Crystal Palace - 2 (Freedman 33 pen. Routledge 89.)
Walsall - 0

Walsall came to Selhurst Park desperate to gain some points over the chasing relegation pack, and though Palace's season is all but over as far as gaining a promotion play-off spot this match was seen as an opportunity to get the side back into winning ways.

Walsall got the match underway, and the first action saw Tommy Black make a run towards the visitors' goal, Ian Roper getting a last ditch tackle in to halt his run. Jorge Leitao then snapped a shot at goal that went wide before Pedro Matias played a good ball in that Alex Kolinko did well to come out and claim before Carl Robinson could pounce. A corner to Walsall was well cleared by Gary Borrowdale, then Leitao got the ball through to Matias, but Alex once again beat him to the ball.

Dougie Freedman made a good run that was halted by Matt Carbon, then Dele Adebola and Tommy combined well before Dele sent a shot wide of the goal. Jamie Smith fired a cross in that Dele just missed before Julian Gray shot very wide of the post, when he perhaps should have done a little better. Julian won a corner, but Palace wasted the opportunity, and we entered a period of end-to-end play, with neither side gaining the advantage.

Jamie then went down injured, and it would appear that his short season may well be over, as he was stretchered off, Steve Thomson coming on to replace him. A free kick to Walsall was pumped in just too long for Leitao, then a free kick to Palace saw Martin O'Connor just beat Dougie to the ball. Dele then got a good ball through to Dougie, and in a flash he had it in the back of the net, only to see the flag raised to signify that Dele was offside.

Moments later Dougie was brought down by Ian Roper, and the referee had no hesitation in awarding a penalty, which Dougie stepped up for, and placed the ball the opposite side of a diving James Walker in goal. 1-0 to Palace, surely this was time to search for a second and put the game beyond the visiting side? Dele then shot wide and Carbon was booked for a foul on him, the free kick going nowhere.

Alex had to be alert to punch out a chance taken by Vincent Samways, and at the other end Dele rushed in to the danger area, only to be stopped by a good tackle from Carbon. Gary managed to get a good cross in to Dougie, but his shot went just over the top of the crossbar, then Leitao snapped a shot at our goal that was well stopped by Alex. Julian then fired a shot that went straight to the keeper, and though three minutes of injury time was added there was little further action, and the half came to an end.

Trevor Francis would have been pleased that we were holding a slim lead at the break, but would have been upset that we had been unable to increase the lead. Perhaps we could remedy this in the second half.

Palace got the second half underway, the first action seeing Danny Granville do well to cut out an attacking move involving Darren Wrack and Leitao. Robinson was booked for a foul on Dele, and Dougie gave way to Wayne Routledge; yet another injury!

Leitao then hit the post with a shot that left Alex stranded before a corner was won by Palace that saw Wayne hit a poor shot at goal. Roper was then guilty of handling the ball, and Palace suddenly had a second penalty for the match. Tommy stepped up to take it, and much like his previous attempts this season he fired his shot in easy proximity of the keeper, and the chance was wasted. Surely that must be the last corner he takes this year?

A corner resulted, and Julian was fouled by Robinson, the referee having no hesitation in showing an immediate red card for the offence, Walsall now being down to 10 men. Shaun Derry took the free kick, but his shot hit the defensive wall, and Walsall made a substitution of their own, Junior taking the place of Matias.

Junior was very quickly into the action, only quick thinking by Kit Symons foiling his chance, before he got another chance, this one ending up in the back of the net only for him to find that he had been ruled offside moments before. Palace made their final substitution, replacing Tommy with Will Antwi, and many in the crowd were left wondering about the manager's thought patterns behind the move. We had forced Gareth Williams back from Colchester, where he had scored six goals from eight games, and we had left him sitting on the bench for the whole afternoon, taking off a striker and replacing him with a defender in Will. Perhaps we can just console ourselves with the fact that one should never question the wisdom of the manager, as things transpired his moves proved correct for the side on the day. Of course, as the official sponsor of Gareth we would all like to see him play; perhaps that spectacle will come at Brighton?

Steve got a shot on goal that was deflected behind for a corner, the chance being headed clear by Zigor Aranalde. Dele headed a chance wide before Leitao sent a poor effort straight to the waiting Alex in goal. Shaun got the ball through to Dele, and only the heroics of the keeper denied the big striker the honour of getting his name on the scoresheet. Wayne made a good forward move before O'Connor brought him down crudely from behind, the offence earning him a second yellow card (an automatic red), and suddenly Walsall were down to 9 men on the field. At this rate, there would be nobody left soon!

In the time left surely Palace would be a certainty to score another goal? Julian was caught offside, then Junior nearly squared the match up, forcing a great save from Alex, tipping the ball just over the bar. Gary and Dele wasted good chances at the other end before Dele fired a cross in that Wayne hit first time, straight past Walker and into the back of the net. Finally it was 2-0, and we could breathe just a little easier.

Within what seemed moments the final whistle sounded, and though this was not exactly the best performance we have seen from the side it was a workmanlike showing, and to grind out three points when not playing at your best is surely a sign of a reasonable squad. Now it is off to the seaside for our trip to sunny Brighton. Can we repeat our 5-0 drubbing now that Sir Steve Coppell is in charge. Personally I would settle for a small win, or perhaps a draw, but please, not a loss!!

Colin Pryce

Crystal Palace: Alex Kolinko, Danny Granville, Kit Symons, Jamie Smith (Steve Thomson 22), Julian Gray, Gary Borrowdale, Shaun Derry, Danny Butterfield, Tommy Black (Will Antwi 74), Dougie Freedman (Wayne Routledge 54), Dele Adebola.

Substitutes not used: Cedric Berthelin, Gareth Williams.

Walsall: James Walker, Darren Bazeley, Matt Carbon, Ian Roper, Zigor Aranalde (Chris Shuker 80), Darren Wrack, Vincent Samways, Carl Robinson, Martin O'Connor, Pedro Matias (Junior 64), Jorge Leitao.

Substitutes not used: Gavin Ward, Tony Barras, Steve Corica.

Attendance: 19,102

Referee: Mr C Penton (Sussex)