Leicester City - 4 (Oakes 19. 88. Marshall 53. Fenton 79.)
Crystal Palace - 2 (Thomson 61. Bradbury 86.)

So Palace make their exit from the Worthington Cup, but let's try to put things into context. In Leicester City they were up against a Premiership side who made the final of this competition last season. During the two legs of this match 12 goals were scored, and Palace scored five of them. Yes, that is five goals against a Premiership side! One of their goals came from a penalty, and though it may well have been warranted, without it maybe things might have been very different. To our side's credit they never gave up in this match, and with only a couple of minutes to go extra time was very much on the cards. The side would have returned home with their heads held high, and will now use the next six weeks or so in an attempt to consolidate their League position. After that the FA Cup will be upon us, and there will be another chance to shine against quality opposition. Well done all of those that pulled on a Palace shirt for us today.

This match was always going to prove difficult. Not only were the team away, but even a draw would have been unlikely to have earned us a place in the next round, due to the three goals that Leicester scored in the first leg at Selhurst Park a week ago. The teams took to the field, and a fairly poor crowd (for a Premiership side) settled in to watch a game that the home faithful would have been fairly certain was theirs for the asking. In the end they had to work pretty hard to make it theirs.

The first 15 minutes did not bring a lot of action to the fans, other than the two occasions that Emile Heskey took a tumble in the penalty box, once being "brought down" by Andy Linighan, and then a repeat performance in a brush with Fan Zhiyi. Martin O'Neill was on his feet in "outrage" at the two penalty appeals being turned down, and as is often the case at Filbert Street the strategy worked. 18 minutes gone, and once more Heskey went down in the area, this time following a tackle by Dean Austin. Despite the fact that this was described as the least convincing of the three appeals the referee gave in to the pressure and pointed to the spot. Stefan Oakes stepped up, and scored his first senior goal. He should have really converted this into his first senior hat-trick, but a miss later on saw him fail in this quest. Somehow Palace managed to hang on for the rest of the first half, though England International Heskey was showing his class, producing a fine save from Fraser Digby and then setting up Ian Marshall for another attempt at goal. Digby was again equal to the task, and the half time whistle sounded without further ado.

It was the same pairing that caused the damage early in the second half when once again Heskey set up Marshall for an easy strike on goal. At 2-0 down, surely the visitors were finished now? Not so, as was shown a few minutes later following a fine build up down the left side of the field. A good cross was flicked on, finding Steve Thomson on hand to volley in a magnificent shot. Yet another first senior goal had been scored, young Steve finally getting on the scoresheet. Shortly after it was the turn of Graham Fenton to be brought down in the area, and once again Oakes stepped up to take the spot kick. This time he put the ball well over the post, and the visiting supporters breathed a collective sigh of relief. 3-1 down would have surely finished it?

If that was to be the case then the match should have been all over a few minutes later when Fenton found himself with the ball which left him a relatively easy task to stretch the scoreline. For some reason though, the visiting Palace side did not seem to be content to let matters rest there, and suddenly Pegguy Arphexad found himself the busiest man on the pitch.

Dean Austin was the surprise aggressor, forcing the home keeper to make two fine saves before Clinton Morrison played the ball on for Lee Bradbury to once again pull a goal back. Only four minutes left on the clock, Palace now put everything into making the scoreline a repeat of that from the previous week. As usual, in these type of circumstances, it was the home side that made the most of their opportunity on the break when Oakes finally put the tie beyond doubt with his second for the evening with a well taken shot that left Fraser no chance, and the team no time to get back into the match.

Get back into the match they did not, and there was not really enough time for the sides even to kick off once again before the final whistle sounded, and Palace's Cup run was over.

Without the initial penalty would things have been different? Somehow one doubts it.

Steve Coppell will no doubt now be thinking about how to bring home the points from the Hawthorns on Saturday.

Colin Pryce

Leicester City: Pegguy Arphexad, Frank Sinclair, Gerry Taggart, Philip Gilchrist, Andrew Impey, Neil Lennon (Graham Fenton 60), Theo Zagorakis, Stefan Oakes, Robbie Savage, Emile Heskey (Stuart Wilson 60), Ian Marshall.

Substitutes not used: Muzzy Izzet, Matt Elliott, ? Hodges.

Crystal Palace: Fraser Digby, Andrew Frampton, Jamie Smith (David Woozley 46), Dean Austin, Andy Linighan (Lee Bradbury 60), Hayden Mullins (Steve Thomson 56), Jose Fumaca, Fan Zhiyi, Simon Rodger, Clinton Morrison, Matthias Svensson.

Substitutes not used: Chris Sharpling, Matthew Gregg.

Attendance: 12,762

Referee: Mr G. Poll (Tring).