Crystal Palace - 1 (Adebola 81.)
Stoke City - 0

This match took on importance when one realised that if Stoke City could take at least a point from the game Brighton would be automatically relegated, even if they managed to get maximum points against Watford, which was never a certainty. They achieved that quite easily, winning 4-0, but Palace needed this win just as much as Stoke needed the point, if for no other reason than to show support for our new management team. The "battle" for the final relegation position will have to be sorted out next week.

Stoke kicked off, and almost straight away Palace won a corner which Ben Watson took, Tony Popovic trying a shot on goal that the defence finally cleared. Tony was in action at the other end shortly after, as Chris Greenacre fired in a free kick, and as the ball swung up the far end of the field Tommy Black sent the ball into the centre, but no one had made a run into the area. Tommy put another cross in that Noel Whelan almost got to before Greenacre tried a shot that missed.

Noel was brought down by the defence, the free kick being wasted, and then Tommy tried a cheeky chip over the keeper from almost halfway, the keeper getting back in time to avert the danger. Dougie Freedman then passed the ball to Noel who played it on smartly to Danny Butterfield, his shot flying straight at goal, but the keeper did well to get behind the ball and save the situation once more. Noel then got his head to the ball, but Mark Crossley reacted well once again, this time tipping the ball over the bar.

Tommy had a shot charged down by the defence before Danny fired a shot that went just over the top of the bar. Alex Kolinko easily claimed a rare cross into the centre by Andrew Cooke for Stoke, before Alex almost presented James O'Connor with a chance on goal as he failed to clear the ball, stepping on the ball, and just managing to recover in time. Darren Powell went down injured and as he limped off the field Noel fired a shot just over the top of the target, and Palace sent Steve Thomson into the fray to replace Darren. This meant that Shaun Derry had to move back to a more defensive role, and unaccustomed as he was he performed well for the rest of the afternoon.

Hayden Mullins got a cross in that eventually found Tommy, but the keeper was up to the challenge, and Hayden, making tracks at the other end of the field, dealt with a free kick to Stoke. Greenacre then managed to get a shot underneath Alex, and as it looked destined for the back of the net Shaun got back in time to clear the ball from the line, though things looked a little uncomfortable there for just a moment.

Tony cleared a corner fired in by Clive Clark, whilst a the other end of the field Wayne Routledge found Tommy in space, and instead of firing himself, Tommy squared the ball for Danny to put in a shot that the keeper dealt with. Why, oh way, did Tommy not shoot? To add to our injuries woes Noel went down with what appeared to be more damage to his suspect ankle, and a stretcher was needed to take him from the field of play, Dele Adebola coming on to replace him.

Dele's first action was to find Dougie in space, but inexplicably he failed to get a shot away, and at the other end of the park O'Connor appeared through on goal, but he was ruled offside. Ben tried a shot from distance that gave the keeper little trouble, and though three minutes was added on for injury time there was little further action, and the players trooped off for the customary half time pep talks. Stoke had achieved the first half of their objective, and though Palace had seen the lion's share of the ball they had nothing to show for their dominance of the match. Perhaps things could change in the second half?

Palace got the second period of play underway and Wayne Thomas won a corner that Hayden cleared, before a free kick at the other end saw Crossley save a shot fired in by Tommy. Cooke then got a shot on goal that Alex did well to hold at the first attempt, and as the ball flew to the other end of the field Tommy got a cross in to Dougie, his touch found Ben, and the shot from Ben flew over the top of the bar with the Stoke defence motionless. Tommy fired a shot of his own that went well wide of the mark, and then Danny found Dele in the area, the defence doing well to dispossess the Palace man.

Alex cleared the ball from our area, his kick going to Dele, and in a series of moves the ball eventually fell to Dougie whose header was just tipped over the top of the bar. Dougie got another chance shortly after, but this time his goalward bound shot hit Ben and deflected away for a goal kick. Sometimes you can be just plain unlucky. Dele went down in the area, but the penalty appeal fell on deaf ears, and then Ben let loose a shot from a long way out that went well over the top of the bar, causing the Stoke keeper little concern. Stoke made their first change of the day, replacing Greenacre with Chris Iwelumo, but the action continued unabated at the other end of the park, with Wayne firing a great shot in that the keeper did well to first parry, then collect at the second attempt.

Alex easily dealt with a corner to Stoke, and as the ball came out to Steve a more and more desperate defence unceremoniously flattened him. The free kick was fired to Wayne, operating on the wing, and as he played the ball in to Tommy he also found himself brought down. Tommy picked himself up and quickly took the free kick, the ball finding Dougie who ran into the area and squared the ball across the face of goal. Dele was right there at the back post to simply tuck the ball into the back of the net, and finally the deadlock was broken.

Stoke reacted by making their final two substitutions, Paul Warhurst and Marc Goodfellow replacing Mark Williams and Cooke respectively. Three minutes again was added to this half of play, but despite a shot fired in by Dele, which gave the defence little trouble, there was little else of note to report.

Palace had ground out a well deserved win, and Stoke will be feeling just a little bit more nervous about the outcome next week, which could just see the end of their tenure in this Division, at least for the next season.

For certain, it will be either them or Brighton that will "take the plunge" next week; I will let you decide on which team you would prefer. I am just pleased that it is not Palace in this situation this time round!

Colin Pryce

Crystal Palace: Alex Kolinko, Darren Powell (Steve Thomson 24), Tony Popovic, Hayden Mullins, Danny Butterfield, Wayne Routledge, Shaun Derry, Ben Watson, Tommy Black, Dougie Freedman, Noel Whelan (Dele Adebola 39).

Substitutes not used: Lance Cronin, Danny Granville, Gary Borrowdale.

Stoke City: Mark Crossley, Wayne Thomas, Peter Handyside, Sergey Shtaniuk, Mark Williams (Paul Warhurst 86), Marcus Hall, Brynjar Gunnarsson, James O'Connor, Clive Clark, Andrew Cooke (Marc Goodfellow 86), Chris Greenacre (Chris Iwelumo 71).

Substitutes not used: Peter Hoekstra, Steve Banks.

Attendance: 16,064

Referee: Mr T Parkes (Birmingham)