Crystal Palace - 4 (Moore 6. Thomson og 57. Mullins 64. Foster 81.)
Portsmouth - 1 (Aloisi 42.)

Five home wins in a row - all we need to do now is get our away form back up to last season's form and we should really start to climb up the table. With 3000+ supporters making the trip up from down south the attendance was swelled to a good figure, I feel sure that the management would like this figure every week. Needless to say the visiting fans really came to heckle the two Terry's, all the bookies said that Palace would romp the game in! Just the sort of match we have been known to lose, though at least on this occasion it was us that had their ex-players, not the other way around. With Lee Bradbury making his home, and run-on, debut it was only surprising that our other two new players did not get a look in. Maybe we are waiting on paper work?

The match got underway, and the home faithful did not have long to wait before they had something to smile about. A free kick taken by Nick Rizzo was pin point accurate to the far post where Craig Moore stooped down and headed the ball home. That makes three goals to Craig (a defender) in the last few games! Only six minutes had passed and we were on our way. Sun Jihai nearly made it two when he let fly a great shot from the edge of the area, but Alan Knight was equal to the task. The next two chances came from the boot of their most dangerous player, our Australian friend John Aloisi. First he skied the ball over the top, and then Moore robbed him of the ball as he was lining up his shot. Towards the middle of the first half we really should have made it 2-0 when Sun put in another great cross, but for once Attilio's header was way off target. Of course all the media said it would have been easier to score than to miss. It took the first half hour before a real chance fell to Pompey, Aloisi bringing out the best in Fraser Digby, followed by a long range effort from Fitzroy Simpson. Simpson was not to last much longer, being adjudged to have elbowed Craig Foster, he was sent off! For once it was us playing against 10 men.

Just the same as Palace tend to do though, it was in fact the visitors that scored next. A defensive error saw that man Aloisi get free once more, and he was left with a simple tap in to the back of the net. With only moments remaining to the whistle for half time Matt Jansen had a good shot saved by the keeper, and the side was really unlucky when Sun was brought down in the area, the penalty claim being turned down.

So, the break came, and despite the pressure that we had applied, and considering they were a man short, the scores were somehow still level at 1-1.

The start of the second half saw another defensive mistake, and Aloisi was almost in again. Digby just managed to get himself in the way of the goalward bound shot. From this point on though Palace started to take charge of the game. 56 minutes were on the clock, and Jansen unleashed a terrific shot that took a deflection from Andy Thomson and flew into the back of the net. The goal will officially stand as an own goal, and in fairness Matt's shot would most likely have gone wide, but it was a great boost to the home side. A great chance to Fan Zhiyi was saved by the keeper, and suddenly it was all one way traffic. Hayden Mullins, with defenders all round him, somehow managed to turn and put the ball past the keeper.

Lombardo was the next to be brought down, once again in the area, but this appeal was also turned down. Alan Ball then did something quite peculiar when he brought Aloisi off for Martin Phillips, and our biggest threat was gone. Good play between Jansen and Lombardo saw the latter's shot hit the post, then Craig Foster came close, his shot going wide. Next chance he made no mistake though, his shot going inside the post.

The scoreline now read 4-1, and there was no way that the visitors were going to come back from that. Having just scored Foster was brought off (he had already been booked) with Sagi Burton coming on, and he made the third substitution, Marcus Bent and Clinton Morrison had been brought on a few minutes earlier for Jansen and Bradbury respectively. Lombardo then tried to set up Morrison but a good save from the keeper limited the damage. Lombardo then tried, twice, to make a goal for himself, but on both occasions Knight kept him out. The final whistle sounded, and the home crowd would have gone home happy having seen some 17 goals scored in the last five home games. As I said at the start, if only we could get our away form the same!

Colin Pryce

Crystal Palace: Fraser Digby, Dean Austin, Sun Jihai, Fan Zhiyi, Craig Moore, Craig Foster, (Sagi Burton 83), Attilio Lombardo, Nick Rizzo, Lee Bradbury (Marcus Bent 73), Matt Jansen (Clinton Morrison 73), Hayden Mullins.
Not Used: None.

Portsmouth: Alan Knight, Thomas Thorgesen, Fitzroy Simpson, Alan McLoughlin, Andy Thomson, Andy Awford, Michalis Vlachos, David Waterman (Steve Soley 46), John Aloisi (Martin Phillips 69), Steve Claridge, Jean-Francois Peron.
Not Used: Matt Robinson.

Attendance: 20,188
Referee: Mr P Rejer (Tipton).