Crystal Palace - 2 (McKenzie 33. Svensson 67.)
Nottingham Forest - 0
A minute later Palace were awarded a corner, which Simon Rodger took and found Andy Linighan, whose header was cleared off the line. Leon McKenzie managed to get the ball only six yards out but somehow managed to put it over the top, and then Stern John hit the bar, leaving Fan Zhiyi to clear the danger. A corner to Forest was well cleared by Dean Austin then a good effort by Hayden Mullins was parried down only as far as Matthias Svensson whose shot went just wide.
A free kick taken by Fan was put across the face of the goal, but Mark Crossley managed to get to it before Leon could get his foot to it. 20 minutes had passed, and even the Forest faithful were wondering how Palace had not managed to score. Hayden kept up the pressure forcing a good save by Crossley, then a corner found Craig Foster whose shot was once again blocked at the last moment. Andrew Martin got into the act, but his shot went too high, then in a rare raid by the visitors Foster and Fan had to team together to clear the lines at our end.
Another corner taken by Rodger was flicked on by Fan, but Martin got in the way and the ball deflected away. This was followed by a McKenzie shot from a Martin pass that was scrambled off the line, but the result was a corner awarded to the home side. Forest had already looked suspect from set pieces, and though he needed three attempts Leon finally managed to get the ball into the back of the net. He hit the bar, hit the rebound on to the post, and then finally managed to get the ball into the right spot - the back of the net.
A poor cross from Andy Gray failed to find Stern John who was clear in the area, and then a free kick at the other end was cleared at the last moment by Chris Bart-Williams. Martin managed to get into a good position, but Crossley beat him to the ball, then a cross from Rodger to Fan saw the defender blast his shot wide.
The best chance for Forest to draw level appeared right at the end of the first period of play when John found Bart-Williams whose shot was parried by Fraser, and Gray put his shot over the top. A final header from John went wide, and the action was over, at least for the next 15 minutes.
The second half got underway, and was to prove more of the same in what was described later as one of the best performances from the side this season. The first minute saw Simon attempt a left footed shot which was cleared by the defence, and then good work by Leon was wasted when he put in a very weak shot when clear on goal. Another corner saw Linighan's free header hit Leon, and further attempts on goal by Palace had the home fans starting to wonder when, not if, the next goal would come.
A good cross from Leon found both Martin and Svensson just out of range of latching on to the loose ball, then Terry Phelan put in a good pass to Leon which Chris Doig managed to clear.
To add insult to injury a rare corner to Forest was taken by Alan Rogers, and he put the ball out of play direct from the kick! A good cross by Stern John found Mikkel Beck but Fraser saved well to stop Forest getting back into the game.
Hayden Mullins was the next to attempt a shot on goal, but Crossley gathered it in well, then Jim Brennan saved the day.
With 22 minutes gone of the second half it was becoming embarrassing that we had so far not managed to score the "killer" goal that would put the match beyond doubt, but that situation was about to be resolved. Terry Phelan made a great move and his cross was pin-point accurate, finding Matthias lurking in front of goal. He made no mistake doubling the lead with a well placed header, and the match was all but over for the visitors.
A cross to Martin came to naught, then Linighan was called upon to stop an attack on the home goal. A double substitution by the visitors saw the return to Selhurst Park of Dougie Freedman, who received a warm reception from the Palace supporters, a reception he would love to get at "home" at City Ground.
Leon was caught offside for the umpteenth time then a couple of incidences involving Nigel Quashie and Doig saw two successive free kicks to Palace. A raid on our goal by Dougie went high and wide, then John saw his shot go inches wide. Palace seemed to have shut up shop, and apart from one attempt by Matthias the last few attempts came from the visitors, with nothing really threatening our goal.
Three clean sheets in three home games augurs well for the future.
Colin Pryce
Crystal Palace: Fraser Digby, Dean Austin, Andy Linighan, Fan Zhiyi, Terry Phelan, Andrew Martin, Hayden Mullins, Craig Foster (Nick Rizzo 88), Simon Rodger, Clinton McKenzie (Wayne Carlisle 84), Matthias Svensson.
Substitutes not used: David Woozley, James Hibburt, Steve Mauton.
Nottingham Forest: Mark Crossley, David Prutton, Jon Olav Hjelde, Riccardo Scimeca, Jim Brennan, Andy Gray (Chris Doig 46), Andy Johnson, Chris Bart-Williams (Nigel Quashie 74), Alan Rogers, Mikkel Beck (Dougie Freedman 74), Stern John.
Substitutes not used:, Dave Beasant, Richard Cooper.
Attendance: 15,920
Referee: Mr P Rejer (Tipton)