Southampton - 2 (Phillips 50. Jakobsson 76.)
Crystal Palace - 2 (Johnson 48. Routledge 54.)

Both Southampton and Crystal Palace would have been desperate for the points, despite the fact that both managers stated that this was just a game, and there was a long way to go in the season. Everyone else billed the match as a 6 pointer, so I guess in the end a point a piece was probably about fair. Of course, we always want the three points, but if we can take a point away to the teams in our half of the table, and perhaps take three points in the corresponding home fixture, then we should be very safe come the business end of the year.

The first action in this game saw Andrew Johnson caught offside, the free kick being taken by Darren Kenton. Fabrice Fernandes tried a cross into the centre that was cleared by Emmerson Boyce, and as Jason Dodd played it back into our area Fitz Hall made sure it went back out again. AJ got the ball squarely into the middle, only to see Graeme Le Saux make a vital clearance, whilst at the other end Kevin Phillips saw his cross drift out of play for a goal kick.

As we approached the ten minute mark Danny Granville tried a long range shot, that sailed wide of the upright, and shortly after Fernandes saw his attempt on goal cleared by Tony Popovic. AJ got another cross into the centre, only to see Andreas Jakobsson make a fine clearance, and then a corner to Palace saw Wayne Routledge fire the ball in, Fitz head the ball goalwards and Kasey Keller punch the ball to safety. Wayne was the next to get caught offside, but then Dexter Blackstock returned the favour at the other end. A shot from Phillips was blocked by Tony, and as the ball went up the other end Joonas Kolkka was offside.

Rory Delap had a shot that sailed over the top of the bar, causing little consternation in the Palace camp, and then Andreas Svensson tried his luck, the ball going wide of the mark. Fernandes sent the ball back into the middle, but Gabor Kiraly caught the ball in midair, snuffing out any danger. Blackstock saw his cross cleared by Fitz, but AJ's cross at the other end was equally well blocked by Jakobsson.

Another corner to Palace saw Wayne play the ball in, and Ben Watson tried his luck, the chance going marginally wide of the upright. Fitz got the ball back into the danger area only for Dodd to make a vital clearance, and another corner to Palace saw the defence once again clear the ball. A good cross in by Michael Hughes came unstuck when Fitz fouled Kenton, and the free kick relieved the pressure on the home goal.

A shot by Phillips went wide of the upright on the right before AJ sent in a cross that was cleared by Jakobsson, albeit at the expense of a corner. Wayne sent that in, and once again Dodd made the clearance, and then Ben sent in a cross that was cleared by Delap. Fernandes had a shot that went over the top of the bar, when he really was in a much better position, and should have opened the scoring, but shortly after Kenton fouled AJ, the free kick being played forward by Ben.

Danny sent in a cross that was cleared by Jakobsson, and when he tried again the keeper held on well to the ball. Tony blocked a shot by Svensson, and the corner that followed was sent in by Le Saux, Ben making the clearance. Kenton had a shot that Gabor held on quite easily to, but moments later Danny fouled Fernandes, earning a yellow card for his troubles. Fernandes tried a cross into our area that was well dealt with by Gabor, and despite two minutes of added on time there was little further action, and the sides trooped off for the usual pep talks from their respective managers.

I do not know what they say at those meetings; nor what they put in the drinks, but it certainly seemed to make a significant difference to both sides when they came back out for the second half.

Within a minute of the restart AJ forced Keller into a fine reaction save, and moments later he forced him into another save, as he came from the opposite side of the goal. It was third time lucky though, for as the ball floated in from a cross by Aki Riihilahti it was AJ who was there to head home the ball. I think it was the first headed goal AJ has made all season, but it certainly was his ninth strike of the season, to maintain his position near the top of the Premier League scorers.

The main problem now seemed to be our concentration, as it was only two minutes later when the home side were back on level terms. A cross by Fernandes found Phillips near the box, and his instinctive shot found the back of the net to level the terms of the match. Phillips tried to double his tally, but Gabor was on hand to make the save, and deny the home side taking the lead, and Wayne tried a couple of balls into the centre, both chances being wasted, as the defence cleared the ball.

