Wimbledon - 1 (Francis 7.)
Crystal Palace - 1 (Morrison 80.)

A match where we very nearly got nothing, but at the same time we deserved so much more. Seems to about sum up this game. I feel sure that the Wimbledon supporters will equally claim the same for their side, so on reflection perhaps a draw is the fairest result. It did, at least, put us back where we belong, in the top six. One can only hope that we stay there, or even better somehow find our way into the top two!

The match was only a few minutes old when Dougie Freedman played a great ball to Ade Akinbiyi, who was lurking in the area. His effort sailed straight into the back of the net, but before the celebrations could get underway the officials indicated that he was offside, and thus yet another goal for Palace went begging. Clinton Morrison then got free, and just as it looked as if he must score he inexplicably put the ball into the side netting.

We were to rue these missed opportunities almost immediately, as Neal Ardley took a corner for the "home" team and Damien Francis neatly headed the ball into the top corner to place Palace on the back foot.

Clinton then played Dougie in, but instead of shooting when he had a great chance to level things he attempted to pass the ball to Ade, his pass going astray and eluding the new striker. With little further action the first half petered out, and we went to the "visitors" shed one goal down, and presumably to a stern lecture from Trevor Francis.

The second half brought few chances for either side in the opening exchanges, but about 20 minutes in Wimbledon wasted a good opportunity to seal the fate of the match. Francis sent David Connolly free, but the striker totally wasted the chance, and the Palace faithful breathed once again. A fumbled save from Matt Clarke once again put the Palace hearts in the mouth again, but then Tommy Black made a great run deep on the right.

His cross sailed wonderfully towards Clinton, and this time our leading striker made no mistake, burying the ball in the back of the net; and the scores were level once again.

With only 10 minutes left on the clock the rest of the match went by without incident, and we all had to settle for the solitary point. I guess it is a lot better than getting none though, and it raised our hopes for a great home game against Sheffield United next weekend.

Colin Pryce

Wimbledon: Kelvin Davis, Kenny Cunningham, Peter Hawkins, Darren Holloway, Trond Anderson, Neal Ardley, Kevin Cooper, Damien Francis, Michael Hughes (Joel McAnuff 40, Gareth Ainsworth 89), Patrick Agyemang (Jermaine Darlington 75), David Connolly.

Substitutes not used: Ian Feuer, Chris Willmott.

Crystal Palace: Matt Clarke, Dean Austin, Curtis Fleming (Gregg Berhalter 89), Hayden Mullins, Shaun Murphy, Jamie Smith, Aki Riihilahti, Simon Rodger (Julian Gray 61), Ade Akinbiyi (Tommy Black 60), Dougie Freedman, Clinton Morrison.

Substitutes not used: Alex Kolinko, David Hopkin.

Attendance: 13,564

Referee: Mr P Alcock (Halstead)