Opponents now known.

Palace will face Kingstonian at Kingsmeadow, after the Rymans League Div 1 South side haded out a 4-0 thrashing to high-flying Kent League outfit, Beckenham Town in the first round.

The Second round tie will be played on Monday 30 November - kick off: 7.45pm.

Posted by neil.

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Ladbrokes charge no fees for debit or credit card transactions, and offer support for four languages and 17 currencies, as well as a comprehensive betting service across a wide range of sports, Ladbrokes really is a brand you can trust.

Posted by echobet.

Palace travel to Ipswich in Round 4

The game has been schedlued for Tuesday 20th January at Portman Road with a 7pm kick off time

Posted by neil.

Details of Surrey & FA Youth Cup ties

A young Palace reserve side have been drawn against Whyteleafe in the second round of the Surrey Senior Cup. Both sides geeting a bye in through the first round.

The away fixture has been confirmed for Tuesday 25th November at Church Road with a kick off time of 7:45pm.

The winners will face either Molesey or the holders Merstham away in the third round. The tie is to be played sometime between 5th & 21st January.

On Tuesday 2nd December, our Under-18 side will face Swindon away at the county Ground in the 3rd round of the FA Youth Cup. Kick off is at 7pm and ticket prices are £3 Adults and £1 for kids.

Posted by neil.

Palace reach Semi's but then withdraw

The Errea Cup descended into further farce when Palace withdrew from the Competition a hour after qualifying for the Semi-Finals.

Thursday's Echo bulletin explained how Palace still had a route to semi-final qualification if they beat Bideford last night.

Palace ran out 4-2 winners with goals from Jerry Nnanami, triallist Nathan Levins, Hakeem Adelakan and an own goal. Bideford twice equalised before Palace scored twice more in the last four minutes. Palace's keeper, Martin Jacobs, was also awarded Man of the Match.

An hour after the game it was announced that Palace had chosen to withdraw from the competition, reportedly due to serious injury problems, although Palace themselves have yet to make any statement on the decision themselves.

Their place was taken by Torquay, who felt understandably disappointed, that despite being unbeaten in their group matches, they had fallen victim to a truly bizarre tournament bonus points rule.

Torquay progressed into the Final at the expense of favourite Yeovil after a goalless draw and a penalty shoot-out which The Gulls won 5-3.

Torquay faced Conference South side Eastleigh in the Final, in a repeat of Thursday's goalless draw in the group stage, from which Eastleigh qualified 3-2 after a penalty shoot-out.

This was a far more exciting encounter and featured ex-Palace players, Wayne Carlisle and Roscoe D'sane. Eastleigh ran up a two goal lead against the run of play, but Torquay scored twice late in the game to take the Final to another penalty shoot out.

Eastleigh won the sudden death shoot-out 5-4, had they not, they too might have had an issue with the Tournament Rules that specified that games would be of 80 minutes length, whereas the Final was the full 90 minutes. Had the game ended after 80 minutes, the score would still have been 2-0 to the Hampshire side.

Posted by neil.

Semi-final qualification IS still possible

Confused? You soon will be...

At first glance, the combination of results in Group A would seem to indicate that Palace are out of the running. Torquay won their first match 2-0 against Bideford, Eastleigh beat us 2-1 and then Torquay and Eastleigh fought out a goal-less draw in the regulation 80 minutes (yes, 80 minutes) tonight. Given that each team only gets to play twice (Palace avoided Torquay in the draw), under a normal point scoring system that would mean both teams have four points. Even if they win tomorrow against Bideford at Appledore (ko 6pm), Palace could only get three.

However, this is the Errea (apparently pronounced Ur-Ray-Ar) Cup and, as we found out yesterday, normal rules don't apply. For starters, in this tournament, there are no draws permitted. Drawn games are settled by a penalty shoot-out (which Eastleigh won 3-2 against Torquay). Also the losing team gets a point for turning up and here comes the twist that has given Palace fresh hope - the losing side gain an extra point if they score in normal time too, thus our 2-1 defeat actually gained us two points. Surprised? Yes, so were we.

