Crystal Palace - 2 (Morrison 55. Smith 79.)
Rotherham United - 0

Palace entered this game on the back of three consecutive League wins, and a fourth would give them every chance to gain a promotion play-off position. It took a fair while to come, but eventually the team gained that win, and duly moved to 5th place in the League, albeit until such time as the other teams play their Sunday fixtures. This was yet another double for the team, and they now stand just five points off the lead. Surely that should be surmountable by the end of the season?

Following this match Trevor Francis has nothing but praise for the discipline of the current team, and as can be seen by the current notes in the matchday programme he is more than satisfied with the progress of his side. At the same time he is still looking to sign another couple of players to round out the squad.

The opening exchanges of the match produced very little goalmouth action, and apart from a chance that went over the bar for the visitors Palace really did not have anything that looked like going in. Curtis Fleming and Tony Popovic were linking well together, trying to get the team flowing forward, but so far all moves had come to a grinding halt on the four-man defence employed by Rotherham.

John Mullin made a good run forward for the visitors, but his joy was short lived as play was called back for an earlier infringement. A good link-up between Clinton Morrison, Simon Rodger and Danny Granville ended with Jovan Kirovski heading the ball over the top of the bar.

Alan Lee nearly got through our defence, but Kit Symons was on hand to avert the danger. Dougie Freedman managed to set up Hayden Mullins, but he was unable to control his pass, and the move broke down. Kit then got a pass through to Clinton, but as usual he was adjudged offside.

Jovan then got a header on goal from a corner, taken as always by Simon, and then a free kick was intercepted in defence by, of all people, Dougie, and his cross found Clinton. He, in turn, made a good run into the area, and had he looked up he would have seen Dougie in the middle with a good opportunity to score; but he did not, and his shot went weakly to a waiting keeper in the Rotherham goal.

A ball centered by Danny found Dougie lurking in front of goal, but his header went wide of the post. Dougie then turned provider for Clinton; his shot being blocked by a resolute defence. Mullin managed to get past Curtis, but he was quick enough to turn and tackle, winning the ball in the process. Clinton managed to run himself offside once more, and suddenly the first half was starting to disappear behind us, and neither side had anything to show for their efforts.

Kevin Watson and Mullin combined well for Rotherham, and the final shot from Mullin, though caught by Alex Kolinko in goal, was certainly going to cause problems for the Palace custodian. As he held the ball he was falling backwards, and just as he was about to cross the line he threw the ball away to save it going over the line. The fact that he had been fouled, causing him to fall in the first place, was neither here nor there, as if the infringement was not given then a goal would have ensued, and all our good work would have come to naught.

A corner at the other end for Palace went nowhere, and despite the fact that the side maintained the pressure on the visitors, we never really looked anywhere near scoring to break the deadlock. Right at the death Rotherham attacked, and Alan Lee fired a good shot at goal, which Alex did well to tip over the bar. Punching the resulting corner away from the danger zone saw the whistle sound for the end of the first period of play, and the teams went to the break all locked up at 0-0.

At the start of the second half Trevor Francis made two changes, bringing on Jamie Smith and Julian Gray for Jovan and Simon; in an attempt presumably to provide a bit of width to the team. Obviously they will both be used in wingback positions, with Julian on the left and Jamie on the right. Alex managed to cut out a dangerous ball that was headed for Richard Barker and then he had to be alert to stop a low ball fired in by Lee.

Suddenly, with 10 minutes of the second half gone, everything changed. Clinton managed to finally find a little space, and receiving the ball from Julian he turned on the spot and fired the ball quickly past the despairing Mike Pollitt, and finally we were on the board. Almost immediately after this Danny got another pass into Clinton, who was unfortunate enough to not quite get on the end of the ball and notch up his second.

Clinton then managed to get the ball deep into the corner, and got a pass through that eventually found Dougie at the far post. It nearly produced our second goal, but the defence, by weight of numbers, was able to rob Dougie of his chance. Lee was unable to get on the end of a long through ball at the other end. Aki, who was having a fairly quiet game, at least by his standards, got a good run with the ball, but once again he ran out of space due to the amazing numbers Rotherham always seemed to have in defence.

Tony then cleared a dangerous move from our lines, but a corner to the visitors gave us cause for momentary panic, but the ball was missed by everyone in our area, attack and defence alike, and we all breathed again. Hayden found Clinton in the area once more, and he turned again, this time the keeper saving the shot to spare any further blushes for the visiting side.

Andy Monkhouse came on for Lee, which seemed surprising as Lee had been by far the most influential player for the visitors; but then often managers have reasons which are beyond the comprehension of mere supporters such as ourselves. Kit cleared a dangerous throw into the area, and then Aki had to get back to clear our lines once again. Aki then played Dougie into a good position, but his pass to Clinton found the marksman once again offside, and the movement floundered.

Kevin Watson cleared a move started from deep in the Palace defence, but Dougie got the ball back and put in one of those crosses that just make you wish that someone had managed to get on the end of it. It seemed to hang in the goalmouth area for so long, and absolutely no-one could get anywhere near the ball. Julian played Clinton in once again, but his shot sailed high and wide of the mark; and whilst the scoreline remained at 1-0 there was always the chance that Rotherham might well come back and really ruin our day.

A good series of passes kept the opposition out of our area, and then Danny got the ball on the left of the goal. He fired in a great cross, and though Dougie really should have done better with his shot; he merely managed to hit the air, and not the ball; the ball kept running and Jamie managed to get in a sweet shot that sailed low into the back of the net, leaving the keeper nothing to do other than pick the ball up from the back of the net. 2-0, and one could say the game was all but over.

Curtis kept the opposition out at the other end, but a corner saw them "score" a goal that was disallowed, which tends to happen when you flatten the goalkeeper on the way to the goal line. What looked like a penalty for Palace turned out to be merely a goal kick to Rotherham, and though a number of commentators at the match reckoned that the referee changed his mind after pointing to the spot, there is no real evidence that supports their story.

Dougie was replaced by Trevor Benjamin, who is surely making his final appearance in a Palace shirt, as he is wanted back at Leicester City following his one-month loan due to an injury to Brian Deane.

One can only assume the replacement was made in an attempt to wind the clock down, as only a few moments later the final whistle went and Palace had achieved their aim, notching up their fourth consecutive League win. We now look forward to a 10-day break before we entertain Coventry City at Selhurst Park.

Colin Pryce

Crystal Palace: Alex Kolinko, Curtis Fleming, Kit Symons, Danny Granville, Tony Popovic, Hayden Mullins, Simon Rodger (Julian Gray 45), Aki Riihilahti, Jovan Kirovski (Jamie Smith 45), Dougie Freedman (Trevor Benjamin 90), Clinton Morrison.

Substitutes not used: David Hopkin, Matt Clarke.

Rotherham United: Mike Pollitt, Rob Scott, Chris Swailes, Martin McIntosh, Kevin Watson, Alan Lee (Andy Monkhouse 68), Stewart Talbot, Paul Hurst, John Mullin, Paul Warne, Richard Barker.

Substitutes not used: Mark Robins, Nick Daws, Ian Gray, Guy Branston.

Attendance: 17,311

Referee: Mr M Cooper (Walsall)