Crystal Palace - 1 (Morrison 45.)
Millwall - 3 (Sadlier 45. Claridge 48. 90.)
Palace kicked off playing towards the Whitehorse Lane stand, but the first shot towards goal came from Tim Cahill, the attempt going well over the top. A good shot from well out by Robbie Ryan was tipped over the bar by Matt, followed by an effort from Julian Gray, which also sailed majestically over the top. Two corners to the home side, the best resulting in a free header to Dougie Freedman was followed by a corner at the other end which Matt dealt with quite well.
Aki Riihilahti put in a great cross that Clinton Morrison nearly got on the end of, but the match was starting to deteriorate in the standard of the on-field play. Dougie made a good run through the centre, but was robbed of the ball at the last moment by some good defence. A free kick to the visitors was well met by Matt. A number of free kicks followed to both sides, with the occasional yellow card thrown in for good measure, and with neither side seeming to make any headway from corners or other set pieces it looked as if we were going to go in at half time all square at 0-0.
Of course, nothing is ever that easy with Palace! The defence did not clear a corner very well, and a simple tap-in was all that was required from Richard Sadlier to put us one down. With only moments left before the break Dougie made a great run, passed the ball to Simon Rodger, and Simon cracked in a shot that went under the keeper and required a simple touch from Clinton, who is always lurking in a dangerous position, to end up in the back of the net. All square then at the break, albeit 1-1.
Needless to say as the second half started, and we attacked towards the Holmesdale End, the wind that had held up much of our play for the bulk of the first half, dropped to merely a whimper and made little impact on the play for the rest of the game. Unfortunately within minutes of the restart we dropped behind once again. This time our old nemesis Steve Claridge was the player credited with the goal, but there were so many players in the box that it could easily have gone to anyone.
Despite the fact that we "appeared" to be playing the better football nothing was happening for us in front of the goal posts, and as the match slowly slipped away it started to appear that nothing was going to be gained from this afternoon's exploits.
Hayden Mullins, along with Clinton came closest to equalising, but the finishing touch was just eluding us, and now Millwall were defending in depth. We looked more unlikely to score the longer the game went on.
Of course, another goal did eventually come, though it was well into injury time before it arrived, and it was, from a Palace supporter's point of view, scored by the wrong side. Tony Popovic and Matt left the ball for each other to deal with, and it was Claridge once again that nipped in and simply placed the ball into the back of the net past the hapless keeper.
So, a final scoreline that really flattered the visitors, and though it will be a long wait we will all look forward to our revenge in the reverse fixture. In the meantime we will have to look forward to a renewed cup run, this time with a victory against Everton on Wednesday night. I guess we can all dream eh?
Colin Pryce
Crystal Palace: Matt Clarke, Jamie Smith, Craig Harrison (Jovan Kirovski 85), Tony Popovic, Dean Austin, Julian Gray, Simon Rodger, Aki Riihilahti (Tommy Black 61), Hayden Mullins, Dougie Freedman, Clinton Morrison.
Substitutes not used: Alex Kolinko, Gregg Berhalter, Steve Thomson.
Millwall: Tony Warner, Matt Lawrence, Robbie Ryan, Stuart Nethercott, Marc Bircham (Phil Stamp 68), Sean Dyche, Tim Cahill, Paul Ifill, David Livermore, Richard Sadlier, Steve Claridge.
Substitutes not used: Willy Gueret, David Tuttle, Christophe Kinet, Giovanni Savarese.
Attendance: 21,641
Referee: Mr C Foy (St Helens)