Crystal Palace - 2 (Freedman 82. Forssell 84.)
Gillingham - 2 (Saunders 43. 59.)

On a freezing cold day nearly 19,000 fans turned out to watch what turned out to be a fairly disappointing match. The pitch did not lend any assistance to either side, and the first half produced some very scrappy play. Just when it seemed as if the two sides would go to the break all locked up at 0-0 a corner was awarded to the visitors that was taken by Nicky Southall. The cross appeared pretty innocuous until Paul Shaw kicked, and missed the ball, but his action was sufficient to put Alex Kolinko off, and Mark Saunders helped the ball across the line. So, we were 1-0 down, and based on the performance we really did not deserve any more.

Surprisingly Gillingham came out for the second half still looking the stronger of the two sides; obviously Alan's half time pep talk made no difference to the players. A couple of missed chances to the Gills led to a free kick, and this time Southall once again found Saunders who managed to get the ball past the home custodian. Although there was some 30 minutes to run in the match it appeared as if our chances were dead and buried.

The match meandered on until there was just 10 minutes left to run, and though Dougie Freedman appeared to be making some impression there was no hint of the things that were to come. A cross from Andrejs Rubins, who worked tirelessly out on the left side of the field, found Dougie lurking, and he simply headed the ball home off the inside of the post.

Two minutes later we were back on level terms. Freedman this time played provider for Mikael Forssell who hit a sweet shot from just outside the area, and the last few minutes saw a continued assault on the visitors goal.

A final winning goal would not come though, and both sides had to settle for a point. Gillingham will feel the more aggrieved at this result, as they certainly had the better of the play for most of the match. Palace meanwhile will be looking for a vastly improved performance on Wednesday against the might of Liverpool. A performance such as this one will not protect their slender one goal lead for very long, though it is interesting to note that the Liverpool supporters are only tipping a 2-0 win to their side.

This will be just enough to take them to the final, and Alan Smith will have to find someway to counter the threat of their International line-up. Good luck Palace!

Colin Pryce

Crystal Palace: Alex Kolinko, Jamie Smith, Dean Austin, Neil Ruddock (Dougie Freedman 60), Simon Rodger, Clinton Morrison, Tommy Black, Steve Thomson (Jamie Pollock 56), Mikael Forssell, Andrew Frampton, Andrejs Rubins (Julian Gray 82).

Substitutes not used: Wayne Carlisle, Matthew Gregg.

Gillingham: Vince Bertram, Roland Edge, Paul Smith, Barry Ashby (Marcus Browning 89), Nicky Southall, Carl Asaba, Mark Saunders, Adrian Pennock, Chris Hope, Junior Lewis, Paul Shaw.

Substitutes not used: Mark Patterson, Ty Gooden, Marlon King, Andy Thomson.

Attendance: 18,823

Referee: Mr H Webb (Rotherham)