Crystal Palace - 5 (Rizzo 38. Jansen 42. 49. Svensson 48. Lombardo 78.)
Norwich City - 1 (Roberts 36.)

Due to International commitments we had to wait two weeks for this match to come around, and considering our poor loss to Ipswich Town it was most likely a nervous wait at that. About the only consolation was that Terry Venables was able to get a fair amount of training done with what would be yet again a new look side. Considering the result of this match maybe we can live in hope that this is about the side that we will see for the rest of the season! If we can only manage to keep this kind of form going the outstanding games that we have yet to play could well see us challenging for the top positions. Once there it would appear that we have the squad ready for the Premiership.

The match got underway under the stewardship of Mr Bates, and the first few minutes saw the sides sorting themselves out. The first opportunity to score came from Matt Jansen, his shot going over the bar. Fan Zhiyi then managed to put Attilio Lombardo clear, but with no support available the ball went away for a corner. Those two chances were the sum total of the action for the first 20 minutes. Iwan Roberts then put in a first class header, the ball being cleared off the line by Jamie Smith. The next notable piece of play came when Nick Rizzo cleared the ball to an unmarked Jansen who, with only the keeper to beat, sent the ball wide to the right of the target. The Palace side now moved into overdrive, so the next news of note should hardly surprise any Palace supporter - the opposition scored. Darren Eadie made his way into the box, and then set up Roberts from only 6 yards out with the easiest of taps to open the scoring. To be fair Fraser Digby was given little chance to do anything other than watch the ball roll over the line. Was this going to be yet another of those days at the "office" when after doing all the hard work Palace were let down in the finishing stakes? The remaining time in the first half and the opening minutes of the second half were to produce probably our best stanza of play so far this season. Whilst the visitors were still celebrating their (undeserved) lead Rizzo decided to lead the charge in making our supremacy on the field count for something on the scorecard. The Norwich goal was only two minutes old when Rizzo got the ball, and after a short run he let loose a great shot from fully 25 yards out which eluded Andy Marshall and dropped just inside the post. Not content with being just even on the scoreboard, within 2 minutes Attilio, once more named the captain for the day, could well have scored himself, but gave the ball to the advancing Jansen who made no mistake this time, his shot simply placed in the back of the net to give us a well deserved lead. Despite a late rally by the Norwich side, who are noted this season for coming back quickly when things turn against them, the side held on and went to the break holding on to their slender lead. One can only imagine what Terry had to say to the side at the break, and though they would have been happy to have come from behind to hold the lead, he would have been urging them to go out in the second half and ensure that the points stayed at home. They did exactly this.

The second half was only three minutes old and it was again Jansen that looked like he would get on the scoreboard. This time though he slipped the ball to Matthias Svensson who deflected the ball past the despairing keeper. As if this was not enough to finish the chances of the visitors just two minutes later it was again Jansen that was on the mark. After making his way past the opposition he curled the ball into the corner of the net. 4-1, and the game was all but over. Jamie Smith once again came to the rescue of Digby with yet another clearance off the line, and after missing a chance for his hat-trick Jansen was replaced by Sasa Curcic. To really finish off the match the 79 minute mark saw Attilio play a neat one-two with Sasa and put the ball firmly into the back of the net.

There was to be no final attempt from Norwich to get anything further from the match, and one can only imagine that they were pleased to get on the bus to go home. A number of players were nominated for the man of the match award; Lombardo, Moore and Foster were those most mentioned; but it really must go to the man who set the Palace side on their way to this victory, Nick Rizzo.

Colin Pryce

Crystal Palace: Digby, Sun, Smith, Fan, Moore, Foster (Thomson 50), Lombardo, Rizzo, Svensson (Burton 79), Jansen (Curcic 68), Mullins.
Not Used: None.

Norwich City: Marshall A, Sutch, Kenton, Grant (Adams 15), Fleming, Fugelstad, Marshall L, Bellamy (Llewellyn 66), Roberts, Eadie, Brannan.
Not Used: Segura.

Attendance: 18,100
Referee: Mr A Bates (Stoke-on-Trent).