Charlton Athletic - 1 (Hreidarsson 4.)
Crystal Palace - 2 (Freedman 40. Torghelle 53.)

Having limped past Hartlepool United in the previous round of the Cup, requiring extra time to take care of things, Palace now faced a much sterner test with this visit to fellow Premiership London side Charlton Athletic. Charlton seemed to put out almost their strongest side, but Palace made a total of 10 changes to their starting line-up from the previous League game, though later Iain Dowie insisted it was merely a rotation of squad players, not an attempt to play a "Reserve" side. For those who can't work out just who was the sole remaining starter, it was Ben Watson.

The first action in the match saw Sandor Torghelle foul Chris Perry, the free kick being taken by Dean Kiely, and shortly after a corner taken by Danny Murphy, saw Ben clear the ball, but only for another corner. This time the ball came back to the centre of the pitch, and it was ex-Palace player Hermann Hreidarsson who rose above the crowd, and simply headed the ball into the back of the net, to give Charlton the perfect start.

An attempt on goal by Kevin Lisbie sailed over the top of the bar, much to the relief of Julian Speroni and all the Palace supporters present at The Valley. The next corner, which also fell to Charlton, was fired into the area by Murphy, the clearance being made by Danny Butterfield, who was making a welcome return to the side. Jerome Thomas sent in a cross that Julian did well to hang on to before finally Palace got their first chance on goal, as Gary Borrowdale sent in the ball, and Dougie Freedman was on hand, unfortunately his shot sailing over the top of the bar.

Luke Young was the next to put the ball into the danger area, but this time Mark Hudson made the clearance, whilst at the other end Shaun Derry fired in a shot that the keeper could only tip over the top of the bar, conceding a corner which led to Mark sending his shot wide of the mark. Ben then tried a shot that missed to the other side of the posts, and a little later he tried from almost the identical spot with, unfortunately, the identical result as the ball went wide once more.

A corner to Palace was sent in by Ben, and this time Gonzalo Sorondo sent his header just wide of the target, and then a foul by Tom Soares on Thomas led to Murphy sending in a shot that Gonzalo did well to clear at the first attempt. Lisbie sent in another cross that Matthew Holland met, his header going wide once more, and then Danny tried a cross that merely beat all the players over the line, and a goal kick ensued.

Tom sent the ball in once again, this time the clearance coming from Jonathan Fortune, but Palace were not to be denied much longer, and as a cross floated across the front of goal Dougie was unmarked on the left, and he simply curled the ball into the top corner of the net, and we were back on level terms. Another corner to our hosts led to a simple goal kick for Julian, and Murphy tried a shot that went straight to our keeper, causing him little trouble.

The half came to an end, and there was everything to play for in the second period of play. The last thing Palace would need is to play extra time at this point in the season, so a nice early goal would certainly be helpful guys. I wonder if that is anything like what Iain Dowie said during the break?

The second half saw an early corner to our hosts, which was cleared by Danny, and shortly after Sandor received the first booking of the match, for a foul on Perry. The free kick, taken by Holland, went nowhere, and the next cross that came in to our area saw Dougie back helping out the defence, and making the clearance. Sandor fired in a shot that was caught by the keeper, but moments later Shaun got in a cross that Sandor met, and his left-footed shot on the turn sailed into the back of the net to give Palace the lead for the first time in the match.

Lisbie sent in a cross that Julian had little trouble hanging on to, and then Luke Young sent in a cross that Julian could only punch away, though that was effective enough, and the ball quickly made its' way up the other end, and Tom sent in a cross that Fortune had to clear, before any further damage was done to the scoreline. Ben snapped a shot on goal that went well over the top, and as the ball came in at the other end it was Mark who made the clearance. Thomas tried a cross that Gonzalo cleared, and then a corner to our hosts was again cleared, this time by Mark.

Charlton decided on a change to the line-up, substituting Jason Euell for Murphy, as they took yet another corner, this time Thomas finding Hreidarsson once again, his header being tipped over the top of the bar by Julian. Hreidarsson was booked shortly after, as was Gonzalo, and Julian once again had to make a save as yet another corner flew into our danger area.

Charlton made a second change, this time taking off Graham Stuart and bringing on Jonatan Johansson, as Mikele Leigertwood was booked for unsporting behaviour. Francis Jeffers tried a shot that missed to the left of the upright, but shortly after Sandor was booked for the second time, which became an automatic red, and he had to leave for an early bath. The ruling was that he had dived in the penalty area, but it was fairly touch and go as to whether or not his ankle was tapped as he made his way through. Either way, he was off, and we had to last the final 20 minutes with only 10 men.

Thomas sent in a cross that Julian hung on to, and at the other end Mikele tried a shot that went wide of the right hand upright. Palace made their first, and only, change for the match as Darren Powell replaced Ben, as a corner to Charlton was cleared by Danny. Hreidarsson sent in a cross that Julian hung on to once again, and Charlton made their final change, this time taking Young off in favour of Bryan Hughes. A shot from Thomas was blocked by Tom and Hughes was booked for a foul on Dougie.

Dougie was then caught offside, but time was running out. Hreidarsson sent in a shot that Julian had little trouble with, and Hughes was caught offside, leaving Julian the simple task of taking the free kick. With little further action, despite almost 4 minutes of added on time, Palace held on to their lead, and we progressed to the next round of the Cup.

Colin Pryce

Charlton Athletic: Dean Kiely, Luke Young (Bryan Hughes 79), Jonathan Fortune, Chris Perry, Hermann Hreidarsson, Graham Stuart (Jonatan Johansson 68), Matthew Holland, Danny Murphy (Jason Euell 62), Jerome Thomas, Kevin Lisbie, Francis Jeffers.

Substitutes not used: Stephan Andersen, Talal El Karkouri.

Crystal Palace: Julian Speroni, Danny Butterfield, Gonzalo Sorondo, Mark Hudson, Gary Borrowdale, Tom Soares, Shaun Derry, Ben Watson (Darren Powell 74), Mikele Leigertwood, Dougie Freedman, Sandor Torghelle.

Substitutes not used: Gabor Kiraly, Anthony Danze, Ivan Kaviedes, Wayne Routledge.

Attendance: 19,030

Referee: Mr R Styles