Crystal Palace - 2 (Morrison 44. Zhiyi 48.)
Stockport County - 2 (Angell 4. 22.)

In a very dramatic week for Crystal Palace the team did very well to come back from two goals down to level the match, and in fact came close to stealing it - though in truth they did also come close to losing it! The turmoil at the Club saw dramatic changes on the playing field, with Craig Moore appointed captain, the return of Attilio Lombardo and Jamie Fullarton (for his first match of the season), plus the return to the field of play of Leon McKenzie after his loan periods. With Steve Coppell in charge for his third stint at the Club the sides came out, and the understandably somewhat upset fans saved their biggest cheers for the announcement of Attilio's name and a loud cheer was reserved for the return of local favourite Carlo Nash, our own player of the year a couple of seasons ago.

The match got underway, and needless to say it was not a good start for the home side. Within only four minutes of the signal for play Kevin Miller found himself picking the ball up from the back of the net. A rare defending error from Moore allowed Brett Angell to get clear and put the ball into the back of the net unchallenged. Our response followed fairly soon after when Sagi Burton put a pass across the goalface, but Lee Bradbury was unable to meet the curling ball. It was Bradbury once again shortly after that, when, once getting clear crossed the ball to Rizzo who had a wonderful opportunity to shoot into the back of an empty net. The only trouble was that he somehow managed to miss! No-one is sure up to now just how he managed it. Stockport should have then increased their lead, but Angell this time managed to put his shot wide with only Miller to beat. Martin McIntosh then sent his shot wide of the mark, though he was quite some way out from the goal. Angell managed to get above the defence and head the ball past Miller to make the scoreline read 2-0 to the visitors, and less than half of the first period accounted for. Bradbury somehow managed to lose the ball once again after getting clear, and Lombardo was screaming out to him to pass the ball. As the game was rapidly approaching half time Rizzo sent over a very wide cross which appeared to be going nowhere. Somehow Lombardo managed to get the back of his head to the ball, and put it down right at the feet of the advancing Clinton Morrison. In the ensuing goalmouth melee Clinton managed to convert the chance, giving us a glimmer of a hope for the second half. 2-1 down at half time, there was everything to play for in the second stanza, particularly if we wanted to preserve our recent unbeaten run at Selhurst Park.

One can only imagine Steve Coppell's words at half time. He must have thought that he had been here before!

The second half got underway, and the supporters were looking forward, for once, to the action. In the first two minutes Nicky Rizzo was once again back in the action, though on this occasion he was tripped just outside the area. Attilio stepped up to take the free kick, and this time Fan Zhiyi managed to steal up unmarked, and he headed home the ball, giving Carlo no chance. It was now very much the Palace show, with a lot of good movements taking place on and off the ball. Attilio sent in a shot wide of the goal, then suddenly Bradbury had the ball in the back of the net once more. The small problem was that Clinton was adjudged to have fouled Carlo moments before, and thus the goal did not stand. Substitutions came thick and fast from both sides, but none seemed to make that crucial difference that meant the winning of the match. Despite our efforts on goal it was the visitors that actually came closest to stealing all three points when McIntosh hit the upright with only seconds remaining on the clock. 2-2, probably a fair result.

Colin Pryce

Crystal Palace: Kevin Miller, Nick Rizzo (Dean Austin 75), David Tuttle, Jamie Fullarton, Craig Moore, Sagi Burton, Attilio Lombardo (Sasa Curcic 66), Fan Zhiyi, Lee Bradbury (Leon McKenzie 69), Clinton Morrison, Simon Rodger.
Not Used: None.

Stockport County: Carlo Nash, Sean Connelly, Tony Dinning, ? Hughes (Kevin Cooper 55), Mike Flynn, Martin McIntosh, Rob Matthews (Steven Grant 60) (Jim Gannon 90), ? McInnes, Brett Angell, Ian Moore, Colin Woodthorpe.
Not Used: None.

Attendance: 15,517
Referee: Mr W M Jordan (Tring).