Crystal Palace - 2 (Freedman 40. Popovic 43.)
Portsmouth - 3 (Foxe 68. Crowe 69. 72.)

Harry Redknapp brought a totally different Portsmouth side to Selhurst Park than we had ever seen before, and he proved that they now have the makings of a team that could well go on to the Premiership at the end of this season. Palace, however, showed some good signs, and things still look good for the same possibility if we can just find some way of not letting in such soft goals in the future. The day was absolutely glorious, but not exactly conducive to football, hovering around the 30-degree mark.

Dele Adebola joined the side during the week, and after playing in the Reserve fixture midweek he was rushed into the first team to replace Andy Johnson, who failed a late fitness test. Portsmouth had the honour of kicking off, and their first attacking raid was well cut out by Hayden Mullins. Linvoy Primus put in a good cross, but Vincent Pericard only managed to head the ball over the top from close range. A good link up from a number of Palace players saw a chance just missed by Danny Butterfield, and then a good cross into the centre just failed to find Dougie Freedman, who as usual was lurking in the attacking zone.

Darren Powell then cut out any danger from a forward move by Paul Merson, and the ball was floated in to Tony Popovic who just missed a chance at the far post. Two corners in a row for Palace saw the second one placed just wide from a header by Tony, and then Danny Butterfield did well to keep Matthew Taylor away from the goalmouth. Matt Clarke cut out a cross in by Pericard but the next move gave a few hearts a bit of a flutter as Nigel Quashie managed to get a shot in, but the chance was wasted and the Palace faithful breathed a collective sigh of relief.

A free kick saw Tony get the ball through to Dele, but Shaka Hislop, in goal for the visitors, managed to just collect the ball from the feet of our new attacking member. Merson got the ball through to Pericard, but his fresh air shot brought a few guffaws from the crowd.

Darren cut out the next attacking move from our visitors, but suddenly he was off the pitch seeking medical attention, and we continued for a short while with only 10 men on the pitch. Matt cut out a cross into the centre, and to even things up Trevor Francis sent Dean Austin on to the field.

Portsmouth made a substitution of their own, replacing Pericard with Svetoslav Todorov, who immediately made a good move up the field, being denied by Hayden before he could unleash a shot at goal. A good touch on by Dougie nearly found Dele on the goal line before Taylor got a clearance in for the visiting team.

Shaun Derry took a free kick to Palace, but his shot hit the defensive wall and fell kindly for the keeper, who made no mistake clearing the ball up the field. Merson put a good looking shot into the side netting, and Dele got a head to a cross that went just over the top of the target. Steve Thomson made a mess of the ball when he was well placed in the area before Todorov was caught offside when almost through on goal.

Dougie then produced one of those magical pieces of football that one waits almost all season to see. Picking up the ball well out he made a run through at least four defending players before unleashing a shot that the keeper obviously did not expect, and the ball ended up neatly buried in the back of the net. This was more like the Dougie we have come to know and love.

A couple of minutes later Palace won a corner and it was the scorer from the Bradford game that leaped highest and hit the ball into the back of the net, and suddenly the scoreline read 2-0, with Tony on the sheet. Another free kick for Palace saw Tony almost get through again, and without further ado the half came to an end, and the Palace fans would have been more than pleased with the performance so far. Perhaps we should have all gone home then?

Palace got the second half underway, and it was Dele that got the first shot towards goal, his effort going just wide of the post. Portsmouth immediately made their last two substitutions, which seemed a little rash given the hot weather, and the possibility of a further injury, but as things transpired it was a master move. Dele put another shot wide, and then a free kick to Palace saw the danger being cleared from the Pompey area.

Dougie put in a good cross to Dele, but the defence beat him to the ball. The clearance though fell straight back to Dougie, and his shot flew just wide of the upright. A clearance by Tony brought about a corner for the visitors, but a double save by Matt, from Taylor and Merson, cleared the danger once again. Aki Riihilahti fired a shot goalwards, but the ball went just over the top, and then Palace won another free kick when Dougie was sent crashing to the ground by Hayden Foxe. Primus then fouled Danny Butterfield, and the referee awarded the first yellow card of the afternoon. The free kick was crashed against the post, had it gone in it would, most likely, have signalled the end of the afternoon's efforts for Portsmouth. The near miss though simply seemed to galvanise the team, with Quashie hitting a shot that fortunately went straight to Matt in goal.

A deliberate handball by Arjan De Zeeuw brought the second yellow of the afternoon's proceedings, but the resulting free kick was very poor from Palace, and Portsmouth came away with the ball once more. Dele was caught offside, but it was from this point that the game suddenly took a turn for the worse. Todorov hit a ball that went straight to Matt, but he was only able to parry it around the post for a corner, and as the cross came in it appeared that the whole of the Palace defence just stood still and watched it. Foxe rose above the crowd and had the simplest of tasks to nod the ball into the back of the net, and suddenly the game was back on.

From the restart of play Pompey picked up the ball again, and this time Merson and Taylor combined to feed substitute Jason Crowe at the back post, who made no mistake simply placing the ball into the back of the net. From a dominant position Palace were suddenly on the back foot, and the game was all level. Three minutes later it was no longer level though, as Crowe once again was on hand to finish off a simple move, and for the first time in the game we were behind.

Curtis Fleming was brought on for Shaun and a few minutes later we made our final substitution, bringing Steve Kabba on for Steve Thomson, giving us a potential three-man attack. Taylor hit a shot that went over the top of the bar and then Steve managed to get behind their keeper, but his shot that surely was a corner was ruled a goal kick, and the chance was lost. Deon Burton hit another shot for Pompey over the goal, and then Aki cut out the next promising move for the visitors.

A couple of passes into the centre were too high for our attacking force, and then Dougie was presented with a chance to salvage something out of the game, but his shot flew high, wide and not so handsome over the top. So, a game which we seemed to be totally in control of suddenly got away from us, and one can be assured that Trevor will make some changes for the match next week against Coventry City. Somehow that would be a shame, because the nucleus of this team looks more than capable of defeating most sides on the day, and it will just be a matter of a little self-confidence to get the team on a roll. Perhaps Andy Johnson might come back into the side, and open his account for the Eagles?

Colin Pryce

Crystal Palace: Matt Clarke, Danny Granville, Hayden Mullins, Tony Popovic, Darren Powell (Dean Austin 21), Danny Butterfield, Shaun Derry (Curtis Fleming 73), Aki Riihilahti, Stephen Thomson (Steve Kabba 78), Dele Adebola, Dougie Freedman.

Substitutes not used: Tommy Black, Alex Kolinko.

Portsmouth: Shaka Hislop, Arjan De Zeeuw, Hayden Foxe, Linvoy Primus, Matthew Taylor, Gary O'Neil (Jason Crowe 45), Nigel Quashie, Carl Robinson (Richard Hughes 45), Deon Burton, Paul Merson, Vincent Pericard (Svetoslav Todorov 22).

Substitutes not used: Yoshikatsu Kawaguchi, Mark Burchill.

Attendance: 18,315

Referee: Mr S Dunn (Avon)