Watford - 1 (Helguson pen 58.)
Crystal Palace - 5 (Johnson 9. pen 44. Routledge 39. Gray 73. Freedman 90.)

Crystal Palace travelled to Watford looking to continue their impressive away form, and they certainly managed to do that with their biggest win of the season. Palace have now scored more goals than any other Division One team on their travels; so all we need to do now is to get our home form up to the same standard.

Watford got the game underway, and the first action saw Neil Shipperley try to set Andy Johnson free, but Marcus Gayle cleared the danger for the home side. Gary Borrowdale conceded a free kick that was put behind for a corner by Julian Gray, and as the corner came in Thomas Myhre punched the ball clear, only to see Paul Devlin fire the ball back with only the woodwork there to save Palace. A free kick to Palace saw Danny Granville fire a shot goalwards, when really he should have passed the ball to others, and shortly after Neil was caught offside.

Danny Butterfield cleared a free kick from our lines, and suddenly the action was at the other end. Julian sent a cross in that Ben Watson fired back into the centre, and as the ball came to Neil he headed it back across the goal where AJ had the simple task of heading the ball into the back of the net.

Gavin Mahon fired the ball into our area, where Thomas cleared the lines, with a little help from our stalwart defenders. Danny Granville conceded a corner that fell to Neil Cox, but he put his shot over the top of the bar, and the Palace faithful breathed a little easier once more. Neil got a cross in that AJ almost got to, the keeper just beating him to the ball before a free kick to Watford saw Devlin fire the ball just inches wide of the post. Heidar Helguson was then caught offside before a corner to the home side saw Cox fire the ball straight to Thomas in the Palace goal.

Another free kick saw Thomas make a good save low down to his right, and then AJ was fouled just outside the area, Julian firing the ball straight into the defensive wall. Ben failed to connect with the ball when it came to him from a corner kick, and almost immediately after Lee Cook hit a shot wide, and high, over the top of our goal. Mark Hudson, our on-loan signing from Fulham, cleared the next dangerous move as Devlin attempted to cross the ball into our area, and the next move saw Scott Fitzgerald send a weak shot straight to Thomas.

A back pass to the keeper almost saw AJ beat Lenny Pidgeley to the ball, and then Aki Riihilahti did well, finding AJ, who blasted his shot wide of the mark. Mark went off for treatment, but was back shortly after, and AJ was caught offside before Jamie Hand sent in a shot that Thomas held on to quite easily. A corner to Palace almost produced a goal as Danny G headed the ball back for Aki to head straight at the keeper, who turned it round the post for another corner.

Though that chance was wasted it was not long before Wayne Routledge found the ball when in good position, and he made no mistake blasting the ball straight at the keeper, and as Pidgeley was unable to hang on to the ball our second was posted with about 5 minutes remaining until the break. Gavin Mahon sent a shot just wide of the post before Cox sent one high and wide as a corner was floated in to him.

Cox was given his marching orders for a foul on AJ, and though many thought it was just outside the area the referee pointed to the spot, and AJ duly converted the chance. Suddenly we were in cruise mode, as we were 3-0 up, and the opposition was down to 10 men for the rest of the match. A yellow card was awarded to Cook before the half came to an end, and one can be sure that Iain Dowie would simply have been asking for more of the same in the second half.

Palace kicked off the second stanza, but as usual the first action saw Thomas doing well to hang on to a shot fired in by Devlin. Watford had made two changed to their line up, bringing on Micah Hyde and Lloyd Doyley for Hand and Cook. A free kick to Watford saw Helguson head the ball goalwards, but this time it was an easy save for Thomas and he released Wayne who got a good cross in that just eluded Neil. Mark was penalised for a foul on Fitzgerald, but as it was in the area the second penalty was awarded for the match, and Helguson duly sent Thomas the wrong way, and Watford had a bit of a lifeline at 3-1 down.

AJ sent a tame shot straight at the keeper before an appeal for a penalty was turned down by the referee as Fitzgerald was deemed to have dived as Danny G scrambled the ball clear from a dangerous move. Julian tried to find Gary, but his pass had just too much weight on it to find the youngster, and Palace made their first change with Shaun Derry taking the place of Ben. A poor clearance by the Watford defence saw AJ get the ball through to Julian, and he dummied his way past his marker before blasting the ball past the hapless keeper to restore our three goal advantage, with the scorecard reading 4-1.

Dougie Freedman came on for AJ, so there was to be no hat trick today from our leading scorer, and Shaun was immediately booked for a clash with Helguson. The resulting free kick was headed straight to Thomas in goal, and Palace decided to make their final change, bringing Tommy Black on for Wayne. The keeper managed to keep out the next effort, this time a rasping shot from Dougie, and Watford made their final change, bringing ex-Palace player Bruce Dyer on for Fitzgerald.

Mark managed to keep Dyer out, and Dougie was caught offside. Gayle fired a shot over the top of the bar, and Danny B was booked for a foul on Devlin. The resulting free kick was well dealt with by Thomas before Shaun fired a shot wide of the post at the other end. As time ran out, and most considered leaving, there was still more action to come. Neil passed the ball to Dougie, and he managed to get past the keeper and simply tap the ball into the back of the empty net. 5-1 finished the rout for the day, and it was a pleasant trip home for players and supporters alike, assuming one supported Palace and not Watford.

It is now back on the road once more to travel to the rearranged match at Valley Parade next week, to face Bradford City. Let's hope for a similar result!

Colin Pryce

Watford: Lenny Pidgeley, Neal Ardley, Neil Cox, Marcus. Gayle, Jack Smith, Paul Devlin, Gavin Mahon, Jamie, Hand (Micah Hyde 45), Lee Cook (Lloyd Doyley 45), Heidar Helguson, Scott Fitzgerald (Bruce Dyer 81).

Substitutes not used: Wayne Brown, Alec Chamberlain.

Crystal Palace: Thomas Myhre, Danny Butterfield, Mark Hudson, Gary Borrowdale, Danny Granville, Wayne Routledge (Tommy Black 80), Aki Riihilahti, Ben Watson (Shaun Derry 68), Julian Gray, Andrew Johnson (Dougie Freedman 75), Neil Shipperley.

Substitutes not used: Cedric Berthelin, Tom Soares.

Attendance: 15,017

Referee: Mr H Webb