Bradford City - 2 (Atherton 70. Francis 73.)
Crystal Palace - 1 (Whelan 24.)

Palace entered this match on the back of a good away win against Derby, so one could be sure that now our hopes were up things were going to go horribly wrong. In fairness, for quite a while it did not appear to be the case, but the absence of a second goal to kill the match off always meant we were going to be in danger.

Palace got things underway, with Gary Borrowdale winning the first corner of the match, and as the ball swung towards goal it was Danny Butterfield who saw his shot well blocked by the Bradford defence. Gus Uhlenbeek took a long-range shot at goal, which simply sailed over the top before Ade Akinbiyi did well to control the ball before being brought down; but somehow the referee simply waved play on.

Another corner to Palace saw the ball travel along the goalmouth line, without a player being able to get a final touch to it, and as the ball travelled down the other end Gary did well to put the ball behind for a corner, averting any immediate danger on our goal.

Simon Francis took a shot at goal that Cedric Berthelin held on to quite easily, then Shaun Derry got a great ball through to debutant Noel Whelan, and as he sailed into the area he was clipped on the back of the heels from behind, again the referee disappointing us by ignoring our pleas for a penalty. A free kick to Palace saw Julian Gray hit the defensive wall before Peter Atherton brought Julian down, again finding no favours from the referee. A free kick to Palace shortly after saw Danny B fire in a cross that Noel did well to control, then with his back to the goal he simply spun around, and buried a first time shot into the back of the net.

A great strike, and a dream start for the new Palace man!

A corner to Bradford was cleared by quick thinking by Tony Popovic, and for his trouble he was clearly hit in the face, requiring treatment off the field of play. Of course, once again, no foul was given, but he returned in time to see Andy Gray's shot slide well wide of the post. Mark Bower did well to steal the ball from Noel as he bore down on goal before another cross from Danny B found Shaun, who simply tapped the ball on to Julian, his shot being blocked on the line.

Gary then put in a good cross, and the simple matter of heading the ball into the back of the net became a matter of groans for the Palace faithful, as Ade met with only thin air, and the chance went begging. Lewis Emanuel hit a shot from a free kick straight into the defensive wall, and then Ashley Ward hit a great opportunity over the top of the bar when he looked certain to score.

With little further action, other than a good defensive move by Tony, the half came to an end, and one can be pretty sure that Trevor Francis would have been reasonably pleased with what he had seen to date on such an atrocious playing surface. Another goal would have been what he would have been asking for though.

Bradford got the second half underway, and the first action saw Julian centre the ball, and Steve Thomson just head the chance wide of the mark. Hayden Mullins then became the provider to Steve, and somehow he contrived this time to hit the post. Surely one must go in soon? Emanuel then hit a shot wide of the post before Ade got a good ball in to Hayden, and though he beat the defence the keeper managed to get his legs in the way of the goalward bound shot, the resultant corner being wasted once again.

Claus Jorgensen hit a shot just wide of the post, then Ward took a "dive" that seemed so obvious it was a wonder he did not get booked for his troubles. Fortunately for us he missed making contact with Cedric, or things could have been much worse. A shot by Uhlenbeek went agonisingly close before Andy Gray beat the defence, putting his shot just wide of the post. Trevor decided at this stage to take off Steve and Julian, the replacements being Dougie Freedman and Danny Granville.

A free kick to the home side was well cut out by Hayden before Cedric claimed the ball from a poor shot at goal by Andy Myers. Danny B did well to send the ball out for a corner, when things looked just a little dangerous, but the cross into the centre was not cleared, and it was Atherton who was on hand to bury the ball in the back of the net from just on the edge of the area.

Andy Gray was then caught offside, but it was not long before Bradford took the lead, undeserved as many Palace pundits felt it was. Following the final substitution by Palace, replacing Kit Symons with Tommy Black, Emanuel fired the ball into the centre. It was well cut out by Hayden, but as he brought the ball away to safety he was unceremoniously dumped on the ground. With no foul being given Francis was able to simply steer the ball into the back of the net, the home side was ahead, and the Palace players, staff, supporters etc were somewhat livid that play had been allowed to go on. No amount of remonstrating with the referee is ever going to help in circumstances such as these, and as usual the game went on.

Ward nearly got a shot on goal, the defence just closing him down in time, then Jorgensen put the ball in the back of the net only to find that he had been flagged for offside moments before. Dougie and Danny G both saw their shots blocked before a corner at the other end finished with Uhlenbeek shooting just wide once again. Hayden just managed to get a touch to the ball to stop Ward from scoring a simple goal, and then the same player made a hash of a great chance, somehow stepping on the ball instead of simply firing the ball home.

Gary and Hayden both managed to get themselves booked, for fouls more from frustration than from any intent, and with three minutes of injury time added there was little further action. The game finished with a loss that Palace really did not deserve, but with it looking more inevitable that we will spend next season in Division One once again our chance to have our revenge should come once again next season.

Colin Pryce

Bradford City: Aidan Davison, Gus Uhlenbeek, David Wetherall, Mark Bower, Andy Myers (Danny Forrest 70), Simon Francis, Peter Atherton, Claus Jorgensen, Lewis Emanuel, Ashley Ward, Andy Gray.

Substitutes not used: Gary Walsh, Danny Ekoku, Tom Penford, Ben Muirhead.

Crystal Palace: Cedric Berthelin, Kit Symons (Tommy Black 71), Hayden Mullins, Tony Popovic, Danny Butterfield, Shaun Derry, Gary Borrowdale, Steve Thomson (Dougie Freedman 62), Julian Gray (Danny Granville 62), Ade Akinbiyi, Noel Whelan.

Substitutes not used: Alex Kolinko, Wayne Routledge.

Attendance: 11.016

Referee: Mr E Evans (Manchester)