Thus the table as it stands now looks like this:

1. Eastleigh - played 2, won 2, GD+1, Pts 6 (qualified for semi's as Winners of Group)
2. Torquay - played 2, won 1, GD +2, Pts 4
3. Palace - played 1, won 0, GD -1, Pts 2
4. Bideford - played 1, won 0, GD - 2, Pts 1

So provided Palace win tomorrow, by any margin (even after a penalty shoot-out), they will claim runners-up spot and will progress to a semi-final game against the Wiiners of Group B and clear favourites Yeovil on Saturday at Barnstaple FC - kick off 8pm. The other Semi-Final is being played at Bideford at 3pm between Eastleigh and Chertsey Town. Torquay will progress if Palace lose by less than a four goal margin, otherwise step six side AFC Bideford will go through.

Despite losing 4-1 tonight to a near first team strength Yeovil side, Chertsey qualified as runners-up in Group B by virtue of their 2-0 win over Barnstaple on Tuesday and because they earned a bonus point by scoring a penalty with the very last kick of the game meaning tonight's game between single-pointed Kiddeminister (who lost 2-0 to Yeovil) and Barnstaple is effectively a dead rubber as neither can equal the five points Chertsey have earned.

No wonder a Devon FA official was overheard describing the competition as 'Mickey Mouse'. Errea it seems have very lofty ambitions for the competition, however, with talk of inviting Italian side Palma over next year along with Middlesbrough, from our own Premier League. Hmmm, we'll see. A simplification of the rules might be a better start.


Posted by neil.

News on Palace's reserves for the 2008/09 season

The forthcoming season will once again see Palace's 2nd eleven compete in the Pontin's combination league, although there are a couple of changes.

In addition to the league itself, there is a new "invitation cup" tournament, which involves sides from the combination outside of Palace's league.

Palace are in Group B of the Invitation Cup and will face Charlton Athletic, Ipswich Town, Queens Park Rangers, and
Watford. Bristol City, Plymouth Argyle, Reading, Southampton and Swansea City are in Group A. There's no direct news yet on whether this is a league or cup knockout format.

The ten teams who will be playing in the Central Division of next seasons Pontin's Holidays Combination League are as follows.

Gillingham along with new boys Lewes and Reading have replaced Wycombe, Orient and Watford who have moved over to the Eastern Division. Norwich City have withdrawn from
the league and will play friendlies only this season

The full make up of the League is as follows:

Aldershot Town
Brighton & Hove Albion
Charlton Athletic
Crystal Palace
Gillingham
Lewes
Millwall
Queens Park Rangers
Reading
Southampton

Gillingham, Reading, Millwall, QPR, Lewes and Aldershot all play their games at their respective grounds, given anyone whose missed visits there, the chance to do some new grounds.

Palace will also again be competing in the Surrey cup at reserve level, and enter the competition around late November this year, with a 2nd round tie already drawn against Whyteleafe.

The fixures themselves should be available within the next week or two.


Posted by alan.

Round up of Palace's pre-season activities as the first game gets underway.

Even allowing for all the usual rumours, Palace have had a fairly busy pre-season period to date compared to a number of clubs in the Championship this season.

Departing so far as I write, we say goodbye to Tony Craig, who has re-joined Millwall on Friday (11/7) for a fee of £100,000 - no surprise given his loan spell there season.

Also on that front, Clinton Morrison has now left the Eagles. Despite being offered a good contract (as admitted by the player himself) this was obviously not all that was on his mind, and with the promise of guaranteed first team football not forthcoming from Palace, Coventry is strongly rumoured to be his next destination (odd given that he hadn't settled in Birmingham when he left Palace before). Dowie and QPR are of course waiting in the wings should he not agree terms there, and Steve Coppell's Reading will also soon be looking for replacements for the likely departures of Leroy Lita and Kevin Doyle.

Defender Mark Hudson left last month on a free to join Charlton. The ex-Palace captain cited his worry of a lack of first team football as a main reason for the move, but there's no doubt the team from the industrial areas of South East London are tightening the purse strings this season, and looked for him to be a cheap replacement for an outgoing player who was later sold to Palace for profit.

