Crystal Palace - 2 (Morrison 8. Zhiyi 77.)
Bury - 1 (Morrison og 25.)

The crowd of just over 3,500 was to be expected really I suppose, considering that we went into this match with a 3 goal deficit to overcome. At the same time it must be appreciated that here was a chance to beat a team that is placed much higher in the League than us, and as usual I am amazed that more people did not turn out.

What Palace really required was a lot of goals, and quick goals at that. The first couple of minutes almost put us on the right track when Hayden Mullins had a golden opportunity, but his shot went astray. Fortunately only a few minutes later Attilio Lombardo sent in a cross that was met first time by Clinton Morrison and suddenly we were on our way. Things went fairly quiet for a while, just when the home faithful were starting to think that maybe, just maybe, there might be a slim chance of getting back into the match. All the good work though was brought undone half way through the first period of play when from a corner that looked to be going nowhere Morrison stuck out his foot to effect a clearance, the ball sliced off the side of his boot and evaded Fraser Digby to put Bury back on level terms for the game, and leaving Palace a massive task ahead of themselves.

Despite numerous chances it was not until fairly late on in the second half that we took the lead once more. Morrison was this time the provider, and Fan Zhiyi latched onto the ball and fired past Dean Kiely, who to that point had had a very good game. If nothing else that goal should have raised our stocks in China!

A win on the night, and a well deserved win at that, but a loss in the overall tie saw Palace once again exit from the Cup, so I guess we will all have to wait until the FA Cup comes around in January before we can once again start dreaming of winning a Cup final.

Colin Pryce

Crystal Palace: Digby, Austin (Linighan 27), Amsalem (Dyer 59), Zhiyi, Tuttle, Burton (Del Rio 69), Lombardo, Rizzo, Morrison, Jansen, Mullins.
Not Used: Thomson. Ormshaw..

Bury: Kiely, Daws, Lucketti, C. Swailes, Redmond, Barrick, Patterson, Johnrose (D Swailes 80), Matthews (Jemson 84), D'Jaffo (Ellis 74), Preece.
Not Used: Kenny. Linigan.

Attendance: 3,546
Referee: Mr R Furnandiz (Doncaster).