Clinton blasts dirty Hatters

After weeks of not being able to buy a goal, Clinton Morrison came good with two stunning strikes, but not until he’d again wasted some golden chances.

Luton came here to kick their way out of trouble, but thankfully the strong-arm tactics didn’t pay off. Mark Kennedy was the first victim of a rash challenge with barely five minutes gone, to be replaced by Danny Butterfield a few minutes later.

A fairly dull first half saw Palace dominate possession, without finding many openings until, on the half hour, James Scowcroft flicked the ball on to Morrison, who had found space with an opportunistic run. His shot looped just wide of the right-hand post. Morrison was again found wanting in front of goal, before finally breaking the deadlock when a Palace free-kick found its way through him, he swivelled and basted home with an absolutely sublime finish.

Buoyed by the injury time goal, Palace came out in the second half looking much brighter. Dougie Freedman had a shot blocked and Leon Cort saw a goal-bound drive well saved by Marlon Beresford.

The Hatters fortunes changed for the better briefly when Mark Hudson scored a comedic own goal in the 55th minute. Lewis Emmanuel sent an innocuous looking cross into the area but Hudson inexplicably nipped in ahead of goalkeeper Gabor Kiraly and deflected the ball into his own net with no Luton players in sight.
Minutes later, Luton were reduced to 10 men when Richard Langley, who had been earlier booked, was ordered off for a horrendous late challenge on Matt Lawrence. The challenge sent the Palace midfielder sprawling to the turf and after a lengthy delay he was taken from the pitch on a stretcher with what looked to be a bad injury.

Inexplicably many of the Luton fans decided to boo him as he was stretchered off and this set the tone for the rest of the game.

Palace quickly and clinically restored their lead, Dougie Freedman, who was orchestrating most of Palace's best moves forward, sent in a ball which Cort flicked on and a fully-stretched Morrison rifled the ball home in one fluid movement.
It was game over for 10 man Hatters, some of whose fans decided to kick off with the stewards and the Police for the later stages of the game. Palace meanwhile, continued the policy of blooding youngsters with Dave Martin getting a thirty minute run out and impressing in the left wing role.

The win, inevitably, started the play off speculations again, but that was quickly dampened after a look at the table saw Palace still 11 points behind.

Palace: Kiraly, Lawrence (Martin 60), Hudson, Cort, Borrowdale, Kennedy (Butterfield 8), Fletcher, Soares, Freedman, Scowcroft, Morrison. Subs Not Used: Speroni, Ward, Grabban.

Booked: Scowcroft.

Goals: Morrison 45, 68.

Luton Beresford, Foley, Keane, Barnett, Emanuel, Langley, Spring, Robinson, Bell, Runstrom, Talbot (Morgan 73). Subs Not Used: Brill, O'Leary, Boyd, Asafu-Adjaye.
Sent Off: Langley (57).

Booked: Langley.

Goals: Hudson 55 og.

Att: 16,177
Ref: S Mathieson (Cheshire)


Posted by neil