Bradford City - 1 (Blake 45.)
Crystal Palace - 2 (Berhalter 35. Benjamin 46.)

The last six matches that Palace have played away from home have resulted in defeat, so it would have been with a little trepidation that they set out looking for a double for the season against Bradford City. Hayden Mullins and Tony Popovic returned to fitness for this match, and they were a welcome sight for all the travelling Palace fans.

Jovan Kirovski and Steve Thomson got the game underway. The first chance in the game came when Juanjo (another of those that seems to sport only one name these days) took a shot that Alex Kolinko did well to get down to, as it was right along the carpet. A shot from Trevor Benjamin went sailing over the top of the bar before Robbie Blake made a good run through the Palace defence, seeming to lose the ball at the last moment. Ashley Ward missed a curling cross and Clinton Morrison had a shot well kept out by Carl Muggleton in the Bradford goal.

Eoin Jess managed to get a shot in, but there was not enough power in it to worry Alex, and he made the take easily. David Hopkin sent a good cross into the area where Aki Riihilahti was unlucky to get a poor touch on the ball, and it was safely knocked away by the defence. A free kick to Palace was taken by Gregg Berhalter, but his pass upfield came to naught with Clinton struggling to get on the end of the ball. A corner was then won by Palace which came to Gregg, but he contrived to put his shot over the top when it looked far easier to score than miss.

A trade-mark long throw from David found Trevor Benjamin in the area, but his first touch let him down, and the game settled once again with both sides looking for a decent chance to open the scoring. Stephen Caldwell put a shot in that Tony headed behind for a corner. Once the danger from this was clear Palace put together a good move upfield, culminating with Clinton firing a great shot that went just wide of the post with Muggleton lying prone having dived full stretch to keep the ball out.

A good cross into the Palace area found the Bradford attacking force missing, and then Julian Gray sent in an identical cross which had the same result, no Palace forward being on hand to put the ball in the back of the net. Jess then took another potshot at goal, but fortunately for Palace it went wide of the mark courtesy of a deflection. Julian then needed to clear the ball off the line following a corner before Clinton had a half-chance cleared at the other end.

Blake dwelled a little too long on a shot, and was dispossessed for his trouble. Trevor then tried a shot which the keeper managed to clear, but Hayden got the rebound which he fired straight at the man in goal. Aki then made a good run towards the area. Muggleton came out and handled the ball, which by all rights should have been a sending off offence. We have seen it so many times this season, and yet the referee did not even issue a yellow card, and Palace had to settle for a simple free kick some 20 yards or so out from goal. David played it short to Gregg, and he belted the ball through a sea of legs, and the ball duly nestled in the back of the net before anyone even knew it had cleared the wall.

Stuart McCall took a shot at goal that really deserved better, as it was only by sheer brilliance that Alex managed to keep the ball out of the back of the net. Even though the ball had passed him he was able to reach back and prevent it from crossing the line.

Clinton then headed a goalward bound shot that went for a corner, but it was Trevor that should have made it 2-0 when he missed a good opportunity to score. Palace were doing all the attacking now, so it was no real surprise when Bradford hit back. A good build up saw Blake get the ball right in front of the goal, and he simply tapped it into the back of the net.

With no time left on the clock the players marched off, and Palace would have been a little aggrieved that they did not go to the break at least leading by a goal, if not by more considering the number of chances they wasted.

The second half was only a few seconds old when Trevor reasserted our lead. He managed to catch the defence almost before they had realized that the game was back underway, and he sent in a scorching shot that veered around the keeper and made the score 2-1. A shot from Julian was well saved by Muggleton, and then the action seemed to cease for a while.

Palace were fairly content to simply retain possession, with only the occasional raid on goal, but none of them seemed particularly effective. Clinton put a shot over the top of the bar before Trevor went tumbling in the area. The referee waved play-on, and all of Palace's noise made not a wit of difference. Juanjo forced a corner, but Aki kept the goalmouth clear for the visiting team, and then Trevor found himself back defending instead of being up the other end attacking.

Bradford were now applying most of the pressure, but Palace looked content to simply hang on to their lead. Gregg nearly fired a perfect shot into the back of the net, but the travelling Palace faithful were happy that he did not, as it was his own goal that he was facing at the time!

Alex then made yet another fine save to maintain our lead, and this was followed by an even better save when it looked certain that Blake would score. Julian was replaced by Craig Harrison, but still Bradford came forward in numbers. Yet another good save must have given Alex the man-of-the-match award, if indeed he had not already won it by this stage.

Despite the pressure Palace were hanging on, and Bradford were forced into making a couple of substitutions of their own in an attempt to crack open the Palace defence. Another good save by Alex saw Aki make a run up the field, but his effort only relieved things for a moment.

Four minutes was added to account for injuries and Palace wasted a good chance from a corner. Ward took a final shot at goal for Bradford, but Alex kept it out once more, and the final whistle went to signify a rare away win for the team. It is now on to face Gillingham on New Years Day.

Colin Pryce

Bradford City: Carl Muggleton, Stephen Caldwell, Robert Molenaar (Andy Myers 75), Andy Tod, Wayne Jacobs, Juanjo, Eoin Jess, Stuart McCall, Lee Sharpe (Gareth Grant 81), Robbie Blake, Ashley Ward.

Substitutes not used: Claus Jorgensen, Lewis Emanuel, Jon Worsnop.

Crystal Palace: Alex Kolinko, Tony Popovic, Gregg Berhalter, Hayden Mullins, David Hopkin, Jovan Kirovski, Aki Riihilahti, Steve Thomson, Julian Gray (Craig Harrison 68), Trevor Benjamin, Clinton Morrison.

Substitutes not used: Cedric Carasso, Andrejs Rubins, Christian Edwards, Steve Kabba.

Attendance: 14,233

Referee: Mr A Hall (Birmingham)