Crystal Palace - 0
Sheffield United - 1 (Bent 45.)

Crystal Palace did everything to win this match other than score a goal, and by contrast United did little to instill confidence in their fans minds, other than the fact that ex-Palace favourite Marcus Bent did manage to get the ball in the back of the net. Alan Smith will be more than disappointed to witness a match where, once again, Palace failed to score, and he is sure to be looking for a way out of the current situation, and for someone capable of hitting the back of the net with more regularity.

Palace really did dominate the first half of this match, but still managed to go to the break with a deficit of a goal. Only five minutes from the start Julian Gray took a quick throw and Clinton Morrison only managed to put the ball over the bar. The next two chances fell to Clinton, the first being headed just over again and the next being well saved by Simon Tracey. Marcus Bent did manage to get a shot on goal, but his shot was a repeat of Clinton's, going fractionally over the top.

Neil Ruddock then saw his header float just over the bar with the keeper stuck on the line, his next shot blocked for a corner.

Paul Kitson then joined in the act, his shot being blocked on the line, and as he struck the rebound goalwards David Kelly somehow managed to get between the ball and the back of the net to head the shot to safety. Bent then shot wide, but unlike Clinton his third shot, on the stroke of half time, reaped due reward for his efforts. Kelly put in a good pass that Bent made no mistake with, placing the ball into the corner of the net with Stuart Taylor unable to make ground to cover.

United still appeared to be content to sit back on their lead during the second half, hitting us occasionally on the break. It took until nearly halfway through the period of play for Jamie Pollock's corner to be neatly played down into the path of Leon McKenzie, but he snatched at the shot and managed to simply put it over the top from only five yards out.

Both Bent and Kelly managed to go close to really sealing the game for United, but the major battle of the afternoon was still waiting to be played. Ruddock, who had already been booked in a tussle with Bent, was once again guilty of a dubious tackle on the visiting forward, and the referee had no hesitation booking him once again. Two yellows, of course, make a red card, and without even waiting for the card to be brandished Neil trudged off the ground, knowing full well that he was on his way for an early bath. Alan did later say that he could see the second booking coming, but having used all his allowable substitutions he was unable to bring Neil off. In a few weeks he will sit out a game, the most likely fixture being Birmingham on 14 October.

As these points continue to elude us, Alan is quietly working behind the scenes, and an improvement in our luck must be very close to being due.

Colin Pryce

Crystal Palace: Stuart Taylor, Dean Austin, Neil Ruddock, Julian Gray (Mikael Forssell 56), Craig Harrison, Fan Zhiyi, Tommy Black (Simon Rodger 73), Jamie Pollock, Clinton Morrison, Hayden Mullins, Paul Kitson (Leon McKenzie 45).

Substitutes not used: Alex Kolinko, Andy Linighan.

Sheffield United: Simon Tracey, Wayne Quinn, Lee Sandford, Shaun Murphy, Curtis Woodhouse, Bruno Ribeiro (Philip Jagielka 74), Paul Devlin (Colin Cryan 90), Bobby Ford, Gus Uhlenbeek, David Kelly (Andy Smith 90), Marcus Bent.

Substitutes not used: Jon Newby, Nicolas Webber.

Attendance: 17,521

Referee: Mr G Poll (Tring).