Crystal Palace - 2 (Morrison 18. 90.)
Bradford City - 0
Needless to say this match was nowhere near as easy as the scoreline would initially suggest. For a fair period in the game we were obliged to stoutly defend a single goal margin, and often it looked as if we might relinquish that lead. That the side held on in such conditions is very admirable, though one must admit that a lot is owed to Matt Clarke in goal - his presence since his arrival, ironically from Bradford City, has completely transformed the current Palace side.
Palace got proceedings underway, and the first few minutes saw the ball making its' way from end to end as the teams slowly got the measure of each other. A good cross in by Jovan Kirovski, who was instrumental in all the goals at the weekend, was well dealt with by the visiting defence. A free kick to Bradford saw Palace defending in depth, then Gunnar Halle managed to get a shot in on goal, but his effort went wide.
The free kick stakes were evened up with a kick to Palace, but we just as easily wasted our chance. Clinton Morrison then set Jamie Smith free down the right. He crossed, but the pass was just too far over the head of Dougie Freedman to really be considered a chance. A move between Jovan and Julian Gray broke down under the resolute defending of the Bradford side, and it was starting to look as though it might be a long evening for all concerned. Robbie Blake sent in a shot that Matt held on to quite easily before Dougie nearly got through on goal, his effort just going astray at the last moment.
A free kick to Palace was advanced 10 yards due to dissent shown by David Wetherall, but this led to a most peculiar shot being taken at goal by Hayden Mullins, his effort from fully 50 yards out going well wide of the mark. It really was stretching the imagination to call it a "shot on goal" but such was the dearth of chances that any small attempt was being greeted with cheers from the partisan Palace crowd.
A free kick at the other end was well cleared by Jamie, and just moments later he was on hand at the attacking end of the field to let fly a strong shot at goal. Gary Walsh, the keeper, appeared to have the situation covered, but Clinton stuck out a leg, the ball took a big deflection, looped over the keeper's head, and it was suddenly 1-0.
Jovan then made a run on goal, but Robert Molenaar narrowly beat him to the ball. Shortly after this yet another official came to grief at a Palace game, Mr Warren limping off to be replaced by 4th official Mr Merchant.
Aki Riihilahti then made a good run towards goal, but he got the angle of the ball all wrong, and it safely passed by for a goal kick to Bradford. A shot by Eoin Jess limped tamely into Matt's arms followed by Julian forcing a corner at the other end from a mistake by Molenaar. The corner floated in but just missed the climbing figure of Tony Popovic, but it must be admitted that Bradford certainly had the height factor on their side in this match.
Hayden then blasted a shot over the top of the target, but now Bradford were starting to press for the equaliser. Blake put in a good shot that really tested Matt, but as has been the case in recent games our keeper showed he was well up to the task, and Bradford must have been starting to rue the fact that they had sold him to us in the first place. A final attempt by Simon Rodger was well backed up by Jovan, but the whistle went to signify the end of the first half, and though the faithful Palace supporters would have been pleased with the side's lead they would have been concerned at the tenacity of the visitors play in the last minutes leading up to the break.
The second 45 minutes was predominantly Bradford, with Palace making few chances of their own, seemingly content to sit back on their lead and allow the visitors to come at them. Hayden cleared an effort away from our lines before Gareth Whalley got the ball through to Ashley Ward whose header eluded Matt but hit the upright and bounced away to safety.
A corner to Bradford produced another good save from Matt, and then Wetherall headed the ball over the top of the crossbar. A free header to Andy Tod somehow eluded the back of the net, when it really looked as if he might score. The standard of play from the Palace side was seemingly getting worse, and it appeared as if it was just going to be a matter of time before Bradford got an inevitable goal.
Jess then got in behind Dean Austin, but his shot went across the face of the goal and harmlessly passed by for a goal kick to the Eagles. A good move down the left then had Clinton failing to get to the ball, and Steve Bruce then decided to substitute Jovan for David Hopkin in an attempt to try to bolster the midfield and stop Bradford pinching such easy yards. At about the same time Benito Carbone came on for Bradford before Tod once again tried his luck, his shot being well stopped by Matt again. He was certainly earning his money tonight, and if we could only hold on there is little doubt he would be named man of the match for the second game in a row.
Five minutes of "injury" time was added on, presumably just to prolong the agony for the Palace fans, who wanted nothing other than the final whistle to sound whilst they still held on to their slender lead. Gregg Berhalter was brought on, presumably in an attempt to simply run the clock down a little, but then a civil disturbance (normally noted as a couple of streakers) brought the match to a halt and thus added further time on to the end of the match. A couple of throw-ins to Palace helped wind the clock down a little more, and with only mere seconds on the clock Aki passed to Clinton ,who found himself standing all alone in the penalty area with the ball at his mercy. If nothing else he can be relied on to know what to do with such an opportunity, and he simply lifted the ball over the head of the advancing keeper and doubled our lead, and gave us a scoreline that makes it appear that Palace won so much easier than was really the case.
No matter. All true Palace fans will happily accept the second offering, and now we all look forward to the trip to Molineux, and hopefully three more points to take us to the top of the League, for the first time in a long while.
Colin Pryce
Crystal Palace: Matt Clarke, Dean Austin, Tony Popovic, Hayden Mullins, Jamie Smith, Aki Riihilahti, Simon Rodger, Julian Gray, Jovan Kirovski (David Hopkin 78), Dougie Freedman (Gregg Berhalter 90), Clinton Morrison.
Substitutes not used: Alex Kolinko, Tommy Black, Steve Thomson.
Bradford City: Gary Walsh, David Wetherall, Robert Molenaar, Andy Tod, Gunnar Halle, Gary Locke (Gareth Whalley 45), Andy Myers, Stuart McCall, Eoin Jess, Robbie Blake (Benito Carbone 83), Ashley Ward.
Substitutes not used: Aidan Davison, Lee Makel, Wayne Jacobs.
Attendance: 15,721
Referee: Mr M Warren (Walsall)