Wimbledon - 2 (Shipperley 77. Agyemang 79.)
Crystal Palace - 2 (Fray 15. Johnson 71.)

Palace kicked off in this "away" game, and the first attack came from our "hosts", Neil Shipperley playing the ball in for David Connolly; but he snatched at the ball, and it was diverted for a corner. The Dons attacker really should have done better with that one - not that you will see any of the Palace supporters complaining.

Andy Johnson played well to set Wayne Routledge free, but the ball was claimed by Kelvin Davis in the home side's goal. Davis then needed to be alert to snatch the ball from an advancing AJ, and Danny Granville managed to be caught offside, just as the build-up was looking fairly good.

A free kick to the Dons was wasted, and shortly after Alex Tapp blasted the ball wide of the post when he should have, perhaps, taken just a little longer over the placement of his shot. Of course, a free kick had to be given at the other end, if nothing more than to even things out, and Julian Gray swung the ball in resulting in Dele Adebola heading just over the bar.

Wayne was proving to be lively, as usual, on the right wing, and a cross from him found Julian standing right on the penalty spot. He turned and swung the ball into the back of the net, and suddenly we found ourselves 1-0 up. Tony Popovic and Aki Riihilahti combined to deny Connolly, whilst at the other end Julian tried to get in the act once more, this time a stinging shot being deflected behind for a corner by the keeper. AJ hit the bar from the resulting corner kick, and Dele gave the keeper a bit of a fright before he was able to hang on the ball at the second attempt.

The next piece of action saw ex-Palace player Neil Shipperley force a fine save from Nik Michopoulos, who was once again standing in for the injured Alex Kolinko. A cross from the right, sent in by Wayne, was cut out by Davis, but as soon as he got to the same end of the pitch Wayne forced a corner, hitting the ball which deflected off Jermaine Darlington. The corner was taken by Julian, and a deft piece of play involving Wayne saw the ball reach AJ, whose header went just wide of the post.

Another corner for Palace resulted in the keeper just plucking the ball out of the air as Tony was about to claim a strike on goal, and the next action caught AJ offside. AJ was then tackled in the penalty area, and though he went down it was one of those 50-50 decisions that sometimes wins you a penalty and sometimes does not. This time it did not. Tony closed down the next attacking raid from the Dons, and the final chance of a reasonable half for the Eagles fell, alarmingly, to Shipperley, but he placed his free swing at the ball wide of the goalmouth, and Palace were able to leave the field still 1-0 up.

The first action of the second half was Hayden Mullins receiving a yellow card for a late tackle on Connolly. Julian then stood between Joel MacAnuff and his attempt to cross the ball into the danger zone, and then Hayden leapt well as the ball came in looking for Shipperley, our defender getting to the ball first. Danny G put in a good cross, but AJ was unable to control the ball, and it spun away for a goal kick. A ball fired into our area by Darlington was well claimed by Nik, whilst at the other end AJ turned provider, his centering shot finding Shaun Derry standing in the area. He turned and shot, but his attempt sailed away from the goalmouth and the Dons fans breathed a sigh of relief.

Shipperley was caught offside before MacAnuff made a great run straight through the defence, and with only the keeper to beat, he failed, and Nik held on to the shot. A cross in from AJ was forced behind by the defence before Dele could get on the end of it, and the resulting corner saw Dele merely head the ball straight into the arms of the grateful keeper. A corner to the Dons was well saved by Nik and he released AJ, his run ending with a shot that once again went straight to the keeper.

Wayne won a free kick when the Wimbledon defender had to resort to shirt pulling in an attempt to stop the youngster getting past him, but the attempt yielded no dividend. The goal kick by the Dons was punted long and far, finding Connolly at the other end of the field, but Nik was on hand to avert the danger. Dele then steered the ball in to AJ, but the pass came poorly, and once again was wasted by the Palace players.

Hayden did well to dispossess Connolly when he appeared clear through on goal, and as the ball made its' way up the other end it was Dele who got on the end of it and forced his way through the Wimbledon defence. Arriving with only the keeper to beat he let fly a strong shot that Davis could only parry. The ball fell nicely for AJ, and from only three yards out he guided the ball over the line to double the lead, and send us, surely, on our way to three away points. Don't be silly - this is Palace we are talking about!

Dele nearly got clear once more, but a determined defence robbed him of the ball at the last moment. A free kick to Palace was headed by Tony straight to AJ, but his header was well dealt with by the keeper before disaster struck. MacAnuff set up Shipperley, who this time managed to beat the offside trap, and the ball was placed well into the back of the net before Nik could get down to it. Suddenly it was 2-1, and we were looking shaky. Patrick Agyemang, who had been on the pitch all of about a minute then scored with his first touch of the game, his shot going straight past our stranded keeper to level the scores, and give the Palace faithful a great deal to worry about for the remainder of the game.

Connolly then came straight through the centre, and though his shot sailed into the back of the net he was adjudged offside, much to our relief. With only a few minutes to go Trevor Francis made our only substitution of the match, bringing Dougie Freedman (who is presumably carrying an injury else he would surely have been on the field from the start) on for Wayne, much to the dismay, one might mention, of the Palace supporters on hand for the match.

A shot from Shipperley was blocked on the line, and the rebound went straight to Connolly, who saw his shot suffer the same fate. The Dons then forced a late corner, but the attempt was wasted, and as the final moments ticked by the Palace fans were obviously distraught that once again the side had thrown away a two-goal lead. Though many called for Trevor to go, the incidents that brought about the two goals that the Dons scored could never have been controlled by the manager, and it appears silly not to get behind him, and the team - especially with the Brighton match coming next week!

Here's to a full house at Selhurst Park next week, and did anyone note that Brighton were two up before finally succumbing 4-2 this weekend? One feels sure that they will perform well against us next Saturday.

Colin Pryce

Wimbledon: Kelvin Davis, Rob Gier, Peter Hawkins (Patrick Agyemang 78), Darren Holloway, Mikele Leigertwood, Jermaine Darlington, Damien Francis, Joel MacAnuff, Alex Tapp (Trond Anderson 73), David Connolly, Neil Shipperley.

Substitutes not used: Paul Heald, Nigel Reo-Coker, Adam Nowland.

Crystal Palace: Nikolaos Michopoulos, Danny Butterfield, Danny Granville, Hayden Mullins, Tony Popovic, Shaun Derry, Julian Gray, Aki Riihilahti, Wayne Routledge (Dougie Freedman 87), Dele Adebola, Andy Johnson.

Substitutes not used: Will Antwi, Tommy Black, Alex Kolinko, Andrejs Rubins.

Attendance: 6,538

Referee: Mr Michael Pike (Cumbria)