Crystal Palace - 1 (Butterfield 78.)
Crewe Alexandra - 3 (Ashton 8. 86. Varney 16.)

Palace really needed to take maximum points from this match, as they were rapidly edging towards the relegation zone. Of course, as things happened, we managed to lose the match, and slip into the bottom three places.

Crewe kicked off in the first half, and the first action saw Aki Riihilahti foul Dean Ashton, the resulting free kick being fired in by Steve Jones, Thomas Myhre in the Palace goal doing well to hang on to the ball. Rob Edwards cut out the next chance before Wayne Routledge won a corner, and Danny Butterfield fired the cross in, Neil Shipperley just failing to get on the end of the ball.

Ashton got free in our area, but he managed to miss a simple shot that surely should have opened the scoring, and at the other end Neil tried a shot that rebounded to Shaun Derry, his shot going straight to Clayton Ince in the visitors goal. Disaster then struck as Steve Jones got the ball to Ashton, who made no mistake pushing the ball into the back of the net; 1-0.

Kit Symons tried to play Dougie Freedman in, but the ball went straight out for a goal kick, and then Danny fired in a cross that the keeper pushed behind for a corner. The chance was wasted, but Crewe broke up to the other end and Luke Varney had the simple task of chipping the ball over the advancing keeper. Kenny Lunt almost got free in our area, but Palace eventually managed to clear the ball, and won a corner at the other end of the ground. This was followed by a series of corners to Palace, but they could not make any of them count.

Aki got himself booked, and the free kick that followed saw Lunt fire in a shot that nearly made it three, Thomas doing well to push the ball away from the goalmouth. Varney was then caught offside, though a corner to them shortly after saw Ashton head the ball wide of the mark. Wayne managed to beat the defence, but his cross was too deep for Dougie and Neil, and then he fired in another cross that Dougie just lost control of at the last moment.

Gary Borrowdale did well to clear the danger at our end before Chris McCready blasted the ball over the top when all he had to do was tap the ball home. Danny had a shot charged down by the defence, and as Ince claimed the ball once more the half time whistle sounded. We went in two goals down, and really things could have been worse. Kit would certainly have been looking for a vast improvement to proceedings, but it was not really to come.

Palace kicked off in the second half, kicking towards the Holmesdale End, and a corner to Palace was fired in by Danny, Shaun putting his shot just the wrong side of the upright. A cross into the centre from Wayne nearly found Aki, but the keeper managed to claim the ball before Steve Jones got clear of the defence, Thomas once again performing well to deny the Crewe player. The same player then fired a shot wide before Dougie won a corner at the other end. Of course, that chance was wasted once again by Palace, though for a while Palace did maintain the pressure on the goalmouth, and the keeper did well to keep the ball out.

Justin Cochrane fired a shot over the top of the bar and David Wright did well to tackle Gary when he appeared clear on goal. Cochrane became the next name in the book, for bringing Wayne down, and as Wayne took the resulting free kick the keeper could not quite get to the ball, and Shaun fired the shot over the top of the bar once more. A good chance wasted.

Dougie made a run on goal, but the defence was equal to the task, and as Ashton found space at our end Aki did well to take the ball off the Crewe attacker. Lunt tried a shot that seemed destined for the bottom corner of the goalmouth before Thomas pulled off a great save, and then a corner to Palace saw Danny fire a shot in that the keeper managed to tip away from the open goal.

Palace made a change, sending Tommy Black on for Curtis Fleming, and his first touch of the ball came as Dougie played him in, but he dragged the shot wide of the upright. Suddenly though our luck changed, and Dougie laid the ball off to Danny, and his first time shot found the back of the net. 2-1, and we were back in the game.

Attempts at both ends were denied by good defensive moves, and Crewe decided to make a change of their own, McCready making way for Adie Moses despite the fact that they had just changed Luke Varney for Allan Smart. A free kick to Crewe saw Lunt fire the ball into the box, and Ashton sent the ball past Thomas. 3-1 now, and the game was all but over.

Crewe made their final change, taking Ashton straight off and bringing on Michael Higdon, though there was little time left. Despite three minutes of added on time neither side came anywhere near scoring, and the Palace side left the field to a series of boos from the small crowd that was on hand to witness events. I have never advocated booing any side, but one cannot help but feel that a good deal of improvement is needed from the side, and very soon!

The rate things are going; Kit will be lucky to get the nod as the next manager.

Colin Pryce

Crystal Palace: Thomas Myhre, Rob Edwards, Curtis Fleming (Tommy Black 72), Kit Symons, Gary Borrowdale, Danny Butterfield, Aki Riihilahti, Shaun Derry, Wayne Routledge, Neil Shipperley, Dougie Freedman.

Substitutes not used: Cedric Berthelin, Danny Granville, Ben Watson, Michael Hughes.

Crewe Alexandra: Clayton Ince, David Wright, Chris McCready (Adie Moses 82), Stephen Foster, Anthony Tonkin, Justin Cochrane, Kenny Lunt, Billy Jones, Steve Jones, Dean Ashton (Michael Higdon 88), Luke Varney (Allan Smart 79).

Substitutes not used: James Robinson, Ademole Bankole.

Attendance: 12,259

Referee: Mr P Joslin