the half came to an end, and with honours even the sides trooped off for the usual half time pep talks. Obviously, whatever they were putting in the oranges for the home team had a far better effect than what was served to our side, as you will see as we describe the woes of the second half.

Immediately following the break Lewis fired in a shot that Thomas did well to hang on to, and a handball by O'Neil saw a free kick pumped forward by Michael. Almost straight away though Healy tried a shot that Thomas could only parry, and the ball fell kindly to Etuhu, who made no mistake burying the ball in the back of the net. A foul by Lucketti on Neil saw Tommy fire a cross in that Gould managed to save, and then to add to our plight Kit was adjudged to have fouled Fuller in the penalty area, and the resulting spot kick, taken by Alexander, duly went into the back of the net to double our hosts lead. To really add injury to insult though, Kit was given his marching order for the professional foul, though Etuhu was booked for time wasting.

Down to 10 men, and two goals adrift, surely things could not get any worse?

Alexander tried a shot that went wide of the mark, and Fuller tried one that Thomas hung on to, though we really needed the action to be up the other end. Healy fired the ball wide of the upright, and Alexander was caught offside. Shaun tried a cross that was cleared by Broomes, and Michael tried one that was cut out by the keeper. A free kick to Palace for a foul by Jackson on Neil saw Tommy fire the ball over the top of the bar, and Michael tried a shot that went wide of the posts once more.

Fuller tried one that also went wide, and McKenna fared no better with his attempt, and the game settled down for a little while with neither side making any headway. Michael got a cross in that was cleared by Jackson, but his next attempt was better, as Shaun ran on to the ball and drilled it home from a fair way out from the goal line. 2-1, and maybe, just maybe, we could get back into the game?

The keeper saved another cross, fired in by Michael, and Fuller tried a shot that Shaun was back to clear up for the Palace defence. Alexander took a corner to Preston, but Lucketti fired the ball over the top of the bar, and Gary found himself in the referee's book, this time for back-chatting the referee. Lewis tried a shot that Thomas managed to pluck out of the air, but worse was to follow as Fuller fired a cross in that Lewis placed into the bottom corner of the net, and suddenly we found ourselves 3-1 down, and surely that was the end of the ball game.

Palace made a change to the line-up, Tommy making way for Wayne Routledge, and Etuhu tried a shot that once again went over the top of the woodwork. Aki Riihilahti, who had seemed fairly quiet up to that point, fired a shot goalwards that went wide of the upright, and Preston made their first change, O'Neil being replaced by Richard Cresswell.

Five minutes later they substituted Alexander for Lee Cartwright, and Lewis tried a shot that Thomas held on to, hopefully to keep the damage down to a minimum. To really spoil our day Cresswell got a cross in that Healy placed into the back of the net from only 6 yards out, and by our watches there was only one second remaining on the clock. In added on time Preston made their final change, Claude Davis coming on for Lucketti, and though Cresswell tried one more shot, that Thomas held on to, the game came to a close. Palace would have had a long trip home following this defeat, but somehow or another we really must put things back together again for the visit of Crewe Alexandra on Tuesday night.

Colin Pryce

Preston North End: Jonathan Gould, Michael Jackson, Chris Lucketti (Claude Davis 90), Marlon Broomes, Graham Alexander (Lee Cartwright 86), Dickson Etuhu, Brian O'Neil (Richard Cresswell 82), Paul McKenna, Eddie Lewis, Ricardo Fuller, David Healy.

Substitutes not used: Pawel Abbott, David Lucas.

Crystal Palace: Thomas Myhre, Rob Edwards, Kit Symons, Tony Popovic, Danny Butterfield, Aki Riihilahti, Michael Hughes, Shaun Derry, Gary Borrowdale, Neil Shipperley, Tommy Black (Wayne Routledge 80).

Substitutes not used: Cedric Berthelin, Curtis Fleming, Ben Watson, Dougie Freedman.

Attendance: 12,836

Referee: Mr E Ilderton