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Crystal
Palace v West Bromwich Albion
Selhurst Park,
South Norwood. 20th September 2003, 3.00pm. |
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This was a mixed performance
from Albion. They were the better side throughout without really
dominating the game and consequently never had enough of a grip
to hold out for the victory despite going ahead twice in the second
half.
Megson thankfully reverted to 3-5-2 but with Gilchrist in the back
line to replace the injured Volmer, O'Connor was left out with Gregan,
Johnson and Koumas making up the midfield. Hughes partnered Hulse
up front with N'Dour making his debut in place of Clement.
After a couple of early efforts on goal from the hie side, Albion's
first effort came from a quick throw in by AJ that put Lee Hughes
away. He cut inside and shot from 15 yards forcing Berthelin into
a smart save. Palace had another chance when Freedman shot over
but then the game descended into a scrappy midfield battle for much
of the remainder of the first half.
After a meat run and shot from Koumas that failed to trouble the
goal, Siggy went in for a challenge on Palace's Andrew Johnson and
got booked and injured for his troubles. That forced Mesgon into
a change with O'Connor taking the field with Gregan dropping back
into defence. The change seemed to liven up the visitors as Koumas
followed up a nice piece of skill with a shot that struck the post,
with O'Connor's follow up blocked by Borrowdale. Much as Albion
tried, they failed to make a breakthrough before half time.
The second half was much brighter and started with a Palace penalty
claim as Haas and Freedman clashed which was turned down by the
referee. Seconds later, AJ left a backpass short but Hoult just
managed to beat Freedman to the ball.
There were chances at both ends with first Hughes and then Freedman
going close before the Baggies took the lead on 52 minutes. A defensive
error saw the ball fall for N'Dour and his throughball was picked
up by HULSE who beat Berthelin with a volley from 15 yards.
It should have been two minutes later when Haas got to the byline
and pulled the ball back for Hughes, but the Ninja could only fire
over the bar. Then on 59 minutes, Albion gifted Palace an equaliser.
Gaardsoe played the ball into O'Connor just outside the Albion area,
but the Irish international was slow to react and Andrew Johnson
nicked the ball from him, raced to the byline and squared it for
FREEDMAN to tap in from four yards.
On 63 minutes, Hughes, who was not having his most successful afternoon,
was replaced by Dobie. Seven minutes later, the referee got a bit
close to a tackle between O'Connor and Michael Hughes and went down
pole-axed. A lengthy stoppage ensued resulting in the referee being
stretchered off.
The game again descended into mediocrity punctuated by the odd Albion
effort. A Koumas cross just evaded Dobie's head and when he did
connect from a Gregan flick on, he didn't get any power and the
'keeper collected with ease. But then, it looked like victory had
been snatched on 89 minutes when KOUMAS curled a free kick into
the corner from 30 yards.
But it was not to be. The injury to the referee meant that 8 minutes
of stoppage time had to be played and in the fifth of those, a shot
by Derry was well saved by Hoult but with the Albion defence static,
Andrew JOHNSON reacted quickest to the rebound and slotted it past
Hoult for the equaliser.
So three points turned to one thanks to a defence that didn't seem
quite so solid without Volmer and Sigurdsson. After the Carling
Cup trip to Hartlepool on Tuesday, we turn to two very important
home games when six points will put us back on track.
RESULT - CRYSTAL PALACE 2 WEST BROMWICH
ALBION 2
Marks
Hoult - 7 - Fairly solid - can't be blamed for the goals.
Sigurdsson - 7 - His departure was key to the performance.
Gaardsoe - 6 - No better than average.
Gilchrist - 6 - Ditto.
Haas - 6 - One or two marauding runs down the wing, but not as good
as he has been.
Johnson - 7 - Good solid performance from AJ.
Gregan - 6 - His lack of pace is beginning to tell.
Koumas - 7 - MOM. Has played much better but he was the best on
show.
N'Dour - 6 - Did OK, jury's out on whether he'll be better than
Clem.
Hulse - 7 - Good goal, decent performance.
Hughes - 6 - Disappointing show from Hughesey.
O'Connor - 6 - Not his best display.
Dobie - 6 - Didn't do much considering he was on for half an hour.
Dichio - 6 - Not on long enough to make an impact.
The Manager - 6 - I would've preferred to see O'Connor in the middle
rather than Greegs, but then again he didn't do much when he came
on. I think the substitutions lacked inspiration - maybe Sakiri
(for O'Connor) would've been a better bet to add some flair but
the Macedonian failed to make the bench.
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Crystal
Palace (3-4-1-2):
Berthelin; Smith (Fleming 68), Popovic (Symons 60), Mullins; Butterfield,
Hughes, Derry, Borrowdale; Johnson; Freedman (Routledge 79), Shipperley.
Subs not used: Watson, Cronin. |
West
Bromwich Albion (3-5-2):
Hoult; Sigurdsson (O'Connor 35), Gaardsoe, Gilchrist; Haas, Johnson,
Gregan, Koumas, N'Dour; Hughes (Dobie 62), Hulse (Dichio 90+5).
Subs not used: Murphy (GK), Clement.
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Scoring: Hulse (52)
0-1, Freedman (59) 1-1, Koumas (89) 1-2, Johnson (90+5) 2-2.
Bookings: Crystal Palace - Mullins (foul 16), Derry (foul 56), Symons
(foul 89). West Bromwich Albion - Gaardsoe (foul 20), Sigurdsson
(foul 31), Gregan (foul 38), Hulse (foul 47), Gilchrist (foul 81).
Referee: P Danson (Leicestershire).
Attendance: 17,477 |
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