Rotherham United - 1 (Byfield 68.)
Crystal Palace - 3 (Black 11. 50. Gray 45.)

Rotherham were just ahead of us in the table going into this match, and had lost only one game at home so far this season. Palace set about changing this record, albeit with a somewhat depleted squad. Just what sort of force can the team possibly be once we get some of the injured players back? We can almost make up a whole team with those that are out at the moment.

Palace played in their black change strip for this match, and kicked the match off, immediately drawing a foul on Julian Gray, though the chance was wasted. Julian was then caught offside, though the through-ball from Dele Adebola gave a hint of things to come.

Alan Lee got the first shot on goal in anger, but Alex Kolinko in goal easily dealt with his attempt. Rotherham did win a corner almost immediately after, but the attempt from Martin McIntosh was cleared by the Palace defence. Robert Scott put a corner at the other end over the bar, but the next attempt was well cut out by Michael Pollitt in the home goalmouth.

Dele got the ball from a scramble by the Palace defence, and after making a great run down the right hand side of the pitch, brushing off challenges as he went, he centered the ball for Tommy Black to place the simplest of shots into the back of the net to open the scoring for the afternoon. 1-0 to Palace, and only 11 minutes had elapsed.

Another free kick to Palace saw Tommy hit the ball too hard, and too high to make any impact, then Dele nearly set Julian free, but once again he was marginally offside. Rotherham came close with a shot by Paul Warne, the effort being finally cleared on the line by Darren Powell. Another corner to Rotherham saw Chris Swailes head the ball just over the top, and McIntosh tried a header that Alex did well to cut out before danger became reality.

Dele made another great run, and though his cross to Tommy was blocked by the defence he got the ball back, and fired in a shot that was quite easily cut out by Pollitt, he actually made the save look easy. Kit Symons cleared the danger at our end, not for the first time during the afternoon, and a free kick to the home side was taken quickly by Nicholas Daws in an attempt to catch Alex napping; he will really have to get up a lot earlier to catch our keeper that way.

In separate incidents both Shaun Derry and Danny Butterfield went down injured, but fortunately both were able to carry on following some quick treatment on the pitch. John Mullin was then booked, but the Palace attackers wasted the free kick. Julian was brought down on his way towards the goal, but as the referee attempted to play advantage to Palace he noticed that both players were hurt in the tackle, and he reluctantly blew his whistle, just as it looked as if we might score again.

Mullin saw his attempt on goal go well over the top, and as time was added on for the stoppages Shaun set Julian free, and, in what was to be the last shot of the half Julian ran into the area, and unleashed an unstoppable shot that doubled our lead. Trevor Francis would surely have been pleased with his charges at the break.

Immediately following the resumption of play Mullin headed the ball into the back of the net, but before the celebrations could get underway for the Millmoor faithful the linesman signalled offside, and the status quo was the net result; Palace were still ahead by two, and looking for more. Pressure was mounting from the home side, but Palace were looking good on the break. Tommy got the ball in to Dele, but he took just a little too long with his shot, and the danger was averted. Tommy and Julian then combined in a runaway move, and as the ball came back to Tommy he fired a great shot into the top corner of the net, and suddenly we were 3-0 up.

Julian then turned into the villain, as he found himself booked for time wasting, but as Lee came charging through on goal Alex came out to snuff out the danger. Dele conceded a corner that McIntosh headed just wide of the mark, and Rotherham then made their first substitution, Daws making way for Stewart Talbot. Aki Riihilahti was then, somewhat harshly, found to have been guilty of handball, and a penalty was duly awarded. Lee stepped up to take the spot kick, Alex duly saved it, but Darren Byfield followed up the kick and buried the ball in the back of the net. To say that Alex was annoyed with the defenders would be a small understatement of fact.

Hayden and Byfield then both got booked for an altercation, and as the ball came back into our area Swailes headed the ball over the top of the bar. The ball was sent into the area at the right end of the ground for the Palace faithful, but the defence cleared the problem and Rotherham made another substitution, this time taking off Scott and bringing on Marvin Bryan. Alex saved the next corner, and Danny saw his attempt at goal also go over the top. Swailes then repeated the same feat at the other end, but Palace needed to be careful that they did not concede another, as that would make for a very nervous last few minutes.

Alex saved another couple of last minute attempts by the Rotherham forwards, and presumably in an effort to slow things down even further Palace sent Sam Togwell on to replace Danny. Without any further ado though the referee signalled time up, and Palace would have travelled back to London very happy with the three points in the bag. Let's hope that they can do the same on Boxing Day when they travel to meet League leaders Portsmouth. Considering our injury state this was a fine victory for the lads - helps make the Christmas break just a little better for all Palace supporters around the world.

Colin Pryce

Rotherham United: Michael Pollitt, Robert Scott (Marvin Bryan 77), Chris Swailes, Martin McIntosh, Paul Hurst, Paul Warne (Darren Byfield 45), John Mullin, Nicholas Daws (Stewart Talbot 65), Andy Monkhouse, Richard Barker, Alan Lee.

Substitutes not used: Ian Gray, Mark Robins.

Crystal Palace: Alex Kolinko, Darren Powell, Kit Symons, Gary Borrowdale, Danny Butterfield (Sam Togwell 90), Hayden Mullins, Julian Gray, Aki Riihilahti, Shaun Derry, Tommy Black, Dele Adebola.

Substitutes not used: Nikolaos Michopoulos, Gareth Williams, Gavin Heeroo, Will Antwi.

Attendance: 6,829

Referee: Mr P Joslin (Nottinghamshire)