Youngster Ashley Robinson is another who has now left. Offered a contract by Palace that was dependant on certain conditions being met, he failed to fulfil these and after his national gaffe of publishing his next intent on Facebook, he is now on trial at Fulham. Behind Victor Moses and Sean Scannell in ability and with the better James Dayton and Jamie Smith nipping at his heels, it seems odd that the Cottagers are interested.

Finally, little used left back Jeff Hughes made a permanent move to Peterborough for an undisclosed fee in early June (it was actually £150,000 we can reveal), and the released Mark Kennedy has joined Dave Jones Cardiff City.

Also expected to depart sometime soon are Scott Flinders, and on the endangered list are Matt Lawrence, Dougie Freedman and Carl Fletcher.

In the reverse, it's welcome to promising young goalkeeper Darryl Flahavan who had impressed before in a number of games for both Woking and Southend when seen, and who joins Palace from the latter club. Also incoming are Austrian international defender Johannes (Jonny) Ertl, who joined Palace last week on a free after training with the club in the later part of last season.

Jose Fonte's deal is all but signed and should be announced next week, and Palace have also made a move for young Luton Town forward Calvin Andrew. The 21 year old is expected to put pen to paper early next week on a 300-400k deal.

On the flipside of the Hudson deal, Neil Warnock moved quickly to capture Charlton centre back Paddy (Patrick) McCarthy as his direct replacement. The ex-Leicester and Manchester City defender is similar in size and stature to Palace's departing Captain and will likely partner either Fonte or Clint Hill in the central role.

Another incoming is impressive central midfielder Nick Carle. The Australian has arrived from Bristol City in a 1 million pound 4 year deal, and looked sharp pulling the strings in Saturday's opening pre-season game at Bromley.

All that remains now is for Palace to sign a couple of badly missing decent forwards, and it could turn out to be a good season for the white, red and blue's this campaign.


Posted by alan.

Palace Echo in joint blog venture with SLP

Palace Echo are pleased to announce a joint blog venture with the South London Press website.

Echo editor Neil Witherow will be providing a regular Palace blog on the SLP website. The first entry is available to read at the link below:

http://www.slp.co.uk/tn/blogdetailall.cfm?id=67

The initial unpublished 'test' piece can also be found here.


Posted by neil.

All new podcast in associtaion with the BBS

As something of an experiment, we've quite literally thrown together a little podcast based on last weekend's game.

You can download here:
http://www.palace-echo.net/podcast/bbspodcast_1.mp3

Enjoy!

Posted by neil.

A Play-Offs muse from Neil the Eagle

The week leading up to the Burnley game was spend in a state of high nervous disorder that will be familiar to most fellow fans: Gazing at the League table for hours on end; working out the same results permutations over and over again; wondering why I can’t remember Wolves’ goal difference less than 5 minutes after one of those marathon Table-gazing sessions. Familiar symptoms, I’m sure.

And so the day of the game finally dawns, one last quick squizz at the table before heading to The Cherries and a meeting of my similarly nervy pals. Even before the first pint is served, the permutation discussions have started again and, sure enough, not one of us can remember Wolves’ goal difference without recourse to a paper. In truth, it all comes down to one thing – as it has all week - win and we are there; no ifs or buts. Finally we head off to the ground and you can taste the tension in the air.

Ten minutes after kick off, that tension has all but evaporated, replaced with a kind of confused joy. We are two up; they are down to ten-men. With a third before half-time, even Mr Pessimism himself (a.k.a. Wags) has a broad, confident smile. But then he has more to smile at than most. Down the years, his doom-laded predictions have more often than not been uncannily accurate. And sometime in early April, Wags had a dream. A very specific dream and one that has haunted us all since the git decided to share it with us.

It went like this: It’s a bright, sunny last day of the season and Palace need to win to get in the play-offs. However, the score stands at 1-1 going into the last couple of minutes. Palace are kicking towards the Whitehorse Lane end and get a penalty. Ben Watson steps up to take it… and hits the House on the Hill. Now, leave aside that the last bit is a physical impossibility, the fact is he missed and the play-offs were gone.

