Honours even after an initially breathless encounter

One of the most exciting first halves of the season saw the lead swing both ways in a full-blooded affair.

Palace opened the scoring, with the run of play, on 12 minutes when Mark Hudson met Ben Watson's free-kick with a firm header which gave nervous rookie keeper Jan Budtz no chance. But barely had the strains of Glad All Over died down before pre-season Palace trialist (spotting a theme here at all?) Jay Bothroyd jabbed his head at a firm left wing cross and the ball looped up and over Gabor Kiraly for the equaliser.

Nine minutes later, Bothroyd struck again, this time turning the otherwise excellent Hudson inside and out before slotting past the advancing Kiraly. Palace went on the offensive with Jobi McAnuff as the main architect and the Wolves defence had to resort to strongarm tactics to deal with him. Budtz then totally misjudged the flight of a high ball allowing Shefki Kuqi to bustle past him and slot home from an acute angle. Although the contact between the two was minimal at beat, the referee saw enough to disallow the goal, despite all of the Wolves players lining up for kick-off and the keeper himself disconsolately booting the ball back to the centre spot.

Kuqi had a major hand in Palace’s equaliser a few moments later, however, racing onto a long clearance and wrong-footing the Wolves defence with a square ball for the onrushing McAnuff, who slammed a first-time shot past the bewildered Budtz.

On the next attack the Wolves keeper then feigned contact between himself and Morrison, which further incensed the Palace crowd. With tempers running high, MCAnuff was again put through but a cynical slashing tackle from Little, already booked for a similar offence, reduced Wolves to 10-men. Quite what he had to argue about for so long was a mystery – he was lucky it wasn’t a straight red.

As correct as the decision was, it did take much of the sting out of the game as Wolves regrouped defensively and Palace, as usual, lacked any cutting edge despite plenty of offensive play.

Early in the second half Palace squandered two good chances to go ahead after the break, Kuqi firing horribly wide after racing onto McAnuff's pass before Tom Soares headed straight at Budtz. Clinton Morrison was also twice unmarked in the Wolves six-yard box but could not get a touch on heavy crosses from Matt Lawrence. On 65 minutes, Budtz then got lucky to scramble away a trademark Leon Cort header from a corner and Morrison was intercepted just as he attempted to net the rebound.
McAnuff had a couple of shots deflected wide, before his tiring legs gave up and he was replaced. In the unseasonal sweltering heat and Wolves stifling tactics the game petered out, with Mark Kennedy’s late free-kick which he fired just over being the close either side came to breaking the deadlock.

Palace: Kiraly, Lawrence, Hudson, Cort, Borrowdale,McAnuff (Kennedy 78), Watson, Fletcher, Soares (Ifill 60),Morrison, Kuqi (Scowcroft 73). Subs Not Used: Speroni, Butterfield.

Booked: Morrison.

Goals: Hudson 12, McAnuff 37.

Wolverhampton Budtz, Little, Breen, Craddock, McNamara,Kightly (Mark Davies 83), Potter, Olofinjana,McIndoe (Neill Collins 45), Bothroyd (Ward 64), Keogh. Subs Not Used: Hennessey, Gleeson.

Sent Off: Little (43).

Booked: Little, Bothroyd.

Goals: Bothroyd 13, 22.

Att: 17,981
Ref: M Thorpe (Suffolk).


Posted by neil