Crystal Palace - 1 (Linighan 90.)
Burnley - 1 (Cooke 45.)

Despite all the hype this match very nearly got away from us. Following on from the 2-2 draw last week at Turf Moor we were looking forward to an improved display from the lads, something that must surely come very soon. Only 10 minutes had passed when Tommy Black got on the end of a good ball, his shot hitting the outside of the post. Despite mounting pressure on the Burnley goal the visitors were content to hit us on the break, and Andy Cooke wasted a good chance to open the scoring, hitting his shot straight at Alex Kolinko in goal, the keeper managing to fingertip it over the bar.

Mikael Forssell put his header wide of the mark and Simon Rodger managed to completely miss the target. It looked as if the sides were going to go to the break all locked up at 0-0. Of course, the visitors had other ideas, and a corner taken by Micky Mellon found Cooke, whose header flew into the back of the net to make it 1-0.

Palace applied the pressure in the second half with firstly Hayden Mullins heading wide and then Rodger heading the ball over the keeper only to see Steve Davis clear off the line. Glen Little hit the post at the other end and then Davis would have scored but for a brilliant save from Alex.

Throwing caution to the wind Palace then sent everyone forward, but it was rapidly becoming evident that once again we were not going to score in a match, and all the hard work from the first leg was going to be wasted. Having made our final substitution bringing on Andy Linighan for Craig Harrison it appeared we were devoid of ideas, and as injury time wound past the two-minute mark the team made one last effort. Julian Gray made good ground down the left hand side before crossing into the centre. The ball managed to elude Nikoloas Michopoulos in goal, and it was Andy who was right there to place the ball in the back of the net from only two yards out. With the goal came full time, and we were now faced with 30 minutes of extra time to sort out the tie.

Palace wound down the pace of the game, being fully aware that a draw with a score of less than 2-2 would take them through to the next round. Despite this Mikael and Tommy Black both had shots saved by the keeper. Burnley now needed to apply the pressure, and in the dying moments Gordon Armstrong appeared all set to score. The shot was amazingly saved by Alex in goal, and the away goals rule took us through to the next round.

Colin Pryce

Crystal Palace: Alex Kolinko, Dean Austin, Fan Zhiyi, Neil Ruddock Craig Harrison (Andy Linighan 83), Simon Rodger, Jamie Pollock, Hayden Mullins (Julian Gray 76), Tommy Black, Mikael Forssell, Richard Harris (Clinton Morrison 60).

Substitutes not used: Steve Thomson, Wayne Carlisle.

Burnley: Nikoloas Michopoulos, Mitchell Thomas, Gordon Armstrong, Steve Davis, Ian Cox, Glen Little (Paul Cook 81), Kevin Ball, Andy Cooke, Micky Mellon, Andy Payton (Ronnie Jepson 82), Graham Branch (Phil Gray 84).

Substitutes not used: Paul Crichton, Bradley Maylett.

Attendance: 5,720

Referee: Mr M Halsey (Welwyn Garden City).