Crystal Palace - 4 (Walton og 25. Morrison 31. Kirovski 34. Freedman 45.)
Crewe Alexandra - 1 (Ashton 41.)

Following a fortnight off the park, and the saga of our "missing" manager continuing on, this match was always going to prove just what the team was made of. The supporters around the world could not make up their minds if Palace would continue to dominate their matches or if they would fall in a heap. Fortunately for all of us it proved to be the former, and we now all look forward somewhat eagerly to the next stages of this exciting season, no matter who may be in charge.

The matchday programmes of late have been insisting that spectators remain seated at all times, but with the crowd singing "Stand up if you hate Steve Bruce" it will be interesting to see if Simon Jordan bans everyone from the next game! It was certainly hard to see those that remained seated, including the few visiting Crewe supporters that made the long journey down south.

Crewe nearly opened the proceedings when Rob Hulse sent in a cross that was just missed by young Dean Ashton. Clinton Morrison then hit a shot at the other end that was well dealt with by the keeper, and though he spilt the ball Julian Gray sent the resulting volley wide of the mark. A cross then from David Hopkin saw Aki Riihilahti send a header just wide once again before Dougie Freedman was well dispossessed by Steve Foster when it looked as if he might get clear on goal.

A couple of corners followed for Palace, who were by far the more dominant team, and from the second of these Clinton placed the ball once again wide of the post with the keeper wrong-footed. Clinton then blasted the ball goalward bound, but Dave Walton deflected it for a corner, which was interesting in light of things that were about to happen.

Simon Rodger then took a snap shot at goal, but Ademola Bankole was once again equal to the task, but his clearance was none too convincing. Aki and Jovan Kirovski then combined well to put David in for a great shot that the keeper just managed to get a hand to, deflecting the ball away from the danger zone. The keeper easily dealt with a shot by Jovan, then Dougie fired in a great cross that Walton met first time with his head. Unfortunately for him, and the Crewe faithful, his shot flew straight into the back of the net, giving the keeper little to no chance of even reacting. 1-0 to Palace, courtesy of an own goal.

Clinton then nearly made it 2-0 when the keeper saved well from a shot that almost looked as if it would go wide of him, before Crewe made an early substitution, Rodney Jack coming on for Phil Charnock. Dean Austin then put in a great pass that Clinton managed to get on the end of at the edge of the area. Turning on the spot he let fly a wicked shot that flew straight into the top corner of the net, once again giving the keeper little chance of any reaction time.

A dangerous free kick to the Crewe team was easily cleared by the Eagles defence, then it was back to the Palace show, with Jovan scoring following a pass from Clinton. As was becoming usual the keeper stood little chance of stopping this one either, and it was starting to look as though Palace would score a hatful of goals.

Of course, nothing is ever that cut and dried with Palace. Hayden Mullins managed to foul Hulse, and Ashton converted the resultant free kick into the back of the net.

So, the score was 3-1, and there was only a few minutes to go before the break; surely Palace would manage not to let their lead slip any further. It was obvious though, even at this stage, that Matt Clarke was suffering from some sort of back injury, and it was beginning to look as if he might not be able to continue.

In the dying moments of the half Julian worked the ball for a final corner. Hayden sent in a cross that was cleverly touched on by Jovan, and it was Dougie that got on the end of the action, steering the ball once more into the back of the net.

There was literally no time for any more, and the whistle went to signify the end of the action for the time being. Steve Kember and Terry Bullivant would have been more than pleased with the form of their players, and would have been asking for more of the same for the second stanza of play.

The immediately noticeable change at half time was that Alex Kolinko came on for the injured Matt, let's hope that things are not too serious. Neil Sorvel hit a speculative shot over the top of the bar, and Clinton returned the compliment at the other end.

Steve Thomson came on for Aki early on in the second half, and we all hope that is not another injury for the side, but purely a tactical move.

Julian snuffed out a good chance for the visitors, when he was awake enough to clear the immediate danger, keeping Hulse away from the final ball.

Dougie then fired a shot over the top of the bar, but the indications were already there that Palace had really shut up shop for the day, and they looked content to sit back on their laurels, and prepared to soak up any pressure that Crewe could bring to bear. A wild shot from Jack flew amazingly wide of the mark, then David hit a shot just over the top, he really must learn to keep those shots down a little.

Geoff Thomas and Ben Rix joined the play for Crewe, and though ex-Palace player Geoff got a good round of applause it was good to see that he was unable to score on the afternoon. Dougie played Clinton in once more, and though his shot went over the top once more Dario Gradi must have been getting concerned about how easily the Palace attack was getting in behind his players.

Christian Edwards appeared in difficulty for a few moments, but recovered quickly enough to allay any fears that the Palace faithful may have had that he was seriously injured. Though he has not been mentioned anywhere in this report he had played a more than competent game, and will certainly be a good addition to the squad should he decide to remain permanently with the Club.

Alex punched the ball away once more before Julian was unlucky not to make it 5-1 when his shot went just wide of the post. Surely one of these days he is going to manage to bury one in the back of the net - perhaps it will be when we seriously need it. Clinton was then caught offside, and Dougie saw his shot go wide once more, and with only two minutes added on for injury time Palace were home and hosed.

A solid performance then from the whole team, and the short trek to Priestfield Stadium should see a fair number of Palace supporters on hand to, hopefully, help the team gain another three points in their quest for automatic promotion. Based on their performances of late they certainly deserve to be candidates, at least, for one of the top two berths.

Colin Pryce

Crystal Palace: Matt Clarke (Alex Kolinko 45), Dean Austin, Christian Edwards, Hayden Mullins, Julian Gray, Aki Riihilahti (Steve Thomson 58), Simon Rodger, David Hopkin, Dougie Freedman, Jovan Kirovski, Clinton Morrison.

Substitutes not used: Gregg Berhalter, Tommy Black, Steve Kabba.

Crewe Alexandra: Ademola Bankole, Steve Foster, Shaun Smith, Dave Wright, Dave Walton, David Brammer (Ben Rix 77), Phil Charnock (Rodney Jack 29), Neil Sorvel (Geoff Thomas 77), Kenny Lunt, Dean Ashton, Rob Hulse.

Substitutes not used: Clayton Ince, Efe Sodje.

Attendance: 21,802

Referee: Mr R Oliver (Sutton Coldfield)