Crystal Palace - 3 (Staunton 15. Pollock 83. Morrison 86.)
Tranmere Rovers - 2 (Koumas 13. Hill 26.)

Palace went into this match on the back of some very fine performances, but it had to be remembered that Tranmere also put up a good performance in the Cup, beating Leeds just recently. Of course, these teams will meet again in 10 days time, for the right to meet either Manchester United or Sunderland in the Cup, but the important thing today was the League points on offer. Tranmere reached the final of the Cup last year, but the most important thing today for both sides was to try to put a bit of daylight between themselves and those teams at the bottom of the table.

Alan would have been busy before the match emphasising that the good run of late really needed to be extended both in this match and against Stockport next week, and from there we could hopefully start to work our way up the table for the business end of the season. Of course, the win bonuses that the team has picked up recently would have added to the hunger to win, though it must be admitted that for a fair proportion of this match it looked as though Tranmere might actually steal the points.

The teams ran out on to the park to find a very disappointing crowd of only a little over 14,000 at the ground. Following results in the last few weeks one would really have expected a better crowd than this, so let's hope that the crowd now starts to pick up. The way the team is playing they certainly deserve a better attendance!

The early part of the play was disappointing for the home fans, with all the moves on goal appearing to come from the visitors. Paul Rideout and Steve Koumas missed good opportunities to open the scoring before they finally got something right. A good run up the field saw the ball switched up to Koumas. Playing the ball on to his right foot he sent in a low drive, which gave Alex Kolinko little chance of even reacting.

Three minutes later we were back on level terms with what can only be an unusual incident, to say the least, though it was a brilliant piece of foresight by on loan defender Steve Staunton. Steve, who has just extended his loan period for a further month, found himself the fortunate recipient of the ball from a shocking clearance by Joe Murphy, who had come out to the edge of his area. Standing fully at the halfway line, and just in front of the dugout, Steve looked up, assessed the situation, and sent the ball lobbing back over the keeper's head. The ball duly nestled in the back of the net, and the crowd had witnessed one of the more bizarre goals of any season.

Unfortunately, from a Palace point of view, Tranmere did not let the strike upset their rhythm too much, and it was not very long before they were once again back in the lead. Some 10 minutes had elapsed when a Koumas cross came into the area, and Alex, as is becoming his trademark, attempted to punch the ball away. It fell to Clint Hill, who was left with the simple task of placing the ball firmly in the back of the net from only five yards out.

Although there was still some 20 minutes left to run in the first period of play there was little action of note, and the teams traipsed off for their oranges, or whatever the nutritionists say they should have these days, and there would be no prizes for guessing what Alan was telling them. One doubts it could be repeated here, though John Aldridge was reported later as having simply told his side to go out there and finish the job, just simply win the match.

It was Palace though that came out the stronger, as is often the case with a team coming from behind, but despite pressure on the visitors' goal it started to look as if the breakthrough would never come. During the whole of the second half Tranmere only had one reasonable sniff at goal, with Scott Taylor guiding his header wide of the mark. But Palace was determined not to let their enviable record of late go too easily.

Tranmere once again cleared the ball from the danger area, but Hayden Mullins headed the ball back into the goalmouth. Jamie Pollock was only 10 yards out, and his drive goalwards gave keeper Murphy no chance at all, the result being we were back on level terms. The Palace fans had hardly resumed their seats from cheering Jamie's strike than they were back up again as Clinton Morrison sealed the points for Palace. Simon Rodger's free kick was headed on, and Morrison, lurking at the back post, was able to simply convert the ball into the back of the net.

We were ahead for the first time in the match. With only a few minutes to go the side seemed, for once, happy to control the ball and wait for the final whistle, and this they duly achieved to give us our third straight League win, and our fourth if you include the Cup match against Leicester. Hopefully all supporters will now look forward to the Stockport match, and though it will be nice to see Carlo Nash back at Selhurst let's hope that the team can keep this run going, by putting at least three goals past him!

Colin Pryce

Crystal Palace: Alex Kolinko, Dean Austin, Fan Zhiyi Hayden Mullins, Simon Rodger, Dougie Freedman (Wayne Carlisle 75), Clinton Morrison, Tommy Black, Julian Gray (Jamie Smith 71), Jamie Pollock, Steve Staunton.

Substitutes not used: Steve Thomson, Matthew Gregg, Craig Harrison.

Tranmere Rovers: Joe Murphy, Steve Yates, Gareth Roberts, Wayne Allison, Dave Challinor, Clint Hill, Andy Parkinson (Wayne Gill 66), Scott Taylor (Alan Morgan 75), Jason Koumas, Paul Rideout, Sean Flynn.

Substitutes not used: John Achterberg, Nick Henry, Reuben Hazell.

Attendance: 14,221

Referee: Mr J Brandwood (Lichfield).