Crystal Palace - 0
Wolverhampton Wanderers - 2 (Sturridge 13. Newton 65.)

Palace entered this match knowing that if they could manage a win they would move to 4th place in the League, but Wolves were looking to consolidate their position in the top two of the division, and to be honest they outplayed us on the day. Palace took three attacking players into the match, including new signing Ade Akinbiyi along with Clinton Morrison and Dougie Freedman, with Dougie playing just behind the other two.

A minute of silence was the order of the day, in honour of Bert Head, who passed away during the week, and then Wolves kicked off, immediately having Dean Sturridge ruled offside. A cross in from former Palace player Kevin Muscat was well cut out by Alex Kolinko in goal. Palace made their first move forwards, with David Hopkin curling in a good looking ball that spun the wrong way and went behind for a goal kick. Clinton passed to Ade, but the defence was there to rob him of the ball, and it was looking, even this early in the game, that Wolves were going to severely mark our new signing. Perhaps this might work in favour of the other two?

Clinton raced forward in an effort to pick up a loose ball, but Michael Oakes managed to get the ball clear, albeit only as far as the touchline. Simon Rodger then found himself with a little bit of space in front of goal, and he unleashed a 20-yard thunderbolt that went narrowly wide of the mark, purely as a result of a deflection off a defender. The visiting keeper easily dealt with the corner, and the following move instigated by Clinton was also well cut out by Oakes. A good punt upfield found Ade, but his attendant 2 defenders harried him off the ball.

Aki Riihilahti cleared the ball up to Clinton, who linked with Dougie and Simon, but the latter's cross in was well kept out by Colin Cameron. Dougie then kept Oakes honest, his touch just sending the ball out to safety. Shaun Newton got a cross in at our end, but Hayden Mullins was there to deal with the danger, and his push forward found Ade who forced the keeper into conceding yet another corner. Simon took this, as usual, but Aki could not get the ball under control, and it went behind for a goal kick.

Ade put more pressure on the Wolves goal, and almost immediately after Sturridge nearly got to the ball, Alex managing to get there just in the nick of time. Mark Kennedy made a good run down the sideline, but Sturridge wasted the chance, heading the ball over the top of the crossbar, much to the relief of the Palace faithful.

The goal was not long coming though, and a good individual effort by Sturridge saw him run down the right, let fly with a shot that hit the bar, and saw the ball drop into the goal past a stranded Alex. Now we really needed Palace to get going and score a goal. A ball crossed in by Newton was cleared by Curtis Fleming, and then Kennedy sent in another good cross, with no Wolves men in position to take advantage of it.

Dougie tried to lob the ball over the head of the Wolves custodian, but it merely sat up and presented the keeper with the easiest of saves. A good move forwards by Palace broke down when they lost possession, and then a good run up the centre by Curtis left him with no-one to play the ball to when he found himself stranded.

Cameron then made an equally impressive run towards the other end, but he too found little support, and his cross went out without touching another soul.

A corner to Wolves was well dealt with by Hayden, and then as the ball came back the defence caught Alex Rae offside, though his shot went wide of the mark anyway. Dougie managed to get the ball in front of goal, but Oakes was equal to the task once again, and the effort was wasted. The next corner, this time in favour of Palace came to Aki, but the defence were all over him, and he could not get a shot in. Mohammed Camara made a good run, but again found no one to pass to, and then Newton was caught offside.

Newton then sent a good chance way over the top of the bar before Dougie made a good run, his cross being blocked by a Wolves defence that seemed everywhere. A good move saw a number of passes strung together by the Palace players, but Simon's shot was blocked, and the ball eventually was cleared upfield. A shot from Mark Kennedy just went around the post, instead of inside it, and then our three strikers all had an attempt at goal, somehow the ball staying out of the net as the Wolves defence did well.

A long-range shot from Kennedy went well wide of the mark, and at the other end a good cross from Danny Granville just saw Clinton make a total mess of the first decent chance we had on goal all evening. Alex kept the attack at the other end out, and as the half ran out the chances for either side dried out; the whistle going to signify the break, and we were still 1-0 down, with no great chances even to talk about during the drinks break.

Palace kicked off in the second half, but the first goalmouth action came with two corners in a row to the visitors, the chances being wasted due to some fine defending by the home team. A good move forward by Palace culminated with Dougie crossing the ball to Ade, but his shot went straight to the keeper, causing him little panic in the goal square.

Most efforts now were being wasted by both sides, admittedly on a pitch that is getting harder and harder to play on each week. A corner to Palace was cleared by Kennedy, and then Clinton put in a cross that just went past the diving Ade, and was missed by Dougie charging in at the back post. Nothing seemed to be going right for the side, and the game was gradually getting away from us.

Kennedy made a solo run on goal, but his shot went wide of the post, but then Nathan Blake put in a cross that was met first time by Newton, and the ball shot into the back of the net before anyone could blink, and the lead was doubled. One could be fairly sure that this really signified the end of the game, but there was still some 25 minutes of the game to go. Blake then crashed the ball against the bar; that so easily could have been the third.

Ade sent in a cross that found Clinton, but the defence was again equal to the task, and they bustled him off the ball. Julian Gray came on for David, and the crowd, remembering Julian's efforts at Molineux earlier in the season perhaps, applauded the move. Newton put a shot wide, then Julian made a good run up the field, his cross aimed for Ade, who just couldn't get to the spot at the right time, and the chance was wasted.

A good cross in by Muscat found the Wolves attack missing this time, but then a Rae long-range shot was deflected behind for a corner. Ade put in another cross to a missing front line, and then Kennedy got free, his shot being well saved by Alex. With only 2 minutes of added-on time the match petered out, and the Palace fans left somewhat despondent with the sides performance. Hopefully things will change by the time the next match comes round at Selhurst Park, for our "away" game at Wimbledon.

Colin Pryce

Crystal Palace: Alex Kolinko, Curtis Fleming, Hayden Mullins, Shaun Murphy, Danny Granville, David Hopkin (Julian Gray 74), Aki Riihilahti, Simon Rodger, Dougie Freedman, Ade Akinbiyi, Clinton Morrison.

Substitutes not used: Cedric Carasso, Jovan Kirovski, Dean Austin, Gregg Berhalter.

Wolverhampton Wanderers: Michael Oakes, Kevin Muscat, Paul Butler, Jolean Lescott, Mohammed Camara, Shaun Newton (Kenny Miller 89), Alex Rae, Colin Cameron (Keith Andrews 46), Mark Kennedy, Dean Sturridge, Nathan Blake (George Ndah 87).

Substitutes not used: Matthew Murray, Ludovic Pollet.

Attendance: 18,475

Referee: Mr E Wolstenholme (Blackburn)