Crystal Palace - 1 (Morrison 37.)
Nottingham Forest - 1 (John 3.)

Following on from two losses in a row away from home, Palace would have been keen to gain maximum points from this match. The trouble was Forest were just as keen to get their season kick-started, so the game promised to be a tight affair.

Clinton Morrison and Dougie Freedman got the game underway. Aki Riihilahti got a touch on the ball, but only sufficient to send it out of play, and not goalward bound as he had wished. With only three minutes gone Nicky Summerbee managed to get past Craig Harrison, and his cross found Stern John, who simply headed the ball into the back of the net to get the visitors away to a great start.

Palace then wasted a free kick before another saw Jamie Smith blast the ball over the top of the bar. David Hopkin's long throws were causing Forest a few problems, but a resolute Forest defence was snuffing out the Palace attacking raids.

Both Aki and Clinton then had shots blocked when apparently clear on goal, then Forest counter-attacked, just failing to keep the ball in play. Clinton shot at goal once more; this time Jim Brennan was the player that deflected it for a corner.

Christian Edwards then sent a shot wide of the post, and Clinton was giving the Forest defence a torrid time, even this early in the match. Jamie got a touch on the ball, but his shot went over the top. Eugen Bopp then found the ball at his feet when he was no more than 1 yard out from goal. Somehow Alex Kolinko managed to save the goalward-bound shot, and if that is not worth a mention "in dispatches" then I do not know what is. Well done, Alex.

Jermaine Jenas made a good run down the left-hand side of the pitch before Craig Harrison repeated the feat on the other side of the pitch. Unfortunately his little by-play with Clinton went astray when he was unable to keep the ball in play. Gareth Williams saw his shot go wide of the post as Alex simply watched it go by and then Trevor Benjamin was just robbed of the ball at the last moment by Riccardo Scimeca.

The Palace pressure was starting to tell though, and on 37 minutes Trevor got the ball through to Dougie who laid it off to Jamie. Jamie in turn played it back to Trevor, who simply headed the ball down into the path of Clinton and he completed the move, heading the ball into the back of the net to bring Palace back to equal terms at 1-1.

A good cross in from Summerbee again found John, but the attempt was well cut out by Christian before it became too dangerous. Alex was then alert to stop any danger from a good looping cross from Brennan, and the first half simply came to an end without anyone being aware that the half was all but over. The players trooped off with the scores all level, and everything to play for in the second stanza of play.

Two substitutions took place at the beginning of the second half, one to each side. Gregg Berhalter came on for Christian whilst Tony Vaughan replaced Jenas. A good cross from Aki found Clinton, but his shot was well stopped by the keeper. Dougie then took on the defence, and as only he can, he rounded two defenders and shot well, the keeper parrying the ball at the last moment. Unfortunately neither Clinton nor Steve Thomson were able to get on the end of the rebound, and the chance went begging.

A free kick to Forest saw Summerbee shoot straight at Alex in goal, who merely had to collect the ball in his open arms, hardly moving a muscle. A corner to Palace resulted in Jamie blasting the ball over the top, and though Palace got further corners to follow this one they were all wasted. Jamie put another shot over the top before David repeated the feat, his shot not only going over but wide to boot. John then fired a shot at the other end but it was one of only a handful of shots from the visiting team.

A good save by Alex was needed to a shot from Scimeca, and this seemed to revive Forest a little, as they made him pull off another fine diving save to keep them out. Three minutes of injury time was added to the second half, but both teams seemed to have run out of ideas, and the time ran slowly out with neither side making an attempt to "steal" all three points from a game in which they both deserved to head off equal.

We now look forward to a trip to The Den on Boxing Day, and perhaps some revenge for the drubbing we suffered at Selhurst Park.

Colin Pryce

Crystal Palace: Alex Kolinko, Jamie Smith, Craig Harrison (Julian Gray 66), Christian Edwards (Gregg Berhalter 46), Kit Symons, Steve Thomson, David Hopkin, Aki Riihilahti, Dougie Freedman (Jovan Kirovski 70), Trevor Benjamin, Clinton Morrison.

Substitutes not used: Tommy Black, Cedric Carasso.

Nottingham Forest: Darren Ward, Jim Brennan, Riccardo Scimeca, Jon-Olav Hjelde, David Prutton, Nicky Summerbee, Eugen Bopp, Jermaine Jenas (Tony Vaughan 46), Matthieu Louis-Jean, Gareth Williams, Stern John.

Substitutes not used: Barry Roche, David Johnson, Jack Lester, Andy Gray.

Attendance: 15,645

Referee: Mr R Harris (Oxford)