Cardiff City - 0
Crystal Palace - 2 (Johnson 55. Routledge 87.)

Crystal Palace travelled to Wales in a quest for the three points that would take them closer to the play-off positions, which would also put a dent in Cardiff's aspirations. They succeeded in their mission, and at the same time got the first requirement out of the way, in that they cannot now be relegated, as it is a mathematical impossibility.

Cardiff got the game underway and the first piece of action saw them win a corner, which was taken by Gareth Whalley, but it was Andrew Johnson who came away with the ball, being brought down for his troubles by John Robinson. The resulting free kick was taken by Michael Hughes, but the Cardiff defence cleared the ball, but as they broke Aki Riihilahti brought down Richard Langley, that attempt being cut out by Mark Hudson, currently playing his second last game for the side.

Robinson then got clear, but was unable to steer his header into the back of the net, and this was followed at the other end by Julian Gray getting a cross in to Wayne Routledge who in turn tried to play Neil Shipperley in, the pass just eluding him. Aki tried a shot that went well wide of the posts, and Robert Earnshaw, Cardiff's top scorer this season, was caught marginally offside. Alan Lee fouled Michael, and as AJ got free it was left to Daniel Gabbidon to make a last ditch tackle to stop him, conceding a corner.

Michael took the kick, but the defence was equal to the task, and in a match that was very much end-to-end Tony Vidmar, the Cardiff skipper, got a good strike on goal that was forced behind for a corner by Mark. Langley took the kick, and Vidmar headed the ball over.

Back at the other end Neil got the ball through to AJ, and the first time shot went just wide of the target, and then Earnshaw made a good run, his shot also going just wide. The match continued from one end of the park to the other, but suddenly Neil was seen talking to the bench, and we wondered if there might be a problem. Langley tried a good shot that Nico Vaesen did well to get down to, and the change of line-up came about for Palace, Neil coming off to be replaced by Dougie Freedman.

The captain's armband was handed over at the same time, which was unusual, in that the new captain on the field was Dougie, the substitute. Paul Parry forced a corner, which was taken by Whalley, but Gabbidon saw his header bounce safely into the waiting arms of Nico. Michael then tried a shot from distance, the attempt going over the top of the bar, and then Gary Croft forced another corner, this time Vidmar shooting over the top once again.

Lee was booked for dissent, and the free kick, though advanced 10 yards, was wasted as Tony Popovic played the ball straight out of play without another Palace player getting a touch on it. Earnshaw tried a shot that was easily dealt with by the Palace defence, but as Vidmar tangled with Michael the referee produced his second yellow card of the afternoon, this time booking the Cardiff captain. The free kick was taken by Danny Butterfield, his through ball finding AJ, the shot being blocked. The resulting corner was played in by Wayne, and as it fell to Danny B he tried a long-range shot that rebounded out, and he tried again, the effort going wide.

One minute only of added on time was what the board told us, and the first half was all over, the scoreline still reading 0-0. Iain Dowie would have been pleased with the defensive effort, though in truth we had done far too much defending, and he would, surely, have been asking the attack to get more quality balls on target.

Palace got the second half underway, but a free kick to Cardiff, following a tackle by Aki on Earnshaw saw Langley fire the ball in, Michael head it back out again, and Earnshaw turn and fire the ball goalwards, the attempt going just wide. Parry was dispossessed by Danny B, and for some inexplicable reason Palace decided to change captain, the armband being handed over by Dougie to Michael. Whatever the reason was it paid immediate dividends, as Julian fired in a cross, Dougie missed the ball, and AJ got on the end of it to open the scoring for the visiting side.

Aki fouled Robinson, the referee gave him a severe talking to, and the free kick was fired in by Whalley, Nico making a fine save to maintain Palace's lead. Cardiff now decided to make a change to their line-up with Parry making way for Andy Campbell, and Danny Granville fouled Robinson, his name ending up in the book for his trouble. Langley took the free kick, the ball sailed over the top of the defensive wall, and fortunately over the top of the bar as well.

Dougie then chased the ball, and ended up one-on-one with the keeper. Martyn Margetson did well to save the ball at the feet of Dougie, but surely you would have bet a great deal on Dougie doing much better with a chance like that. Aki put in a good tackle to rob Vidmar on the edge of the area, and AJ tried a shot that went straight to the keeper when Julian was unmarked in good position to make the strike count. Michael then got booked, with another 10-yard advance of the ball being ordered, but Mark cleared the ball as it flew towards our goal.

There was a hint that Nico may have overstepped his area in collecting the ball, but though the referee was in good position he waved away the appeal. Perhaps that is one we got away with? Cardiff decided to make their final two changes of the afternoon, replacing Robinson and Lee with Lee Bullock and Gavin Gordon. Mark managed to cut out a through ball to Earnshaw, and moments later the same player was caught offside to relieve the pressure on the Palace side.

A series of corners, at both ends, followed, but neither side could take advantage of the set pieces, and then play stopped for a few moments as Vidmar fouled Danny B, and the Cardiff captain got his second yellow card of the day's proceedings, which became an automatic red card, and the home side was down to 10 men for the last five minutes of the game. In Cardiff's case the captain became Earnshaw.

Within moments AJ put a good ball in to Wayne, and the diminutive Palace man blasted the ball into the back of the net to double our advantage, and put paid to any thoughts of Cardiff getting anything out of the match. With only a minute to go Palace made their own final changes of the game, with Michael and Aki being replaced by Mikele Leigertwood and Shaun Derry.

Three minutes was added to the end of the match, but there was little further action, and the Palace players left the field with a well-deserved three points in the bag. We now head home to face West Ham on Monday; another three points could see us staring at the play-off zone with a realistic chance of making the grade. Our fate will then be in our own hands as we have three consecutive home games, all against teams higher in the League than we are. Apart from West Ham we face Wigan on 17 April, followed by Sunderland on 21 April. By the time they are over we should have a pretty good idea just how our season is going to end up for 2003/04.

Colin Pryce

Cardiff City: Martyn Margetson, Tony Vidmar, Daniel Gabbidon, James Collins, Gary Croft, Richard Langley, Gareth Whalley, John Robinson (Lee Bullock 74), Paul Parry (Andy Campbell 58), Alan Lee (Gavin Gordon 74), Robert Earnshaw.

Substitutes not used: Chris Barker, Neil Alexander.

Crystal Palace: Nico Vaesen, Danny Granville, Danny Butterfield, Tony Popovic, Mark Hudson, Wayne Routledge, Aki Riihilahti (Shaun Derry 89), Michael Hughes (Mikele Leigertwood 89), Julian Gray, Andrew Johnson, Neil Shipperley (Dougie Freedman 28).

Substitutes not used: Tommy Black, Cedric Berthelin.

Attendance: 16,656

Referee: Mr T Parkes