Crystal Palace - 2 (Powell 22. Johnson 113.)
Plymouth Argyle - 1 (Sturrock 39.)

Crystal Palace went into this match on the back of a lot of blank sheets, whilst Plymouth have been banging in the goals in Division Two on a regular basis, currently running in the top three after gaining promotion last season. Perhaps this would be a showcase of the relative strengths of the Leagues, but of course it could just as easily be an "upset" as many of these early Cup matches tend to be. The higher placed team is on a hiding to nothing, and the lower team has nothing to lose. Trevor Francis meanwhile has seen his popularity rating with the Palace faithful take a dive over the early weeks of the season, so nothing short of a win was going to give him any chance of breathing space. Even that could not guarantee cries of "Trevor's Red and Blue Army", for some supporters are never satisfied, but at least it might give him a little breathing space, at least until Wolves come visiting.

A fairly strong attacking lineup was employed by Palace, with no less than four recognised strikers up front, and coupled with a good defensive collection of players that have not conceded a goal in some time, everything looked good for a solid performance from the side.

Palace kicked off, but the first move forward came from our visitors with Hasney Aljofree trying to get the ball into Steve Adams, but the Palace defence was aware of the problem, and quickly cleared the danger. Alex Kolinko cleared another attacking move, and though the ball went for a corner the set-piece move was well cut out. Nathan Lowndes put in a shot from a Lee Hodges pass, but Alex managed this time to hang on to the ball. Lowndes then got caught offside; the early moments of the match certainly belonged to Plymouth.

Dean Austin was hurt in a clash when he forced the ball out of the danger area, but as Palace were in possession play went on until Dougie Freedman played the ball straight into the hands of the keeper. Dean managed to resume, and play went on. Steve Thomson tried a long ball up to Andy Johnson, but it was far too strong, and the Palace frontman never looked like reaching the ball. A good attacking raid by Plymouth was broken up once again by the Palace defence, and then Hodges tried a snapshot at goal which went just wide of the post, and through to safety.

A good move forward involving AJ and Hayden Mullins brought a free kick to Palace. Taken by Danny Granville, it was played into the area where Dele Adebola was on hand to simply nod the ball across the face of goal and Darren Powell headed the ball home. How come all our goals seem to come from defenders these days? Not that I am complaining mind! Considering Palace's goalscoring exploits of late I am more than happy to accept goals however they come.

David Worrell earned the first yellow card of the match for hauling young Wayne Routledge back after he had made a good run up the pitch; and this free kick almost mirrored the previous one, with Danny put in the cross that again found Darren. This time his header went wide of the mark though. Osvaldo Lopes was the next to bring the ball into the danger area, but Palace once again cleared their lines, before Lopes came back at them again, this time his shot bouncing harmlessly away for a goal kick.

Plymouth had obviously not allowed our goal to dispirit them, and were still making promising looking raids into our area, but Palace were also looking good as they pushed forward in return. Another free kick to Palace saw Dele fire the ball well wide of the goal, and shortly after AJ got a good cross in that Romain Larrieu just managed to get to before Dele, denying the striker once again. Blair Sturrock put a shot just wide of our post, but then immediately after he was presented with an open goal, with Alex nowhere to be seen. Controlling the ball well he set up his shot, but just as he was about to hit it into the back of the net Darren popped up from nowhere and took the ball right out from under his nose. Various pundits described the event as the best piece of defending they had seen in a while, but suffice it to say that Darren was playing a blinder, scoring at one end and defending equally well at the other.

Sturrock was not to be denied for much longer though. A good pass from Martin Phillips found Lopes who turned the ball towards Sturrock in the goalmouth. This time he got to the ball with a first time shot, and though Alex seemed to have it well covered it went though his hands and nestled in the back of the net. The score was back to level terms at one a piece.

Hayden became the second player booked for a clash with the man that had made the visitors goal; Lopes. A corner to Plymouth was well dealt with by the defence, and we entered added-on time for the first half. Dele got a shot on goal that rebounded out to Wayne, but his shot was deflected behind for a corner, and the half came to an end, the players trooping off for their usual team pep talks from the respective managers.

Almost immediately following the resumption Dean found it impossible to continue and Danny Butterfield replaced him in the heart of the defence. Hayden saw a shot deflected for another corner, and though it was played in quickly by Steve Thomson the Plymouth defence managed to clear the danger. Lopes put a shot over the top of the bar, and a little end-to-end play ensued for a while with neither side making much progress. Micky Evans and David Friio came on for Sturrock and Phillips; surely the boss' son (Sturrock) had been one of their most influential players and deserved to stay on the field? Perhaps he was hurt?

