Crystal Palace - 1 (Bradbury 55.)
Wolverhampton Wanderers - 1 (Akinbiyi 43.)

If one had been asleep for a while then they would have wondered which side was which when they awoke to this match with Wolves including ex-Palace players Neil Emblen, Simon Osborn and Kevin Muscat. The colours of the strip should have alerted them to the fact that they were watching the wrong side though. The performance of both sides at the start of this season leaves them both at the wrong end of the table, and apart from their opening win Wolves have failed to take full points from any other game. Palace have fared little better, and there is obviously a lot of work for Steve still to do.

The match kicked off in weather that could be described as less than perfect, and it was fairly clear that both sides were feeling their way against each other, neither being prepared to commit themselves to one course of action or another.

The first real move on goal came at about eight minutes when a good pass from Darren Bazeley found Simon Osborn in front of goal, but he put his shot wide and the opportunity was gone.

Not too long after our only chance of the half came when Matthias Svensson managed to round rival keeper Mike Stowell, and then missed a golden opportunity to open the scoring. The first goal of the match finally came a couple of minutes from the end of the first stanza, but it came at the wrong end for all the home supporters. A good move from Osborn allowed Ade Akinbiyi a free run. Getting into good position in the penalty area he managed to get past Fraser Digby and simply fired the ball, at an angle, into the back of the net. With little time left the whistle went to signify the half time break, and Coppell would have been less than pleased that the side had conceded a "last moment" goal once again.

The second half got under way with Palace looking a little livelier, and it did not take too long for them to get back on level terms, though an injury to Clinton Morrison, resulting in him being carried off, did not add to the sense of anticipation that should have been felt by the home faithful. The injury appears to be the shoulder, and we will have to wait for a final prognosis. A minute later a long throw-in taken by Dean Austin found Matthias who simply nodded on to allow Lee Bradbury to fire the ball home from only a few yards out. It did not take long for Wolves to make an attempt once more on our goal, this time Kevin Muscat hitting the woodwork, but then for some reason they seemed content to sit on the point that they currently had, and they stopped pressing. Palace seemed to have also lost the will to find the winning goal, and the rest of the match seemed to pass without further incident.

The match was further marred a few minutes from time when Lee was sent off for his second bookable offence, both of which involved Keith Curle. The first saw Curle literally removing Lee's shirt in the scuffle, the second saw Lee off the field of play for the day.

That Steve will be looking for answers is beyond question, but it would seem that the answer will eventually rest with the team being back in a position to sign a couple of new players. With Morrison and Bradbury likely to be missing sometime soon, albeit it for different reasons, the side will certainly need them!

Colin Pryce

Crystal Palace: Fraser Digby, Dean Austin, Andy Linighan, Fan Zhiyi, Simon Rodger (Nick Rizzo 45), Hayden Mullins, Steve Thomson, Jamie Smith, Matthias Svensson, Lee Bradbury, Clinton Morrison (David Woozley 57).

Substitutes not used: Andrew Frampton, Matthew Gregg, Wayne Carlisle.

Wolverhampton Wanderers: Mike Stowell, Steve Sedgley, Keith Curle, Neil Emblen, Scott Taylor (Carl Robinson 73), Ludovic Pollet, Simon Osborn, Darren Bazeley, Adeola Akinbiyi, Steve Corica, Kevin Muscat.

Substitutes not used: Andy Sinton, Paul Simpson, Lee Naylor, S. Mautone.

Attendance: 12,720

Referee: Mr C. Wilkes (Gloucester).