Blackburn Rovers - 1 (Frandsen 86.)
Crystal Palace - 1 (Mullins 55.)

Another match where only a point was gained when all three could well have been ours. One must admit that Steve Coppell would have been pleased with the point going in to the match, but after coming so close to winning the game he may well be considering what "might have been".

Palace went into the game determined to stifle anything that Rovers could send their way, and to a great extent they succeeded in their quest.

During the first half all the play was one way, with the action taking place in and around our goal mouth. A mixture of determined defending and, admittedly, poor finishing by the home side left the match scoreless at the break.

The second half brought about a change of fortune and Fernando Der Ornelas was unlucky to see his shot hit the bar following a great run at the goal. Ten minutes into the half though a good move down the left found Hayden Mullins in the centre. Although his first attempt was blocked he managed to scramble the rebound past the keeper and into the net.

Suddenly, against the run of play, we were 1-0 up, and despite the fact that Rovers had no less than 20 or more shots at goal, with Matt Jansen having at least half of them, Palace held on until there were only four minutes left on the clock.

At that point, and with the Blackburn home crowd booing the side's performance, it was Per Frandsen who scored his first goal following his move from Bolton when a corner was only poorly cleared by our tiring defence. So, a point gained or two points lost? Make up your own minds, but I would have happily settled for a point before the game, as I feel sure most would. Let's hope it is one more point towards eventual promotion, and not one more point in our fight against relegation!

Colin Pryce

Blackburn Rovers: John Filan, Callum Davidson, Christian Dailly, Simon Grayson, Craig Short, Per Frandsen, Lee Carsley, Jason Wilcox, Damien Duff, Nathan Blake (Ashley Ward 62), Matthew Jansen.

Substitutes not used: Egil Ostenstad, David Dunn, Martin Taylor, Alan Kelly.

Crystal Palace: Fraser Digby, Jamie Smith, Dean Austin, David Woozley, Hayden Mullins, Jamie Fullarton, Steve Thomson, Matthias Svensson, Andy Linighan, Simon Rodger, Fernando Der Ornelas (Chris Sharpling 88).

Substitutes not used: Andrew Frampton, James Hibburt, Sean Hankin, Matthew Gregg.

Attendance: 15,819

Referee: Mr M Fletcher (Warley)