As the month wore on, results conspired to make the dream became a frighteningly real possibility. It got to the point where anxiously scouring the long range weather forecasts became second only to ‘Table-gazing’ as our new national sport of choice. For most of the week, the weathermen seem to be on our side predicting showers, but no, come match day its fine. As kick off approaches, the first break in the spell occurs; Palace will kick towards the Whitehorse. If you spotted a group of fans in the Upper Tier hugging each other like a goal had been scored shortly after the toss, well, you now know why. But it wasn’t quite finished there, seven minutes later, Palace get that penalty at the Whitehorse, the score is still level. We momentarily celebrate the decision, then turn, as one, to give Wags the evils.

Now I’m not one who cannot watch penalties (unlike the bloke who sits in front of us who assumes a crouching position, back to goal, with his head rather too close to Wags crotch, whenever a penalty is awarded), however this time I can barely look. Myself and the others who’ve had to live with his dream are getting ready to punch ‘seven shades’ out of Wags should the penalty go high, wide and right. Thankfully, Ben Watson remains unaffected by the waves of naked terror emanating from the other end of the ground and strokes the ball confidently low, left and in. We beat Wags anyway, it seemed like the most fitting celebration…

The second half sees us seal the win in some style with two more lovely goals and has me reflecting on how un-Palace like the whole match was. When Palace need a result on the last day of the season, they always have to work for it and don’t always get it. Remember Stockport? 87 minutes of feeling sick, 30 seconds of joy, 10 minutes of utter terror waiting on the final score from Huddersfield. Or Charlton? Where we let Premiership safety slip in the last 8 minutes. And what about 2004 at Coventry? We lost 2-1 but somehow Brian Deane dug us out of the mire with an injury time equaliser for West Ham against Wigan. Even the team of ’79, who were proudly paraded on the pitch at half time, kept us waiting 77 nail-biting minutes before finally doing the business against Burnley. Let’s face it, to win 5-0 in crucial must-win situation really isn’t Palace’s style… not that I’m complaining, mind.

And so we head to the play-off as the bookies favourites for promotion, again an unfamiliar position for us, but to be honest, I’ve given up worrying. Sure, I’m looking forward to the games against Bristol City, but the very unpredictable and atypical nature of this Palace side, has finally disarmed and, somehow against the odds, relaxed me. In the words of the song: whatever will be, will be.


Posted by neil.

It’s a busy loan deadline day at Selhurst

Palace have signed Chelsea's Scott Sinclair, West Ham's Kyel Reid and Nathan Ashton from Fulham on loan until the end of the season.

Sinclair, 19, can operate as a forward or on either flank and will be remembered by Palace fans for his wonder goal away at Plymouth last season. Scott is very highly rated and has had loan spells at Charlton, Plymouth and QPR, as well as playing for Chelsea in the Premier League, although his last loan club, Charlton, seemed unimpressed with him, barely giving him a start, despite their own disastrous form.

Left-sided midfielder Reid, 20, has played for England Under-19s and is under contract at West Ham until the summer of 2009. Former Charlton left-back Ashton, 21, has played in the top flight this term and has seemingly been brought in as cover for our currently injury-prone left-backs: Clint Hill and Lee Hills.

It was all incoming signings though, Tony Craig has rejoined former club Millwall, Ryan Hall moved to Crawley, Jeff Hughes joined Bristol Rovers and Scott Flinders (pictured) switched to Blackpool - all on loan.


Posted by neil.

Full match report as the reserves return to winning ways

A game against long time rivals Brighton finally saw Palace's reserves return to winning form at Bromley yesterday evening (19/3), with a better performance and a deserved 2-1 victory from a goal in each half.

With Dougie Freedman currently on loan at Leeds Utd, Palace's academy management took charge of a strong side
for the evening that included a number of players returning from injury.