Thus it was that he decided it was time to take his luck into his own hands. Making his way into the area he unleashed a shot that took a ricochet off Jakobsson and flew into the back of the net, and suddenly the score was 2-1, and the Palace faithful merely prayed that we could hold on to the lead until the end of the match. Of course, another goal to Palace at this stage may well have settled things, but nothing is ever that easy following our Club!

Fernandes tried another cross into our area that Gabor saved, before Svensson sent in a cross that Fitz dealt with. Fernandes tried again, with exactly the same result as Gabor held on to the ball, and at the other end Ben had a shot that was blocked by Kenton. A corner to Palace saw Wayne fire the ball in, Ben send a good-looking shot goalwards, but Le Saux made the clearance to deny us that crucial third goal. Paul Telfer cleared another corner, and it was some time before the next chance came, as Dodd sent in a cross and Gabor punched the ball away to safety.

Blackstock tried a shot on goal that sailed over the top of the bar, and as Fernandes sent the ball back in again it was Ben on hand to make the clearance. The home side decided it was time to make a double change, bringing on Leandre Griffit for Dodd and Peter Crouch for Blackstock. A cross from Telfer was cleared by Joonas, back helping out the defence, and the next time the ball came into our area it was Fitz who had the final touch to deny the home side getting back on level terms.

Tony blocked a shot by Fernandes, and the resulting corner was well saved by Gabor, as was the next chance that followed shortly after, as Griffit tried his luck. A corner to the home side caused us little trouble as the ball went straight out of play without an attacking player getting a touch to it, and then a corner at the other end saw Wayne play it short to Ben, but his cross was cut out by the keeper.

Griffit sent in another cross that was blocked by Danny, and as Telfer sent the ball back in Gabor grabbed it before any more damage could be done. A corner to Southampton was wasted once again, and as Fernandes got the ball back into our area it was Ben that once again made the vital clearance. With 15 minutes to go could we hang on to our lead? Of course not!

A foul by Wayne on Svensson led to a free kick taken by Le Saux, and as the huge Crouch headed the ball on it was Jakobsson who made amends for deflecting the ball at the other end, as he slotted the ball into the bottom corner of the net, and we were back on level terms once more.

Crouch was caught offside before Joonas tried a shot that went wide of the mark, and then a corner to Palace was cleared by Kenton. Emmerson was caught offside, and then AJ had a shot that was blocked by Kenton. Ben, meanwhile, was booked for dissent, and Tony, as his captain, managed to befall the same fate. I guess it never pays to argue with the referee, he is rather like that customer we are all told about, he is always right - even when he is wrong!

A cross by Griffit was blocked by Michael, and suddenly we found that time was running out. Amazingly many of the home supporters had already made their way home, but if it was my side that had come back twice from a goal down I would be sticking around to the death. Still, I guess that might explain the attitude of the south coast fans, as they even booed their players at the half time break, and the scores were level at that time too, if I remember rightly!

To finish the afternoon's fare off, a cross by Danny was cleared by Jakobsson and Joonas, Danny, Tony and Fitz had to make clearances at our end as the home side looked for the winner, but the final action came as Crouch got a shot on goal, his effort being lobbed over the top of the bar.

The match had finished all square, and though that should be a good result for the visiting team it seems funny that most Palace supporters seemed disappointed not to have taken all the points home. Still, next week, we will meet Charlton Athletic at Selhurst, in a televised Sunday afternoon match, so just maybe we can get back on terms with a couple of those teams just ahead of us.

Colin Pryce

Southampton: Kasey Keller, Jason Dodd (Leandre Griffit 68), Andreas Jakobsson, Darren Kenton, Graeme Le Saux, Rory Delap, Fabrice Fernandes, Anders Svensson, Paul Telfer, Dexter Blackstock (Peter Crouch 68), Kevin Phillips.

Substitutes not used: Michael Poke, Danny Higginbotham, Brett Ormerod.

Crystal Palace: Gabor Kiraly, Emmerson Boyce, Danny Granville, Fitz Hall, Tony Popovic, Michael Hughes, Aki Riihilahti, Wayne Routledge, Ben Watson, Joonas Kolkka, Andrew Johnson.

Substitutes not used: Julian Speroni, Mikele Leigertwood, Vassilios Lakis, Wayne Andrews, Dougie Freedman.

Attendance: 31,833

Referee: Mr P Walton