Crystal Palace - 4 (Riihilahti 52. Morrison 68. 90. Freedman 85.)
Stockport County - 1 (Fradin 62.)
Last season we played Stockport in our final game, and only a last minute strike by Dougie Freedman saw Palace survive for another term in Division One. Could he score again today?
It was going to take a while for us to find out, but the first thing that was noticeable was that Steve Kember got a rousing ovation as he walked to the dugout. That this was in recognition of his efforts in keeping us in this Division is not disputed, and one can only say that it was very well deserved.
So, collectively, Palace fans held their breath as a new season, which had seen a win away from home, got underway at Selhurst Park.
The first action saw Steve Thomson fouled by Colin Woodthorpe, but despite Julian Gray's efforts the ball came in too close to Lee Jones, who made a simple stop. Stockport then gained the first corner of the match, but Leo Roget's header went narrowly over the top.
Dougie Freedman then found himself with a bit of space to work in, but his shot was not on target, then a forward move by the visitors came to naught as they found their move bogged down in midfield. Thomson then let rip a shot on goal that was just tipped over the bar by the keeper, and the resulting corner saw Jones just scramble the ball to safety.
A pass from Dougie to Clinton Morrison found the latter narrowly offside, but then a free kick to Stockport saw a shot taken by Karim Fradin that went round the "wall" and missed the target by no more than a yard. The free kick was then compensated by the award of a kick to us following a push in Dougie's back, and we managed to win a corner from the following action. Needless to say the corner came to nothing, but at least we are starting to look dangerous on some of these set pieces.
A corner to the visitors saw a header by Mike Flynn, which flew straight into the grateful arms of Alex Kolinko in goal. Simon Rodger was then caught offside. A good cross from the impressive Julian Gray saw Roget force the ball away from the line, and though most of the chances seem to be in our favour Stockport are still looking dangerous on the break. A shot from Jason Van Blerk went well wide of the mark, before a spell of play went Stockport's way ensuring that all Palace players got to work on their defensive skills to save the situation.
Ali Gibb then made a great run down the right hand side of the field, and his pass was inch perfect for Karim Fradin to send goalwards. He hesitated though, and Alex managed to advance enough to put him off his shot. A good save by Alex from a corner saw Palace consolidate a little, but it was not sufficient to force a goal, and the teams had to make do with a 0-0 scoreline, and one assumes the usual berating from the respective managers.
The second half began with a bang, as first Clinton and then Steve were astray with their shots. It didn't take long though for the pressure to tell, and the half was but a few minutes old when Dougie made good ground before crossing to Clinton. Holding up the ball well, he passed straight into the path of the advancing Aki Riihilahti, who made no mistake with his first time shot. 1-0, and it was nearly two when a free kick taken by Dougie sailed just over the bar.
Chances to Dougie and Julian Gray went astray before suddenly the wheels fell off the bandwagon. A free kick to the visitors was taken whilst the home side were still disputing the call, and Fradin ghosted in to score a simple header and bring the scores back to level pegging. Palace will now need to ensure that they come back quickly.
Despite Fan Zhiyi pushing up more and more the next chance came, once more, at the other end. Gibb took a corner and Roget got to the ball unmarked. Fortunately for the Palace faithful the ball fell straight to Alex, who took the ball cleanly, much to the relief of all. Palace then broke down the left hand side of the pitch, and following a nice one-two between Dougie and Clinton it was Clinton that pushed the ball under the despairing keeper to make it 2-1.
Gregg Berhalter then replaced Dean Austin, and almost immediately Julian won a corner. The resultant cross went just wide of Dougie, who must have been wondering by now if he was going to get on the scoresheet today.
Worse was to come for Stockport though. Aki got free, and Aaron Wilbraham was adjudged to have thrown a punch, and was duly sent off, leaving the visitors with only 10 men on the pitch for the final 15 minutes or so of the match. Simon Rodger then hit a free kick that hit the upright when it really deserved better, before a shot by Fradin was well kept out by Alex. Finally a good move down the left saw Clinton square the ball to Steve in the middle. Dougie ran the overlap, and a pass saw him fire the ball home from the acutest of angles, and the scoreline now read 3-1.
Having scored his goal Dougie went off and our sponsored player Andrejs Rubins took to the field. It will be hard for him to get a starting place if the team continues to play like this. Clinton then held the ball up well once again, and finally passed to Aki, who was unfortunate not to get a second goal for the afternoon.
The fourth goal did come though, almost immediately following this move. A corner to Palace found Clinton in the centre of the park, and he chested the ball down, worked his way round his marker and neatly slotted the ball home to register his second of the day, and Palace's fourth. As was the case with Dougie he was then brought straight off, and Tommy Black took his place.
Despite 6 minutes of added time there was no further scoring, and the side went off to a rousing ovation from the partisan crowd. Everyone will now look forward to Tuesday's action in the Cup against Orient.
Colin Pryce
Crystal Palace: Alex Kolinko, Jamie Smith, Dean Austin (Gregg Berhalter 70), Fan Zhiyi, Hayden Mullins, Simon Rodger, Aki Riihilahti, Julian Gray, Dougie Freedman (Andrejs Rubins 85), Clinton Morrison (Tommy Black 88), Steve Thomson.
Substitutes not used: Matthew Gregg, Wayne Carlisle.
Stockport County: Lee Jones, Mike Flynn, Leo Roget, Colin Woodthorpe, Ali Gibb, Rob Clare, Jason Van Blerk (Peter Clark 80), Petri Helin (Scott Taylor 60), Karim Fradin, Shefki Kuqi, Aaron Wilbraham.
Substitutes not used: Andy Dibble, David Smith, Glynn Hurst.
Attendance: 15,760
Referee: Mr R Harris (Oxford)