The midfield consisted of Neil Danns plus the returning Ryan Hall, whilst Paul Ifill filled a role upfront alongside
newest first team debutant, Ben Kudjodji. Jeff Hughes filled the left back role, meaning that Tony Craig lined up
next to Aaron Dalhouse in the centre of defence. Also on show for the Eagles was another trial goalkeeper, this time it was young Joe Wooley, recently a player for Charlton's academy side.

Brighton included a sprinkling of players with first team experience, including the aging Guy Butters and young Joe
Gatting (related to Mike of course) up front.

It was 13 minutes into the match before the first attempt arrived. Ashley Robinson (playing on the right) had been
teasing the Brighton defence already during the opening minutes of the game down that flank, and this time he centred a cross into the area on the left that found Paul Ifill on the receiving end.

Turning the nearest defender to his right from around 12 yards out, he hit a low shot with his right foot that
went under the diving goalie to give Palace the lead.

Thirteen minutes later Palace won a free kick centrally outside the area and Ryan Hall stepped forward to take it,
placing a low shot just wide of the left goalpost. There was then a frantic 5 minute period that saw Brighton regain
parity with an equaliser.

Winning a free kick on 29 minutes out on the right wing, Seagulls midfielder Jake Robinson swung the ball into the
Palace area, where Gatting jumped highest to beat goalkeper Wooley (on his way out to meet the ball) and head into the
back of the net.

Immediately from the kick off, Palcae almost re-took the lead with a series of close range chances.

First Ifill broke through in the clear and shot at the legs of 'keeper John Sullivan (not the only fools and horses
creator !), while collecting the rebound, Neil Danns went close with a shot from the left of the box that deflected
off of a defender and into the side netting for a corner.

From the corner Palace could have scored again as Dalhouse rose above the Brighton players to power a low header toward
the goal line that was smothered, and from the hacked clearance Danns then went close again with a shot from 6 yards that was charged down.

Brighton finally responded on 33, as a badly misplaced Palace crossfield pass from the right reached Brighton's Robinson who firmly struck a first time shot from 20 yards straight into Wooley's arms. Four minutes later they had another go, this time through Gatting's shot (struck over the bar) following a right sided cross.

Palace then lost Paul Ifill through injury right on the stroke of half time. Challenging for a 50/50 ball with a Brighton player, there was no intent from either side, but Ifill went down for a minute or so requiring treatment. Thankfully he seemed to walk off at half time without much discomfort, so could still figure for the first team this weekend.

Chances at either end presented themselves during the 2nd period, but with Palace still the dominant of the two sides.

Despite that, most of the opportunities were shots struck over the bar.

The best chance of the opening moments though fell to Ben Kudjodji. Working his way past the away side's defence
from the left wing, he struck a shot toward the near post that the goalkeeper stopped.

The winning Palace goal arrived in the 78th minute courtesy of Ryan Hall, who stepped up just outside the area and hit
a shot into the right corner of the net to make it 2-1.

There were a couple of chances at either end following that, as Robinson and Kudjodji both put efforts over the goal for Palace, and Sub Chris Winterton did the same for Brighton, but the Eagles held firm for the 3 points in their final home game of the season which puts them into 3rd place in the table on 23 points - 8 points behind leaders Charlton.

Palace's next match is not now for over a month, although there is still a game away to Wycombe yet to be arranged which could fall within that gap.

Palace Team: Wooley, Abnett, Hughes, Smith, Dalhouse, Craig, Robinson, Danns, Kudjodji, Ifill, Hall

Subs: Cadogan (For Ifill '45), Comley (For Danns '67), Clyne, Edwards, Adelakun


Match Stats:

Palace Shots/Headers: 12 (8 on target)
Brighton Shots/Headers: 5 (2 on target)

Palace Corners: 5
Brighton Corners: 1

Palace Crosses: 5 (3 from left / 2 from right)
(Robinson 3, Hall 2)
Brighton Crosses: 2


Posted by alan.

Match report from Tuesday's game at Beckenham

Originally this match was due to be played at Orient's Brisbane road ground, but With the East London outfit staging the women's F.A cup final, and Palace's home ground of Bromley hosting a midweek clash between they and Cray Wanderers, this week's reserve match (yesterday the 26th) ended up being played behind closed doors at Palace's Beckenham training ground on a sunny but windy afternoon.

