Everton - 1 (Ferguson pen. 6.)
Crystal Palace - 1 (Freedman pen. 10.)
I guess there is no reason why this should not have been a hard match to win; you can be assured that it was Everton that went into this match as red-hot favourites, and considering their League status, and the fact that they were at home, the only surprise would be that Palace managed to take out the match.
The match was only a few minutes old when the referee ruled that Gregg Berhalter had brought down Kevin Campbell in the area, and he had no hesitation in pointing to the spot. Duncan Ferguson stepped up, and duly hit the ball into the back of the net to open proceedings for the evening. Palace though, was not going to be dismissed quite that easily.
Dougie Freedman made a good run into the area, and this time it was keeper Paul Gerrard who was adjudged to have brought him down, a penalty being awarded at the other end. Dougie picked himself up off the turf and sent the keeper the wrong way to bring the scores level once more.
Chances on goal were not particularly abundant at either end, but efforts by Dougie, Jovan Kirovski and Clinton Morrison all went astray before a fine save by Matt Clarke, from a Campbell thunderbolt, kept Palace still in the game. Before we knew where we were the half time whistle had been sounded, and the boys trooped off for a well-deserved break.
The second half saw even fewer chances, and apart from a Freedman attempt on goal it was probably noteworthy only for the lack of action at either end. Even Aki Riihilahti coming on for Berhalter made little difference, and we were really playing at this stage with a very attacking line-up.
And so once again we went into a penalty shoot-out situation. For those who have forgotten this is played by each side taking 5 penalty shots alternately, the winner being whichever side has scored the most goals at this time. If the scores are still deadlocked then sudden death rules are used until one side leads the match on an equal number of penalty shots taken. To add spice to the mix all shots must be taken by different players until such time as everyone on the field of play has had a shot each. Only after this time can a player have a second shot. If a match ever got to that point everyone at the game would have died from nervousness.
As the home side Everton were given the honour of taking first shot at goal, and believe it or not Campbell missed with that shot, and left the door slightly open for the Palace side. Dean Austin converted his attempt, and we were 1-0 up. Shots then went in order, with Steve Watson, Abel Xavier, Idan Tal and Paul Gascoigne all scoring with Dougie, Aki and Hayden Mullins keeping us in the hunt.
This left Clinton with the task of taking our fifth kick at goal, and the chance to take us through to the next round; needless to say he did exactly that. Whoever doubted the lad?
So, Everton bowed out of the Cup for the second year in a row on penalties, and Palace soldiered on to meet another challenger. Let's just hope we do not get too carried away with the Cup this year, and find that it is having a detrimental effect on our League form. I hasten to add though, I am not complaining about a win to the Palace. May it happen every week!
Colin Pryce
Everton: Paul Gerrard, Abel Xavier, Alan Stubbs, David Weir, Steve Watson, Joe-Max Moore (Tony Hibbert 90), Paul Gascoigne, Kevin McLeod, Idan Tal, Kevin Campbell, Duncan Ferguson (Nick Chadwick 91).
Substitutes not used: Steve Simonsen, Alec Cleland, Peter Clarke.
Crystal Palace: Matt Clarke, Jamie Smith, Dean Austin, Tony Popovic, Julian Gray, Gregg Berhalter (Aki Riihilahti 58), Hayden Mullins, Simon Rodger, Jovan Kirovski (Steve Thomson 93), Dougie Freedman, Clinton Morrison.
Substitutes not used: Alex Kolinko, Craig Harrison, Tommy Black.
Attendance: 21,128
Referee: Mr M Brandwood (Lichfield)