Crystal Palace - 1 (Gray 35.)
Leeds United - 2 (Kelly 33. Kewell 73.)

Following on from our phenomenal defeat of Liverpool at Anfield (in the replay), Palace stepped forward once more, this time against the might of Leeds. The kickoff was delayed by 15 minutes, presumably in an attempt to get the crowd into the ground, but considering this match was touted as a sellout, just where were the "missing" 2,000 fans that would have filled the ground to capacity? Later stories said that Leeds did not sell all their allocation, but the ground certainly looked fairly full to all that were there.

Leeds got the match underway, and Terry Venables made his way to the dugout, to what can best be described as a not very popular reception. Alan Smith took a shot at goal, but fortunately it went over the top of the bar, and Tommy Black got a shot in at the other end, the keeper making a good stop down to his right. Another attempt from Tommy was cleared by the defence, then Ian Harte got a last ditch tackle in to stop Andy Johnson bearing down on goal.

A free kick was awarded to Palace for a push on Danny Butterfield by Jason Wilcox, before AJ was pinged for offside just as he seemed to be getting clear. Harry Kewell put a shot just past the post and the keeper, Paul Robinson, hit the ball way into the stand following good pressure from AJ. A good cross, from Danny, just missed the advancing Dele Adebola, and the keeper was able to gather, and though Cedric Berthelin missed a clearance at the other end Danny was on hand to clear the danger.

Kewell then hit a shot straight at our custodian, followed by a good run by Dele that broke down as AJ was found to have strayed offside. Danny Mills put a shot over the top of the bar, and AJ was robbed at the last moment following good work by Lucas Radebe. Darren Powell cleared the next danger for Palace, and as it looked clear that Seth Johnson would get booked for a bad tackle on Shaun Derry, the referee played advantage, and Julian Gray almost scored with a great strike that went just wide. Somehow the idea of the booking got lost in the translation, and no more was heard about the incident, at least until after the match.

A free kick was awarded to Leeds shortly after, and as Cedric was organizing the wall Gary Kelly took the kick, and the ball nestled in the back of the net. Despite protests from the Palace side the goal stood, and the management and players (plus presumably the bulk of the fans) were left "seething" about the decision. Like it or not though, play had to go on, and once again Palace got things underway.

Wasting no time Palace won a corner, courtesy of Danny, and Shaun played the ball in, Julian was on hand as the ball fell to him, and the ball was in the back of the net before the Leeds defence could blink an eye! Back on level terms, with very little time gone, and the match was even, and everything to play for again.

A corner to Leeds, when it looked as if Kewell had run the ball out, further incensed matters, but the chance was wasted, and things settled down once more. This did not last long though, and as Julian and Tommy bore down on goal Tommy unleashed a shot that somehow was "saved" by the keeper, even though the ball had clearly travelled a long way over the line, and should have been awarded as a goal. If ever there was a case for a "video umpire", this surely would have to be it, but the referee's decision stands, and we can rightly say "we wuz robbed"!

The whistle went for halftime, and though Venables got the round of "boos" from the crowd, they should have, perhaps, been saved for the matchday officials. To say that Trevor Francis would have been upset is probably just a little bit of an understatement.

The start of the second half saw Tommy play Julian in, but somehow he contrived to stand on the ball instead of firing at goal, and the chance was wasted. Trevor made a substitution, replacing the injured Kit with Danny Granville, before Tommy fired a shot straight at the keeper. Tommy then fired a shot over the defence, but the ball failed to drop in time, and went behind for a goal kick.

A series of bookings followed for the Leeds players, but Palace were unable to convert the possession into goals, and Leeds made a change of their own, James Milner replacing Paul Okon. Tommy shot wide and AJ forced a good save from Robinson before Aki Riihilahti just missed an opportunity to take the lead for Palace, failing to find the cross from Danny B by the merest of margins. A drive from Mills was well stopped by Cedric before a free kick to Palace saw Danny G put a shot over the wall that the keeper did well to hang on to.

Tommy got a cross in to Dele, but the shot went wide, then Smith repeated the act at the other end, his shot going wide also. Kewell repeated Dougie's effort against Liverpool, elbowing Danny G quite clearly, but this time, as seemed to be the case throughout this match, the referee took no action. Against Liverpool this act cost Dougie a red card, and presumably three matches in the near future.

The killer blow came from that man Kewell though, as he beat two defenders and curled the ball into the bottom corner of the net, and suddenly we were once again a goal down. Kewell was immediately replaced by Nick Barmby, and Palace made a change of their own, taking Danny B off for Dougie Freedman, in yet another attacking move by the home side. Tommy immediately found Dougie, but Robinson cleared the danger. A corner to Palace was skied by Tommy, and Leeds made a further substitution, this time replacing Smith with Teddy Lucic.

With time running out Palace piled forward, but Julian was denied by some good defence by our Premiership opponents. Without any further significant action the final whistle sounded, and with it our chance of progressing further in the Cup. As one says most seasons, this will give us the chance to concentrate on our League position, but one can't help the sour feeling in the mouth, that just maybe we deserved just a little better from this game, and a replay would have been the least we might have expected.

Ah well, here's to our inevitable promotion come the end of the season. Perhaps then we can play, and beat, teams such as Liverpool and Leeds every week!

Colin Pryce

Crystal Palace: Cedric Berthelin, Hayden Mullins, Darren Powell (Ade Akinbiyi 90), Kit Symons (Danny Granville 50), Tommy Black, Danny Butterfield (Dougie Freedman 79), Shaun Derry, Julian Gray, Aki Riihilahti, Dele Adebola, Andrew Johnson.

Substitutes not used: Alex Kolinko, Steve Thomson.

Leeds United: Paul Robinson, Michael Duberry, Ian Harte, Gary Kelly, Danny Mills, Lucas Radebe, Seth Johnson, Harry Kewell (Nick Barmby 75), Paul Okon (James Milner 60), Jason Wilcox, Alan Smith (Teddy Lucic 85).

Substitutes not used: Nigel Martyn, Matthew Kilgallon.

Attendance: 24,512

Referee: Mr D J Gallagher (Banbury)