Despite fielding a strong line-up, and welcoming both Tony Craig and Arron Fray (pictured) back from injury, an indifferent 2nd half performance saw the Eagles defeated 3-1 under the watching eye of manager Neil Warnock.

Once again in goal was Ashford Town trialist Craig Ross, while up front both Dougie Freedman and Victor Moses supported Sean Scannell from slightly deeper positions, with Moses mainly in this role early on.

The O's team comprised mainly of youngsters, but did also include midfielder Sean Thornton who had several seasons ago been playing at the highest level in the game.

Palace 'keeper Ross was first called into action on 11 minutes, when he backpedalled to tip over Loick Pires
header following a free kick from the left. Six minutes later the Eagles sprung to life and had the lead.

Dispossessing Orient on the left wing, the talented Victor Moses cut inside and let fly with a curling 20 yard shot that flew in off the right hand post, giving the diving O's stopper no chance of a save.

Two minutes after Ashley Robinson unleashed an effort from the right as he got forward. This attempt (from the edge of the area) was several yards over though. Palace then lost the returning Arron Fray (making his first start of the season), who appeared to be unable to continue, despite not receiving any injury on the field. His replacement was Aaron Dalhouse, and as in the previous game the centre back filled in on the right of defence.

Then in the 21st minute from Jamie Smith's free kick on the left (following a foul on Moses), Jose Fonte cushioned a header just passed the right goal post.

Just as Palace began to get a good foothold in the game, they conceeded an unfortunate equaliser.

With 28 minutes on the clock the O's won a corner following a free kick given away by Fonte. From that the ball arrived just outside the area to Sean Thornton, who teed up a low shot on goal. With Craig Ross diving the right way, he looked to have the ball covered until it took a deflection off of Bradley Gray's ankle, which steered the ball slightly to the left and into the corner of the net for 1-1.

It got worse for the Eagles just before half time, when on 40 minutes midfielder Andy Barcham broke into the area on the left past Fonte, and fired a low shot into the back of the net to give Orient the lead.

Last effort of the half fell to Palace, when Jamie Smith teed up a shot on goal from a free kick on the left,
following a foul on Victor Moses. Struck without too much pace or placement, the effort was easily scooped up by the Orient goalie.

It was almost 10 minutes into the 2nd period before things livened up, with Orient doing most of the forward probing. Thornton hit a low shot wide of goal on 54 minutes, and a minute after that Wayne Gordon tried his luck from 25 yards out with a chip shot, that flew just over the Palace bar.

It was a good 15 minutes before Palace got in the game at all, when on 71, Ashley Robinson struck a goalbound effort straight at 'keeper Morris.

Ross then made a save at his near post from a shot on the left by substitute Harry Baker, but the away side sealed
the points with 4 minutes still on the clock.

From a cross over on the left flank, the Palace defence failed to scramble the ball away at the far post and it was left for Wayne Gordon to poke a low shot under Ross at the right hand post from around 8 or 9 yards out.

A fairly flat and disappointing 2nd half Palace display. Despite some spark in the forward play from Scannell and Moses during the opening 45 minutes, things failed to click during the 2nd half.

Palace reserves now have a break of almost a month before the next fixture, although it's possible the yet to be arranged Wycombe away match could fill this gap at some point during then.

Palace Team: Ross, Fray, Craig, Adelakun, Swaibu, Fonte, Robinson, Smith, Freedman, Scannell, Moses

Subs: Kudjodji, Edwards (For Fonte '57), Sweeney (For Adelakun '79), Dalhouse (For Fray '17), Jupp


Match Stats:
Palace Shots/Headers: 6 (3 on target)
Orient Shots/Headers: 10 (6 on target)

Palace Corners: 2
Orient Corners: 6

Palace Free Kicks: 5
Orient Free Kicks: 9

Palace Crosses: 9 (7 from right / 2 from left)
(Robinson 4, Craig 2, Smith 1, Scannell 1, Dalhouse 1)
Orient Crosses: 5


Posted by alan.