Hodges was caught offside before Dougie floated a good looking pass in that was just too high for Dele to reach, and his reward for missing the ball was to be taken off, his replacement being Tommy Black. Most will tell you that bringing Tommy on was a stroke of genius, but even if the words should not be that strong Tommy was more than a thorn in the side of the Argyle defence for the remainder of the match. Tommy immediately forced a corner, which was the first of many for the home side as they made the pace looking for the winning goal.

Tommy, Danny G, Steve and even Curtis Fleming got some sort of shot at goal, but all were deflected for corners or forced out by the defence, and many a Palace fan was starting to get concerned that Plymouth may well hit us on the counter-attack, and the game would be all but over. Surely whoever scored next would run out the winner? Dougie set up Tommy well, but his shot was also blocked before Wayne got a cross in that found Danny G in front of an open goal, and he headed the ball wide of the post!

Worrell put a shot over the bar following a good build-up from the Plymouth side whilst at the other end Dougie put in a strong shot that the keeper just managed to tip over the top for another corner. The count of corners was mounting, but Palace was not taking advantage of the situation. Lopes forced a corner at the other end, but the effort was well swept up by Darren, still managing to stand resolute in defence. Three minutes was added to the end of play, just as it was in the first half, but the only shot of note came from Danny B, but that was well saved, and we settled in for 30 minutes of extra play - would this be another match that would go to a penalty shoot-out? The game has to be settled one way or the other tonight.

AJ and Dougie got the first 15 minutes underway from the centre, and a long pass from Dougie found Tommy well forward. The keeper saved his shot, more as a reaction than an action and shortly afterwards Tommy blasted a shot over the top. Dougie then played the ball a little too far for AJ to get to it before the keeper came out and averted the danger. Larrieu then stole the ball off the feet of Tommy as he looked about to score, and shortly after he again cut out the danger from a cross that was floated in by the ever-attacking Palace side.

Two more quick corners for Palace came to nothing, and then Plymouth managed to make a break resulting in Ian Stonebridge firing in a strong shot, but the attempt was well wide of the goal, and the Palace fans breathed a small sigh of relief to see the ball travelling back up the other end of the field. Alex cut out another attacking raid before Friio forced him into yet another save, this time from an overhead kick that he really should have done a lot better with.

Another half-time break came round with the score still locked at 1-1, and though no-one wants to see a game go to a penalty shoot-out, the possibility was looming larger and larger.

The second half of extra time gave us Danny G firing in a shot just wide of the goal post, then Dougie racing into the area, only to be denied once again by the Plymouth defence. A free kick to the visitors was wasted when the ball went straight into the arms of Alex in goal. The goal, when it came, seemed to arise from nowhere. Danny G managed to get free on the left of the field, his cross in to the centre was well met by AJ, and suddenly the ball was in the back of the net, and for the second time in the match we were ahead on the scoreboard. Could we hold on for the final few minutes?

Another corner to Palace found Danny G unleashing a shot that was well blocked by the defence. At the other end a free kick was played in well for Evans, who managed to hit a shot wide from only five yards out. In an attempt to help wind the clock down Palace made their final substitution of the game, bringing Andrew Frampton on for AJ. Palace played fairly well controlled football from here on, consistently taking the ball to the corner and forcing Plymouth to make the moves to come and get it, and as Palace passed the ball around amongst themselves time finally ran out for our gallant visitors, and Palace were through to the next round.

Our opponents will be announced before kick-off on Saturday, so perhaps we can look forward to another home fixture on or about 2 October? Here's hoping that the two goals today have given the side a little confidence, and perhaps we can make a show of getting three points against Wolves at the weekend? Good luck, lads.

Colin Pryce

Crystal Palace: Alex Kolinko, Dean Austin (Danny Butterfield 46), Curtis Fleming, Danny Granville, Hayden Mullins, Darren Powell, Steve Thomson, Dele Adebola (Tommy Black 69), Dougie Freedman, Andrew Johnson (Andrew Frampton 117), Wayne Routledge.

Substitutes not used: Lance Cronin, Andrejs Rubins.

Plymouth Argyle: Romain Larrieu, Steve Adams, Hasney Aljofree, Graham Coughlan, David Worrell, Paul Wotton, Martin Phillips (David Friio 58), Blair Sturrock (Micky Evans 57), Lee Hodges, Osvaldo Lopes, Nathan Lowndes (Ian Stonebridge 83).

Substitutes not used: Luke McCormick, David Beresford.

Attendance: 6,385

Referee: Mr C Penton (Sussex)