Stockport County - 0
Crystal Palace - 1 (Freedman 66.)
County kicked off in this game, and in the first few minutes Clinton Morrison managed to get offside once again. Hopefully this was not to be the trend for the night, and night it was, as the game did not kick off until 6pm, making it the last game of the weekend fixtures. The first raid on goal came from the home team, but Alex Kolinko dealt well the threat. Much of the first period of the game was fairly end-to-end stuff, as neither side seemed able to assert their influence on the other.
A good through ball to Trevor Benjamin was poorly controlled, and the next that went to him found him just offside. He was determined to get a shot in though, and the next time he got to the line he turned and shot, the ball beating Andy Dibble, but the post saved his blushes, and the score remained locked at 0-0. Jon Daley then managed to shake off Tony Popovic, and his shot at goal went marginally wide of the post.
It was then the turn of Dougie Freedman to be caught offside, and it appeared that things were not really going to work out for our three-pronged attack. A free kick, taken by Simon Rodger, found Aki Riihilahti in what appeared to be open territory, but he too was offside, and thus a poor evening continued. Another forward move from Palace broke down, and then Clinton finally managed to get himself into good position, teed up his shot, and merely kicked it across the face of goal.
A header into the area by Trevor went straight to Dibble in goal, and Dougie put the ball across the face of goal, but it was hit with too much power for either Clinton or Trevor to be able to reach. Dougie's next shot was also hit with power, but it spun ferociously past the outside edge of the post.
Ali Gibb made a good run down the right, but the shot at the end of it from Daley left a lot to be desired, at least by the Stockport faithful at the game. Tony Popovic then put in a good cross that Clinton just failed to capitalise on, and his next chance saw him once again offside.
A chance at the other end was easily punched away by Alex. A throw-in for Palace was taken by Danny Granville, and the result was that Trevor hit it wide. A long shot at goal, taken by Daley, went way over the top of the bar before a good run by Curtis Fleming earned Palace their first corner of the match.
As usual Simon took the kick, and this time it was Kit Symons that came flying through the pack to head the ball goalwards. A fine save by Dibble once again saved our hosts, and the following corner saw another offside for Palace - surely they will get it right eventually? Carlton Palmer kept Clinton out of things well, and half time was looming.
Clinton was hurt in a goalmouth melee, but no damage was caused during his enforced few minutes off the field. Somehow the match referee found three minutes of added on time, even though play seemed to have continued mostly all the way through. The added on time produced no action of any note, and the teams trooped off the field to enjoy their half time oranges, and no doubt the wise words of their respective managers.
At the outset of the second half Curtis crossed in a good ball that found Trevor in space, but though he had time to place his shot Dibble reacted well, and saved the shot low down, much to the anguish of our on-loan striker. Danny then sent in a long-range effort that went wide of the mark. A good cross into Dougie was well cut out by Palmer.
Clinton then won the ball on the left, his cross finding Danny who quickly played it on to Aki, but his header went wide once more. Keith Briggs then did well to get through, setting up Kevin Ellison for a shot that ended up going to straight to Alex in goal. Danny was booked for a poor tackle on Gibb, but Alex dealt with the resultant free kick, albeit on the second attempt. Kit then defended well to deny the now rampant Stockport attack, and for the first time in the game things were starting to look bad for the visiting Palace side. They really should have made more of their chances earlier in the match.
Jovan Kirovski came on for Simon, which effectively gave us four attackers on the field and with almost his first touch of the match he crossed the ball for Dougie, who simply fired the shot into the bottom left hand corner of the net, and suddenly we were 1-0 ahead. This immediately produced a double substitution from the home side, but Palace were now in a more dominant frame of mind, and the waves of attack kept coming.
A cross from Tony was just too high for Trevor, and then Alex had to boot the ball into the stands in a last ditch attempt to clear his lines. Julian Gray came on for Dougie; one can only assume that considering Dougie came back from injury this evening, that Trevor Francis intends to look after him as best he can for the upcoming games.
A shot from Damien Delaney crashed against the post; where was the defence - perhaps they had gone to sleep? The side would do well to remember that they are only one goal ahead, and things can change very rapidly.
A corner, conceded under pressure by Aki, led to a great shot by Dave Challinor, and an even greater save by Alex, low down to his left. Dibble then saved a corner at the other end, almost putting his life in danger falling at the feet of the crowd that had arrived in his danger area, but he held on well.
Jamie Smith then came on for Jovan, who was obviously not well pleased with the manager's decision, but he would do well not to show such dissension in the future. Clinton and Julian then cleverly ran down the clock, retaining possession for the visiting side, before finally Stockport won a last moment corner, deep into injury time. Surely Palace would not lose it now? And they didn't; the cross went out for a throw, and before it could be taken the final whistle sounded, and we had achieved out aim; we were on our way to London with the points in the bag.
Not the prettiest of games this one, but as they say, it is the result that matters in the long term, and we now look forward to taking on Gillingham at Selhurst Park during the week, and an opportunity to gain revenge for the debacle earlier in the season.
Colin Pryce
Stockport County: Andy Dibble, Kevin Ellison (Scott Taylor 69), Colin Woodthorpe, Robert Clare, Carlton Palmer, Aaron Lescott, Keith Briggs, Damien Delaney, Jon Daley (Luke Beckett 70), Ali Gibb, Dave Challinor.
Substitutes not used: Sam Turner, Glynn Hancock, Andy Welsh.
Crystal Palace: Alex Kolinko, Hayden Mullins, Simon Rodger (Jovan Kirovski 64 Jamie Smith 87), Dougie Freedman (Julian Gray 79), Clinton Morrison, Aki Riihilahti, Trevor Benjamin, Tony Popovic, Danny Granville, Kit Symons, Curtis Fleming.
Substitutes not used: Matt Clarke, Gregg Berhalter.
Attendance: 5,541
Referee: Mr P Richards