Another draw for the Eagles second eleven.


Given that recent Palace reserve fixtures have often finished 0-0, and the second eleven have failed to
score much recently, it was no great surprise to see last night's (20/2) home combination league fixture against
Millwall play out as a scoreless draw.

Whilst the previous game between the two sides back in September had finished a 3-3 goal thriller, once again
there were not too many clear cut goal scoring opportunities during this game, although chances were even at either end.

Palace gave a run out to another trialist, this time a goalkeeper named Craig Ross (there is a non-league 'keeper
by that name, so it could well have been him) and also included young academy striker Adam Jupp whose only previous
showing this season had been in the Surrey cup game at Chipstead. Left winger Lino Goncalves (part of a trio of players recently released by Fulham, who have moved to Palace) was also given another run out - as was Bradley Hudson-Odoi (another of those) who was a used second half substitute. There was also a welcome return to the side for left back Rhoys Wiggins who once again has missed most of this season through injury.

Millwall included a smattering of players with first team experience, including ex-Arsenal youngster Ryan Smith, but
there was no place for either of their recent Palace signing's (Dave Martin and Lewis Grabban) both of whom have been appearing regularly for their first team.

The first chance presented itself to Palace in the 12th minute. Lively winger Goncalves finding himself in a central
position, hit a low shot along the ground into the arms of goalkeeper Preston Edwards. Seven minutes later Aaron Dalhouse hit a decent cross/shot from the right flank towards the top of the net that was also caught by the same.

Then the same Palace player with 11 minutes left of the first period, tried a chip shot from outside the box, but again Edwards easily made a jump to claim the ball above head height.

Millwall's first response came through midfielder Ross Gaynor, their most threatening player, when his low shot on 37 minutes as he worked his way into the box from the left was touched around the post by Craig Ross' outstretched hand.

Two minutes later they had another chance, the last of the half. Gaynor eluded Jeff Hughes (playing at centre back) but stabbed a shot wide of the right hand post.

The second half got underway with Victor Moses troubling the Millwall defence. Dribbling around two Millwall players
on the right of the box, his low shot was also past the near post.

Gaynor (again) then put the ball over the bar with a shot on 52 minutes, and repeated that effort again two minutes later.

It wasn't until the 81st minute that we saw another close effort. From a Millwall corner on the right, Gary Bowes got
up with a header that Ross pushed wide. A minute later there was a foul on Jamie Smith just outside the Millwall box, but although substitute Ashley Robinson struck the free kick well, it curled a few yards over the right hand side of the crossbar.

The best two chances of the game presented themselve to the Lions within the last 10 minutes. First off Gaynor tried his luck. This time it was a 20 yarder struck straight at goal and with Ross several yards off his line, it cannoned back off the bar and away to safety.

The busy Gaynor then had another shot pushed away for a corner by Ross, and the young Palace trialist then made another good save with 4 minutes left, as he back pedalled toward goal to tip Bakayogo's looping header over the bar.

In the table, Palace now sit in 3rd spot, 7 points back from 2nd placed Charlton having played one game more. Southampton are now the new league leaders having won 2-1 away last night. In 4th is Watford who have 4 games in hand now on Palace and are only 2 points behind.

Next up is an afternoon trip away to Leyton Orient next Tuesday.

Palace Team: Ross, Dalhouse, Wiggins, Swaibu, Hughes, Sweeney, Smith, Moses, Kudjodji, Jupp, Conclaves

Subs: Adelakun, Thorpe, Abnett (For Wiggins '60, Robinson (For Goncalves '76), Hudson-Odoi (For Jupp '60)

Match Stats:

Palace Shots/Headers: 5 (2 on target)
Milwall Shots/Headers: 7 (3 on target)

Palace Corners: 3
Millwall Corners: 6

Palace Free Kicks: 13
Millwall Free Kicks: 7

Palace Crosses: 7 (4 from right / 3 from left)
(Goncalves 3, Robinson 3, Dalhouse 1)
Millwall Crosses: 6

Posted by alan.