Crystal Palace - 0
Millwall - 1 (Harris 18.)
Palace got the game underway, kicking towards the Holmesdale Road end, and following a break created by Andy Johnson it was Danny Butterfield who swung the ball towards the goalmouth, the Millwall defence managing to scramble the ball to safety. Neil Harris tried a shot at goal that went well wide of the mark before Michael Hughes got clear, cutting the ball into the area, only to see Dennis Wise head the ball clear. Palace won a corner that Kit got to first, his shot being cleared off the line by Marvin Elliott. A couple of free kicks followed to Millwall, but then Neil Shipperley knocked the ball down into the path of Michael, his shot being well taken by Tony Warner in the Millwall goal.
Wayne Routledge was caught offside, and shortly after disaster struck for Palace. The ball bounced around dangerously close to our area, and a good through ball found Harris, who was able to beat Thomas Myhre to the ball, and knock it into the back of the net to open the proceedings for our visitors. Within moments Elliott passed the ball back to his keeper, but AJ nipped in, and the keeper brought him down. Penalty, shouted the Palace faithful, and the referee agreed. AJ stepped up to take it, the keeper guessed correctly which way to dive, and the chance went begging. I hate to say it, but we need Dougie Freedman on the pitch for moments like that.
Somehow Warner managed to get himself booked during all those incidents, but following his fine save that was probably the least of his worries. Palace's best chance followed almost straight after all this, as Wayne fired a corner in, Neil saw his shot headed off the line by the defence, and Kit tried an overhead kick that bounced back off the bar. Elliott was the next name in the book as he brought young Wayne down as he looked set to sail towards the Millwall goal area, and Palace won a corner courtesy of a good move by Julian Gray. The chance was once again wasted, and then Michael was caught offside as Kit played the ball through to him.
Wayne tried a cross into the area, but Warner managed to beat Neil to the ball, and Michael played the ball neatly to Danny, his shot being tipped over the bar by the ever-alert keeper. Neil Chadwick got clear on goal, but fortunately for Palace the flag was up, and play came to a halt once more.
Despite two minutes of added on time there was little further action, and the sides came off with Palace still facing a 1-0 deficit, though presumably Iain would have told them to carry on as they were, surely one of the many chances created should have gone in?
Millwall got the second half underway, and the first action saw Michael fire a corner into the area, the defence once again clearing away any danger to the Millwall goal. A strange incident then ensued, as Peter Sweeney took out the corner flag under pressure from our players, and he threw the flag into the stand. The referee ordered him to retrieve, and replace, the flag, and then booked him for his trouble.
Aki Riihilahti saw his cross just fail to find AJ before Julian found Wayne out on the wing, his cross being cut out by Tim Cahill. A corner to Palace was punched clear by Warner, and an appeal for another penalty was turned down, as the players, and the crowd, saw Matt Lawrence handle the ball. Obviously the referee did not see it, and unfortunately that is what counts. Wayne then cut in and fired a shot on goal that was cleared by the defence, which was looking very solid for our visitors, and then Gary Borrowdale fired a cross in, Michael headed the ball down, and Warner pulled off a brilliant save, tipping the ball over the top of the bar.
Millwall made a change to their line-up with Kevin Braniff replacing Harris before a free kick to our visitors saw Thomas largely untroubled in the Palace box. Warner was well beaten as the ball hit the bar once again, this time from a header fired in by Wayne, and Millwall made a further change, this time Aboubacar Fofana replacing Sweeney. Neil headed the ball wide of the mark, and Palace made their first change with Tommy Black replacing Aki. As this happened Millwall made their final change bringing the huge Bob Peeters on for Nick Chadwick.
Michael got the ball into the penalty area and AJ tried an overhead kick that went just wide of the post, and Palace made their second, and as it transpired, final, change of the afternoon, with Dougie replacing Gary for the final six minutes. A corner to Palace was once again wasted and a free kick for a foul on Dougie by Fofana saw Michael bend the ball round the defensive wall, but he missed the target. Three minutes was added on, and a corner to Palace saw Thomas up in the opposition penalty area, but Warner once again safely held on to the cross, resulting in Thomas sprinting back to his own goalmouth.
To end the action Dougie ended up one-on-one with Warner, and though he played the ball to AJ the keeper somehow managed to gather the ball once more, and our final chance went begging. The game was all over, and despite all the Palace pressure we failed to find the back of the net, and at least grab a point from the game. Iain will have to try to put that right in the next 48 hours, when we set off on a tough trip to East Anglia to face the might of Ipswich Town, who are travelling well so far this season. Let's hope he can find a way of achieving this.
Colin Pryce
Crystal Palace: Thomas Myhre, Danny Butterfield, Kit Symons, Tony Popovic, Gary Borrowdale (Dougie Freedman 84), Wayne Routledge, Aki Riihilahti (Tommy Black 75), Michael Hughes, Julian Gray, Andrew Johnson, Neil Shipperley.
Substitutes not used: Cedric Berthelin, Curtis Fleming, Shaun Derry.
Millwall: Tony Warner, Andy Roberts, Matthew Lawrence, Danny Ward, David Livermore, Peter Sweeney (Aboubacar Fofana 68), Marvin Elliott, Dennis Wise, Neil Chadwick (Bob Peeters 76), Neil Harris (Kevin Braniff 60), Tim Cahill.
Substitutes not used: Stuart Nethercott, Willy Gueret.
Attendance: 19,737
Referee: Mr P Walton