Norwich City - 0
Crystal Palace - 1 (Morrison 78.)

Palace entered this match, having performed the double over Norwich last year. Could they do it again? For once Palace started the match as if they really meant business, instead of waiting to go a goal down before they decided to get into the act. The first 20 minutes brought only three attempts on goal.

The amazing part was that all three attempts came from the visitors, Palace! Just seven minutes saw Andy Marshall pull of a good save from Mikael Forssell, then he was called on again to stop both Fan Zhiyi and Forssell once again. Despite having the better of the opening exchanges it seemed as though we were fated to not get the ball in the back of the net.

An ironic cheer was heard around the ground when finally, after 35 minutes, Norwich forced their first corner of the match. To this point it seemed that they were not in the same game. Within two minutes of this though, Leon McKenzie was in the thick of the action, his shot going wide of the mark following a great pass from Wayne Carlisle. Just to prove that things were not going to be all one-way Jean Yves de Blasiis sent in a good cross which Paul Dalglish hit goalwards. It was Ashley Cole who stuck out a foot to deflect the ball on to the post, and finally away to safety.

The second half was more of an even affair - obviously Bruce Rioch had very stern words to say to his players at the break, whereas Steve Coppell would simply have been asking for more of the same.

It was Chris Llewellyn that proved to be thorn in Palace's side when twice he found himself in one-on-one situations with Fraser Digby in goal, and twice he was denied. With only 11 minutes left on the clock the travelling Palace supporters were starting to despair that they would have to travel home with a maximum of only one point again.

Cole had other ideas though. Dispossessing Llewellyn deep in his own half he passed the ball to Steve Thomson. Steve, looking up, saw Clinton Morrison making a run, and duly sent the ball deep towards him.

Despite repeated calls from the Norwich players for an offside ruling Clinton completed the task, pushing the ball under the advancing keeper. The flags stayed down, and the goal was in the scorecard.

The single goal was more than enough to settle the game, and post match reaction had Coppell more than pleased with the young side's efforts, and Rioch bemoaning Norwich's lack of penetration at the front.

That the result was achieved with 12 of the 16 players that travelled being under the age of 21 is more than commendable, and augurs well for the future should we be able to keep the team together. Of course, the spectre of the transfer deadline looms large (March 17), and with Clinton being in such good goalscoring form it would be surprising if there are not a number of moves to obtain his signature.

So, with five points from the last three games, the Selhurst Park faithful will be looking forward to the visit of Port Vale next Saturday. Another three points there could certainly keep us all happy for a while.

Colin Pryce

Norwich City: Andy Marshall, Erik Fuglestad, Matt Jackson, Craig Fleming, Daryl Sutch, Chris Llewellyn, Mike Milligan, Jean Yves de Blasiis (Adrian Forbes 79), Darel Russell, Iwan Roberts, Paul Dalglish (Lee Marshall 51).

Substitutes not used: Robert Green, Malky Mackay, Che Wilson.

Crystal Palace: Fraser Digby, Dean Austin, Fan Zhiyi, Andy Linighan, Ashley Cole, Wayne Carlisle, Hayden Mullins, Steve Thomson, Leon McKenzie, Clinton Morrison, Mikael Forssell.

Substitutes not used: Matthew Gregg, David Woozley, Nick Rizzo, James Hibburt, Steven Hunt.

Attendance: 15,064

Referee: Mr G Barber (Tring).