Crystal Palace - 2 (Bradbury 5. Jansen 89.)
Bristol City - 1 (Andersen 35.)

With five wins from the last five home league games (and six if you count the Cup match) Palace went into this match as red hot favourites. City had conceded 11 goals in their last two games, and we were putting the goals in the back of the net at home, so one should really not be surprised that we made such a hard job of winning this! With both Craig Moore and Fan Zhiyi serving a one match suspension we were forced into some changes at the back, with Sagi Burton and Gordan Petric making his debut.

The match started off, and within five minutes it appeared to be following the script that the bookies had written. Following an error in the visitors' defence it was Lee Bradbury who put in a low shot from well out which found the net without the keeper standing a chance. City then proved that they were not there just to make up the numbers, with Fraser Digby having to pull off a good save from a shot that was deflected, giving the home supporters a moment or two of worry. Play then settled into a see-saw affair, with neither side gaining any ascendancy. It took until almost half way through the period of play before Matt Jansen unleashed a shot that was well parried by Keith Welch, but the follow through by Bradbury almost brought him his second. A few moments later Nick Rizzo curled in a perfect cross which Hayden Mullins just failed to meet, and it was starting to look as though it might become all one way traffic. Just to ensure that this was not to be Tony Thorpe managed to beat Digby, but his shot went fractionally wide of the post. It then fell to Attilio Lombardo to grant us the lead, but in his usual unselfish style he attempted to pass the ball to Jansen when it would have been far easier to score himself. With only 10 minutes left until the break our lack of killer instinct finally took its' toll when Mickey Bell put through an inch perfect pass to Soren Andersen who, on seeing Digby advancing, proceeded to lob the ball over the keepers head to level the scores. Further chances in the half fell to Jansen and Lombardo, but to be fair they also fell at the other end to Carl Hutchings and Thorpe. Without further ado the first half came to a close, and one can only imagine that Terry V would have been less than impressed with the performance of the side.

The second half started with Dave Tuttle replacing the hapless Dean Austin, who had been given a hard time by the home supporters. I can never understand that. If a player is wearing a Palace shirt he should be cheered, not jeered. The first opportunity fell to Craig Foster, his shot going wide. To keep the honours even Thorpe once again hit the ball over the bar. With no-one seemingly able to break the deadlock the ever popular Sasa Curcic was introduced into the action for Nick Rizzo. Gordan Petric saw his excellent shot deflect from a defender standing right on the line, and further chances to Bradbury and Sagi Burton were starting to make it look as though we were never going to score again. The best chance of the period fell once again to Jansen, a fine save denying him. Yet another chance to Hutchings, which came off the post, was making the game somewhat precarious; if City could score there was a good chance we could lose the match - we certainly couldn't will the ball into the back of the net. A free kick taken by Sasa came off the defending wall, and Jansen's shot from the deflection was well kept out by the keeper. Time was almost up. In a last gasp effort, well a minute or so on the clock, Attilio sent in yet another excellent cross, and this time Jansen jumped above the pack and firmly headed the ball past the despairing keeper. Finally it was 2-1, and there was precious little time left.

City probably did enough in this match to deserve a point, but I am not about to be charitable enough to give them one, even if I could! The three points successfully ground out here put us in a good position to make a run at the leaders.

Colin Pryce

Crystal Palace: Fraser Digby, Dean Austin (Dave Tuttle 45), Sun Jihai, Gordan Petric, Sagi Burton, Craig Foster, Attilio Lombardo, Nick Rizzo (Sasa Curcic 58), Lee Bradbury (Clinton Morrison 77), Matt Jansen, Hayden Mullins.
Not Used: None.

Bristol City: Keith Welch, Scott Murray, Mickey Bell, Carl Hutchings, Mark Shail, Louis Carey, Rob Edwards, Tony Thorpe, Adeola Akinbiyi, Soren Andersen, Jim Brennan.
Not Used: Dyche, Brown, Goodridge.

Attendance: 17,821
Referee: Mr R D Furnandiz (Doncaster).