Barnsley - 4 (Ward 7. 17. McClare 61. Fjortoft 71.)
Crystal Palace - 0

A warm day, particularly for the north of England at this time of the year heralded what was to be, for Palace, a very hot day on the field. With Walter Del Rio making his debut, and Marcus Bent in the starting line up for the first time this season, the faithful Palace followers had every reason to look forward to the match with some anticipation. It was 5 years ago that we last managed a win at Oakwell, little did they all know that barring a Cup fixture it is going to be at least 6 years before our chance comes again.

It took only 6 minutes for Barnsley to assert their authority on the game, a Darren Barnard cross being met by Ashley Ward who made no mistake heading the ball home. Jan Aage Fjortoft nearly made it 2-0 only a few minutes later, but his great effort just failed to make contact with a good cross. Not very long later though, Ward did indeed make it 2-0 when he received a cross from Martin Bullock and duly slammed the ball home past a stranded Fraser Digby. A free kick taken by Matt Jansen was met by Andy Linighan, but his header went wide. This was followed almost immediately by a long range drive from Marcus Bent, but the keeper, Lars Leese, managed an easy save. We should have known just a little later when Herman Hreidarsson obviously had his shirt pulled when trying to meet a Simon Rodger free kick that this was just not going to be our day. The referee simply waved play on! Digby then stole the show with what was probably the best save of the match when Bullock made the pressure for the home side count, but a final effort for the half from Bent was tipped over the bar, and we went to the break down 2-0, with little chance of staging a second half comeback.

The first part of the second half saw Palace really piling on the pressure, the best chance belonging to Del Rio who shot wide of the post. Another good save by Digby, this time from an attempt by Sean McClare, saw us just managing to stay in the game. Fan Zhiyi put through a great ball to Matt Jansen, but his shot also passed wide of the mark, and then the shot that really killed off the game came when Digby attempted a clearance that fell neatly for McClare to simply tap the ball into the back of the net. The match was really finished when, in the 70th minute, Fan was booked and the resultant free kick was quickly taken and Fjortoft was in the right place to convert an easy goal; 4-0 and still 20 minutes to play. Hayden Mullins had a chance to take something from the match when, with a gaping goal in front of him, he somehow managed to hit the ball straight to the keeper. Nick Eaden came close to making it 5-0, only a diving save from Digby stopping the shot. Attilio Lombardo was brought down on the edge of the area, but the free kick taken by Jansen never stood a chance, the keeper making another excellent save. It was just not going to be our day, and the result is, at best, just one to chalk up to experience. Perhaps we can reverse the result when they visit Selhurst Park later in the season.

Colin Pryce

Barnsley: Leese, McClare, De Zeeuw, Richardson, Moses, Appleby, Bullock (Marcelle 85), Sheridan (Eaden 66), Ward, Fjortoft, Barnard.
Not Used: Hendrie.

Crystal Palace: Digby, Zhiyi, Smith (Austin 27), Del Rio, Rodger (Rizzo 74), Linighan, Lombardo, Hreidarsson, Bent (Morrison 66), Jansen, Mullins.
Not Used: None.

Attendance: 15,597
Referee: Mr F Stretton (Nottingham).