Barnsley - 1 (Shipperley 36.)
Crystal Palace - 0

For the first League match since 24 October last year Palace failed to score in a match, and for the first time in ages the match gave us very little to cheer about. A boo was reserved for Kevin Miller, and a bit of a cheer was evident for Neil Shipperley, but the team we put out on the pitch gave us nothing to get excited about, other than maybe the fine form of Alex Kolinko in keeping the scoreline down to the solitary goal. We will certainly need to sort a few things out before we make the trip to Bramall Lane next Saturday, as though relegation fears are still a fair way away the bottom of the table is starting to look ever closer.

This match kicked-off, and no more than five minutes had elapsed when new signing Gregg Berhalter brought down Isaiah Rankin in the penalty area, and the referee had no hesitation in pointing to the spot. Steve Chettle stepped forward to take the shot, and the travelling Palace fans breathed a collective sigh of relief as he sent the shot wide of the mark, and the score remained locked up at 0-0. Shipps then "scored", but the attempt was ruled offside; we breathed out once again.

Finally Palace managed to get the ball up the other end of the park, only for Julian Gray to unleash his shot wide of the post. Rankin then made another good run up the field, finding Lee Jones. Noticing that Alex had come well off his line he simply passed the ball wide of the keeper and Shipperley was on hand to score for the first time in ages, and the small crowd erupted, for this goal was allowed to stand.

Rankin and Martin Bullock both missed good opportunities to put the match beyond our control, and we went to the break fairly fortunate to be only the one goal down.

Alan Smith immediately replaced US player Berhalter with Tommy Black at the start of the second half, and he looked by far the best player on the pitch for the rest of the game, at least on our side. His first move towards goal saw his shot going over the top of the bar, and thoughts started to come to mind that, just maybe, we might stand a chance in the match after all.

Craig Harrison then hit a shot that was almost a repeat of Tommy's, then Clinton Morrison played a good move with Mikael Forssell that saw Miller make an excellent save to preserve the home team's lead. Unfortunately things were about to get much worse, not on the scoreboard but on the field of play.

A late challenge on Alex Neil by Harrison saw Craig being shown an immediate red card, and for the second match in a row we were forced to play the last part of a match with only 10 men on the field. As it happens we still managed to look the better of the two sides, albeit in a fairly poor match, and a final chance came our way when a free kick was awarded just outside the area. Tommy took the kick, but once again his shot went over the top, and apart from simply going through the motions the game was all but over. Those of the supporters that were waiting for Clinton's usual last minute face-saving equaliser are, alas, still waiting!

Let's hope that things improve before the match against Sheffield United, and we can ease our way into a little safer territory.

Colin Pryce

Barnsley: Kevin Miller, Carl Regan, Mitch Ward, Steve Hayward, Lee Jones (Alex Neil 72), Neil Shipperley (Mike Sheron 83), Martin Bullock (Darren Barnard 73), Chris Morgan, Chris Barker, Steve Chettle, Isaiah Rankin.

Substitutes not used: Leigh Walker, Brian O'Callaghan.

Crystal Palace: Alex Kolinko, Jamie Smith, Dean Austin, Hayden Mullins, Simon Rodger, Clinton Morrison, Julian Gray (Andrejs Rubins 74), Mikael Forssell (Ricardo Fuller 73), Gregg Berhalter (Tommy Black 45), Jamie Pollock, Craig Harrison.

Substitutes not used: Dougie Freedman, Steve Thomson.

Attendance: 12,909

Referee: Mr T Jones (Barrow-In-Furness)