Crystal Palace - 2 (Forssell 49. Mullins 63.)
Blackburn Rovers - 3 (Dunn 12. 16. Taylor 45.)

Having managed 12 matches without a defeat the bubble was bound to eventually burst. That the side made an incredible comeback in the second half is great credit to them, and on another day, with a little more luck, we would have deservedly got away with a point. As it was we were always going to find it hard to get anything out of this match. As early as the 12th minute the referee decided that Fan Zhiyi had deliberately fouled Mark Hughes, awarded a penalty and showed Fan a red card! That the incident occurred outside the penalty area is neither here nor there, the incident led to the penalty, and the penalty led to the opening goal. It was David Dunn who took the spot kick, and this time Alex Kolinko guessed wrong and the ball was in the back of the net.

Whilst Palace were still trying to sort out the positional play of the ten remaining men Blackburn quickly hit a second goal. Our old nemesis Marcus Bent sent in a great cross from the wing which Neil Ruddock only managed to half clear. The ball fell kindly to Dunn who made no mistake burying the ball in the back of the net. We seem to have played the last two League matches a man down for a significant period of the game, but when Simon Rodger was kicked in the head and had to go off for stitches the home supporters were livid that the ref did not take any sterner action, and level up the playing field.

To compound the home side's misery, and that of the faithful Palace supporters Gary Flitcroft sent in a ball that Martin Taylor managed to get on the end of, whilst the Palace players appealed for offside, and he looped the ball over the head of the advancing Alex to make the scoreline read 3-0 at half time.

Surely there was now no way back for the Palace heroes?

The second half opened, and it would have been hard to believe that Palace were the depleted side. I wonder if Blackburn made the mistake of resting on their laurels? A dangerous ploy when Palace have been in such devastating form of late.

Within a few minutes we had managed to pull one back. Clinton Morrison got away from the defence and pushed the ball into the path of the rapidly advancing Mikael Forssell. His shot went straight into the back of the net, and the game was alive again. A poor clearance by Jason McAteer saw Hayden Mullins pounce on the ball which he fired into the back of the net from 15 yards out. There was almost 30 minutes left and Blackburn was looking lost.

Feeling the pressure Blackburn made a couple of substitutions, and managed to arrest the situation. Matt Jansen looked particularly lively and tied the defence up quite well. With a few minutes remaining in the game Alan Smith put Dougie Freedman on for Neil Ruddock, so Palace supporters had the luxury of watching three recognised strikers in action, but it was to no avail, and the game petered out before we could get back on level terms.

Alan will have been pleased with the second half performance, but his thoughts on the dismissal of Fan may well not be repeatable. We now all look forward to the trip to Priestfield Stadium on Boxing Day.

Things are now starting to look a little grim for some of the matches early in the New Year. Following two players sent off in consecutive matches we are likely to find ourselves without both of them at the same time - meaning two top class defenders out at the same time. Alan's squad principles will be sorely tested at that time, particularly considering that the bans could well be served when we need all hands on deck for the Cup matches.

Colin Pryce

Crystal Palace: Alex Kolinko, Dean Austin, Fan Zhiyi, Hayden Mullins, Neil Ruddock (Dougie Freedman 84), Tommy Black, Simon Rodger (Craig Harrison 45), Jamie Pollock, Mikael Forssell, Clinton Morrison, Andrejs Rubins (Jamie Smith 21).

Substitutes not used: Steve Thomson, Wayne Carlisle.

Blackburn Rovers: Brad Friedel, Henning Berg, Stig-Inge Bjornebye, Martin Taylor, John Curtis, David Dunn, Garry Flitcroft, Marcus Bent, Mark Hughes (Matt Jansen 64), Damien Duff (Alan Mahon 64), Jason McAteer.

Substitutes not used: John Filan, Christian Dailly, Craig Hignett.

Attendance: 15,010

Referee: Mr P Joslin (Newark).