Grimsby Town - 1 (Smith D 45.)
Crystal Palace - 0

With both sides desperate for the points this was always going to be a difficult match, and so it proved. Both sides lined up with loan players, in Grimsby's case Mark Nicholls from Chelsea, and in our case Mikael Forssell from Chelsea and Ashley Cole from Arsenal.

Both sides were unable to make many raids on goal, and thus there is not a lot of action to report.

Mikael Forssell came close when, cleverly turning in the area he looked certain to score, only for his shot to sail wide. He then had a great chance on goal, but quick action from Steve Livingstone foiled the action.

Just as the match appeared to be heading for a 0-0 halftime break Nicholls found himself free on goal, but a challenge by Clinton Morrison brought him down. Though the incident was no worse than that which saw Andy Linighan lying prone in the area only moments before, the referee pointed to the spot, leaving Steve Coppell fuming. David Smith stepped up, and duly converted his first goal of the season.

The second half saw only a couple of clear chances, one for each side. Ashley Cole made a good move down the field before firing in a pin point cross which Forssell met with a beautiful header. Amazing reactions from Danny Coyne saw the ball tipped over the bar.

The final chance of the match came about a quarter of an hour before the finish when Daryl Clare met a Paul Groves flick on from an Alan Pouton cross. His shot went wide of the mark, and the home faithful were forced to cling on to their slender lead.

That Palace could not capitalise on this will be a source of worry for Steve, and with a visit from Manchester City coming up next week, he will be looking for answers sooner rather than later.

Colin Pryce

Grimsby Town: Danny Coyne, John McDermott, Mark Lever, Steve Livingstone, David Smith, Kevin Donovan, Stacey Coldicott, Paul Groves, Kingsley Black, Daryl Clare, Mark Nicholls (Alan Pouton 58).

Substitutes not used: Adam Buckley, Steve Croudson, Ben Chapman, Danny Butterfield.

Crystal Palace: Fraser Digby, Dean Austin, Andy Linighan, Fan Zhiyi, Ashley Cole, Wayne Carlisle, Hayden Mullins, Simon Rodger, Nick Rizzo (Leon McKenzie 63), Clinton Morrison, Mikael Forssell.

Substitutes not used: Steve Mautone, Andrew Martin, Andrew Frampton, James Hibburt.

Attendance: 5,421

Referee: Mr T Bates (Stoke-On-Trent).