Nottingham Forest - 3 (Williams 4. 74. Reid 13.)
Crystal Palace - 2 (Shipperley 58. Granville 76.)

Crystal Palace was looking to maintain their push towards the playoff positions, so of course they failed in their quest, and it is now starting to look as if a mid table finish is about all we can expect from here on in. Still, as usual for Palace fans we will all look forward to the start of the next season, just as soon as we get this one over with.

Palace got this game underway, and Neil Shipperley was back in the side, and once again wearing the captain's armband. Andy Reid managed to get free but Cedric Berthelin stopped the ball, but conceded a corner. The cross came in, Michael Dawson tried a shot that was beaten out by the defence, but Gareth Williams (not our player who is out on loan, but another by the same name) was on hand to simply send Cedric the wrong way and slot the ball home to open the scoring for the afternoon.

Eoin Jess sent in a cross that eluded the Forest attack, whilst at the other end Andy Johnson was caught offside as Julian Gray tried to slip the ball through to him. Michael Hughes was robbed by Wes Morgan on the edge of the area before Nick Barmby, on loan from Leeds, was caught offside as he ran on to a pass sent forward by Gareth Taylor. Mikele Leigertwood did well to stop a shot sent in by Reid, and then Matthieu Louis-Jean blatantly handled the ball, but the referee was unmoved, and play went on.

Neil was fouled by Danny Sonner, but as usual we wasted the free kick, and suddenly Barmby sent in a cross that found Reid in space, and he simply placed the ball into the back of the net to double the home team's advantage. Where our defence was is anyone's guess. Danny Granville sent in a cross that was destined for AJ, but Morgan got to the ball first and the danger was averted. Wayne Routledge got the ball back to AJ, but he kicked the air instead of the ball, and once more the home team breathed a sigh of relief.

Danny Butterfield got a great cross in to Neil, and as he challenged the keeper Julian rushed on to the ball, hit it weakly at the open goal, and Louis-Jean got the ball off the line to deny Julian the chance to pull one back. A corner to Palace was cleared by Dawson, and following a foul on Wayne by Reid it was Danny B who fired the chance in, and Julian who failed to convert the chance.

Tony cleared the next chance that fell to Williams, though he conceded a corner that saw Morgan guilty of pushing the Palace defence, and we breathed once more, as another goal there would surely have finished the match. Tony then got the ball into the area, but the Palace attack was missing once more, and the chance was wasted, and finally Barmby was booked for a foul on Michael. Julian got a good cross in to Mikele, but he scuffed his shot, and then the second handball of the match came about as Morgan denied Neil a certain goal; and once more the referee turned down the appeal.

Taylor got clear, but Cedric denied him his shot on goal, and then a corner to Forest was cleared by Shaun before Reid fired a shot that went inches over the bar. AJ got in a shot that went across the face of goal, but the Palace attack was unable to capitalise on the situation, and the ball was cleared for a corner.

Forest blocked the corner before Taylor was caught offside, but shortly after Taylor got the ball to Alan Rogers, his shot on goal going high and wide, causing the Palace defence little trouble. Danny B tried a trademark long-range shot that Barry Roche did well to hold on to first time, and a free kick taken by Michael was again cleared by the Forest defence. Wayne tried a shot that was deflected for a corner, and as it was taken the whistle went for half time.

2-0 down, one can be sure that Iain Dowie would have been less than pleased, but there was still 45 minutes left in the match in order to try to take something from the game.

Forest got the second half going, and once again we witnessed a Palace player getting booked for backchatting the referee; this time the culprit being Neil, who was also penalised 10 yards for his trouble. The ball predominantly stayed in midfield for a while as the sides sorted themselves out and Forest decided to make the first change of the match; Des Walker taking the place of Rogers. Sonner was booked for tripping Wayne, and as Michael played the ball into the area the Palace attack was unable to get on the end of the ball.

AJ went down under a tackle by Dawson, but the referee was not interested, and waved play on, and then Tony cleared the next attacking move that came from the home team. From nowhere though Danny G sent in a good looking cross, and he found Neil at the back post who simply placed the ball into the back of the net. One back, one more to go!

AJ won a corner that Michael sent into the area, but the ball bounced safely away without an attempt on goal from the Palace attack, and then a double strike by Danny B saw his shot go just inches wide of the post. Wayne beat the defence, but his cross was poor, and at the other end Barmby headed the ball just over the top. Tony was then booked for a foul on Barmby, and this time it was Neil, back in defence, that averted the danger. Danny B then stopped Reid, by sending the ball well out of play, and Cedric cleared up the resulting set piece without any danger to the Palace goalmouth.

Neil played in a good ball that AJ should have tapped home, but Roche just managed to get to the ball first, and then an appeal for a penalty as Tony brought down Taylor in the area was turned down, once more, by the referee. Reid sent a shot just over the top, but Williams came back into the area, and once again he scored to restore the two-goal advantage, just as Palace appeared to be getting on top. His shot, placed under the advancing Cedric, was quite simple, and he really should not have been allowed so much space in the area.

Straight from the kick off though Wayne got the ball to Danny G, and the ball ended up nestling in the back of the net to get us back in the game with at least a chance of getting at least a point from the game.

Palace then decided on a change, bringing on Dougie Freedman and taking off Shaun, and Palace set off in attack once more. Wayne won a corner, but the Forest defence cleared the chance, and then Michael cleared a chance at the other end for Forest. Reid made good ground but placed his shot straight at Cedric. Mikele headed clear a cross sent in by Barmby, and then Wayne fired a goalwards bound shot that the keeper just managed to get a finger to, and Forest decided on another change.

This time Barmby came off and David Johnson made his way on to the pitch, and a Palace corner saw Neil fouled, and a last chance for Palace to even up the scoreline. The kick was moved forward by the referee following Taylor trying to argue with the decision. Julian took the shot, and the ball went over the wall, but also over the top of the bar.

Shortly after Palace won a corner, and it was Wayne who hit the bar with the shot on goal as Forest decided on a time wasting change; John Thompson replacing two-goal hero Williams. Time ran out, and Palace faced the return trip to Selhurst Park without a point to show for their efforts, and presumably with little chance left now of realistically making one of the coveted play-off positions. As I said at the beginning, watch us fly next season though!

Colin Pryce

Nottingham Forest: Barry Roche, Matthieu Louis-Jean, Wes Morgan, Michael Dawson, Alan Rogers (Des Walker 53), Danny Sonner, Gareth Williams (John Thompson 90), Eoin Jess, Andy Reid, Gareth Taylor, Nick Barmby (David Johnson 85).

Substitutes not used: Pascal Formann, Craig Westcarr.

Crystal Palace: Cedric Berthelin, Danny Butterfield, Tony Popovic, Mikele Leigertwood, Danny Granville, Wayne Routledge, Shaun Derry (Dougie Freedman 76), Michael Hughes, Julian Gray, Andrew Johnson, Neil Shipperley.

Substitutes not used: Jamie Smith, Sam Togwell, Tommy Black, Gary Borrowdale.

Attendance: 28,306

Referee: Mr I Williamson