| Crystal Palace 2 (1) | Tranmere Rovers 1 (1) |
| Ndah 38' | Branch 40' |
| Hopkin 86' | . |
Team : Martyn, Edworthy, Gordon, Roberts, Tuttle, Hopkin, Pitcher, Houghton, Freedman, Ndah, Andersen.
Subs : Veart (Ndah 60), Dyer (Freedman 80), Rodger (Pitcher 83).
Attendance : 13,183 . . . . . . Referee: I Hemley
Ray Bateup's Report / Simon Gleave's Report
Alyson Rudd of The Times Report.
Nothing epitomised the new confidence of Crystal Palace more than their winning goal in last night's Endsleigh Insurance League first division match at Selhurst Park. A poor clearance fell at the feet of David Hopkin, who, notwithstanding the frenetic pace of the match and the fact that only three minutes remained, contemplated the top left-hand corner of the goal and, from 20 yards out, struck the ball into it with precision, arrogance and nerve.
At some point, Dave Bassett, the Palace manager, will have to introduce a note of sobriety. Palace badly needed something to boost flagging self-belief and Bassett provided it, but now, after a fifth successive home victory, the biggest threat to promotion is overconfidence.
John King, the Tranmere Rovers manager, looked as if he had come up against a side that had made a pact with the devil. "I can't ask for a great deal more from my players, we played some good football," he said, sounding slightly shell-shocked. There was a sense of inevitability about Palace's victory. Every one of their players had a spring in his step and, if it waned, Bassett made changes.
The former Sheffield United manager substituted Ndah, who had put Palace ahead in the 38th minute, Pitcher and Freedman, who chose club ahead of country last night after being selected for the Scotland Under-21 match against Hungary.
Bassett spied some evidence of overconfidence in the first half performance and the second 45 minutes saw a more forthright display. Little wonder praise is being heaped on Bassett. Little wonder, too, he shrugs it off, having seen as many highs and lows at Sheffield.
In terms of the chances created, Palace deserved to win. Tuttle, signed last week from Sheffield United, should have opened their account in the 25th minute, but blasted wide. The shots came thick and fast after the interval. Freedman wasted a clear sight of goal when an injury to Rogers gave him a free run into the penalty area. His deftly-arched shot in the 63rd minute was better, but inches off target. Houghton tempted a long-range dipping shot his trademark but that too was marginally overhit.
Tranmere's equaliser in the fortieth minute was as much due to some crazy defending as Branch's clinical finish, but it shook them free of their rather cautious approach and, for the opening 15 minutes of the second period, they created several openings, most the result of Nevin's nimble footwork. Palace's spirit was the stronger, though, and gradually Tranmere were forced to take what chances they could on the break.
CRYSTAL PALACE (5-2-3): N Martyn M Edworthy, L Andersen, D Tuttle, A Roberts, D Gordon R Houghton, D Pitcher (sub: S Rodger, 84min) D Hopkin, D Freedman (sub: B Dyer, 80), G Ndah (sub: C Veart, 61).
TRANMERE ROVERS (4-3-3): D Coyne T Thomas, G Stevens, S Teale, A Rogers P Nevin, G Brannan, P Cook I Moore, J Aldridge, G Branch (sub: G Bennett, 79).
Palace find themselves in 3rd place tonight just ahead of Charlton on goal difference. But this performance was well below the standard that we have come to expect of Palace in recent weeks. Chances came Palace's way as early as the 2nd minute when a looping Hopkin effort was well saved and another Hopkin effort was headed against the post from close range 3 minutes later from an Ndah cross.
Palace were finding it very difficult to make headway against the North West side, but Tuttle came close in the 25th minute after Andersen failed to connect with a cross from the right, but his snapped shot went just wide of the upright.
Palace just about deserved to take the lead when Roberts lofted a long ball into the box and the Tranmere full-back's poor first touch let Ndah in to score his first goal of the season sending his right foot shot into the roof of the net from 7 yards.
However, the Eagles slender lead was short-lived and Tranmere squared things up 2 minutes later when Branch, lurking just outside the area, ran on to Aldridge's square pass and sidefooted past Martyn from 15 yards. So a scrappy first half came to an end and regretably the fare wasn't much better in the second half.
A catalogue of missed chances and misplaced passes categorised most of the play, although to be fair, Palace did find themselves entrenched in the Tranmere half of the field for long periods. Ndah, Freedman, Houghton and Hopkin all had good chances to extend Palace's lead but poor finishing was the order of the day.
It was always going to take a something special to take all three points from this game and fortunately for Palace that special moment came 4 minutes from time, when Hopkin accepted a square pass from substitute Dyer and let fly a curling right foot shot from the edge of the area, which kindly dippped just under the bar to give Palace a victory they just barely deserved.
Now Palace must dip into their reserves and recapture the sort of form that will give them an automatic promotion place if one of the front runners should falter.
Ray Bateup
On a bitterly cold evening, Crystal Palace kept up their excellent recent run with their 5th home victory in a row. However, for the third match running, the lack of creativity was again apparent and it really is time to question how far this Palace team can go.
The match was poor for the first two thirds with neither team able to break down their opposition. Palace had a few half chances and one good chance when Tuttle missed an open goal from 9 yards after a mix-up from a corner. It was clear though that Palace were off colour as some of the players were performing well below par.
The first clearcut chance was the goal itself - an appalling backpass from ex England right back, Gary Stevens was intercepted by George Ndah who joyfully smashed it past the keeper. His face was a picture after scoring this goal but he contributed little else to the game and was eventually substituted by new boy, Carl Veart in the second half.
Disaster was to befall Palace soon after scoring though; a Palace move broke down on the right with 3 or 4 players arguing and Tranmere took full advantage by attacking in numbers. The move looked like it would break down as players got back but the ball was passed across to the other side of the area where Graham Branch was running in to equalise. This was virtually the only chance Tranmere created all evening but this was only due to the excellence of the Palace defence.
Half-Time: Palace 1 Tranmere 1
The second half was a lot better but there were few shots on target from either team. Andy Roberts was as calm as ever at the back while Leif Andersen had his best game for Palace yet, particularly in the crafty fouling stakes. Carl Veart looked industrious when he came on and at one point looked to be clean through before a last ditch tackle robbed him.
Freedman was the real disappointment as he was restricted to two long shots and was frequently found out on the right wing or deep in midfield. It was no surprise when Dyer came on but with 10 minutes left, it was surely far too late.
The game certainly looked to be heading for a draw as Tranmere attacked with only Andersen and Roberts back. Roberts tackled and Andersen craftily shoved his man over as the ball looked like breaking to him. No whistle so Andersen booted the ball out of defence. Tranmere looked to be in no danger as the ball was with Hopkin on the left but all of a sudden he unleashed a magnificent shot which looped in off the bar - a goal 4 minutes from time that will surely have few contenders for goal of the season.
The rest of the game was played out and another victory had been achieved.
Man of the Match: Not many contenders for this but for a masterful performance of off the ball fouling and winning everything in the air, the man of the match award goes to LEIF ANDERSEN.
Simon Gleave