Reaction to last night

Thought the game started at a frantic pace and that we were on top looking well up for it with the backing of the crowd. Our only threat however, was Zaha, and he didn't play well in the opening 20 minutes and was losing the ball far too often. Brighton started to get more into the game and strung some neat passing moves together, to which we rarely had an answer. Thought we were lucky not to be behind when Mackail-Smith's effort from 5 yards bounced back off Speroni.

To be fair we did come more into the game towards the end of the first half and with Zaha starting to cause problems, we found more space on the pitch and created some decent chances. This carried through to the second half and Zaha looked unplayable at times, but the only thing lacking was that final ball. Brighton were resorting to fouls and trying to grind the game down as they realised that the momentum had shifted towards us.

I thought that the Palace penalty was a fair decision. Zaha took the ball past Buckley who hung out his leg giving Wilf the chance to go over. There wasn't a great amount of contact, but there was some, and Buckley got none of the ball so the referee got this one right. After Martin dispatched the penalty I thought we played with so much more confidence. We had Brighton on the back foot and were threatening a second with Zaha and Clyne combining brilliantly down the right. Gardner was sweeping up everything that came his way at the back and Brighton looked as if they were giving up.

It was however, a moment of stupidity which led to our own downfall. The ball was rolling harmlessly towards Speroni and I don't know what possessed Clyne to try and dribble it out of our own box. In that situation, either Speroni has to call for it and collect, or Clyne boots the ball out of play - you should never try and dribble it out of your own box! Consequently, this leads to Buckley darting into the box and going over following a soft challenge by Clyne. The argument that Buckley dived is irrelevant in my opinion, he should never have been able to get into that position in the first place. Barnes puts away the penalty and all of a sudden the game is level, our good work is undone and Brighton get their confidence back... All because of a simple mistake at the back.

For the rest of the game I felt we went into our shells. With the equaliser the momentum shifted in Brighton's favour and it almost looked as if they were playing with an extra man in the closing stages. We were giving the ball away, lost our creativity while Buckley was getting past Parr as if he wasn't even there.

In the end the game went from one which we should have wrapped up and won comfortably, to one where we were lucky to hold on for a point. Both penalties were big turning points in the game, both leading to periods of sustained pressure by the side that scored them.

All in all I was disappointed we didn't get the three points as we looked so comfortable at 1-0. We hadn't played particularly well in the first half, but the second half showed what we can, and should do under the management of Dougie. One of my concerns is still the fact that we STILL sit back and invite pressure when trying to protect a result despite the fact it has led to our downfall on a number of occasions. Also, I feel that without Zaha, we had no threat and didn't look dangerous enough going forward. Easter runs around without actually doing much, and Scannell doesn't have the same skills as Zaha to beat a player. If Zaha had been sold yesterday, I look at our team and wonder where that creative spark would come from? Finally I thought the size of the crowd, although good in terms of volume, was extremely poor for a game against our biggest rivals. We saw the affect that getting behind the team has, and seeing so many empty seats yesterday was extremely disappointing and slightly embarrassing to be honest.

On the positive side, I'm pleased with the overall performance which was only ruined by a mistake at the back. I think that the way we defended was excellent for the most part, and Zaha seems to be getting more and more dangerous with every game. Finally, undefeated against Brighton and Milwall this season and gaining 8 points isn't a bad return at all.

Player Ratings

Speroni - 7 - Could do nothing about the goal but was well positioned to keep out Mackail-Smith in the first half then made an excellent stop towards the end.

Clyne - 6 - Was good going forward but the fact he gave away the ball in the lead up to the penalty is very frustrating given the fact that we were looking so comfortable.

Gardner - 9 - This might seem a bit high, but I honestly thought he was immense last night and didn't put a foot wrong. Strong in the air, calm on the ball and made some great tackles and interceptions at the back. Certainly believe that he was the best signing we made in the summer.

McShane - 7 - Had a very solid game at the back. Never looks likely to lose out in the air and his distribution out of defense was decent.

Parr - 5.5 - Was given a tough time at Cardiff and didn't perform brilliantly last night either. In the first half I thought he did well to keep Buckley quiet, but in the second half he practically lit up an aisle for Buckley to run through. The amount of times that Brighton's right winger got in behind in the closing stages was getting ridiculous!

Dikgacoi - 7 - Not afraid to get stuck in and clearly appreciated the significance of the occasion. Showed a cool head in midfield and played very well.

Jedinak - 6 - Didn't happen for him last night. He did well to break down play in the middle but his distribution was very poor.

Scannell - 7 - Had a decent game on the left and worked extremely hard both going forward and working back to help out with Buckley. In fact, Buckley's late surge seemed to coincide with the substitution of Scannell.

Zaha - 8 - Had a slow start to the game but once he got going showed exactly why he is a wanted talent. Brighton couldn't handle him in the second half and he was smart in winning the penalty. His only problem continues to be his final ball - if he sorts that out we could end up getting a hefty transfer fee for him.

Easter - 6 - Puts himself about up front but with little reward most of the time. His hold up play was good but he seems more suited to coming off the bench as an impact sub.

Martin - 8 - Thought last night was his best performance in a Palace shirt. Showed bundles of energy and got into good spaces in order to bring the wide players into play. Dispatched the penalty with a cool head given the current focus on our spot kicks and seemed to kick on from there.

Subs: Ambrose, Murray, Garvan... None really had time to make an impact, but at the time they came on Brighton were beginning to dominate after their goal.

Comment Deleted by Site Moderator

Brilliant report from Carpie. We've missed them! Next best thing to being there for us exiles!

Carpie..........................That was no match report, that was a novel!

Good to have you back bud

Haha cheers guys it's nice to be back with familiar names Hadn't actually intended it to be that long but ended up getting a bit carried away! Need to start my proper match reports again soon.

That was a good read Carpie, I forgot about that Speroni save!

Hastings, I see the policing issue has caused a bit of a stir in the local papers as well. What happened in the AW (I mean Park Road Stand)? I assume you only found out you were getting locked in when they announced it at full time?

Generally I park up near the top so that I can leave a couple of minutes early from the Arthur and be just about on my way as the game finishes. This makes all the difference in getting away from the ground sensibly.
With the Millwall game fresh in my mind, where we had to walk all around the ground to get to the top of Park road(I was in the Holmesdale that day, due to being moved), I thought I would pre-empt any similar debacle and parked near the Clifton down the bottom.
As usual when the last couple of minutes were announced,I stood at the back of the steps with my stepson and watched the last gasps of a Palace build up and then the whistle went.
We were on the steps leading up with a fair few fans in front of us when the announcement went, asking for us to remain in our seats due to safety reasons whilst the away fans would to be let out first. Well that announcement was a bit late by then as when I looked behind me, there were plenty of fans streaming out and up onto the steps. There were probably three or four police at the top of the steps with one or two stewards trying to keep the fans from going any further.
It was an uncomfortable situation with the steps now full and others pushing from behind. There were many shouts asking for us to be let out, mainly by people that had a long way to go and generally shouting that it should be the away fans that should be kept in. There were a few renditions of "We're supposed to be at home". After what could have only been two minutes, the swell of the crowd brushed aside the Police attempts to keep us all back and us first lot were able to at least stand on a flat area of the concourse whilst the away fans all streamed out, taking the you know what.
My thoughts at that time were more about getting away from the ground late now and I was aware of Norwood High St being one way and Tennyson rd being closed and all the traffic chaos that would ensure.
After what must have been fifteen minutes and no sign of any away fans, a steward opened just one half of a gate from the outside of the ground.
All those fans then had to try to get out of an opening around the width of three doorways whilst the other section of the gate remainded locked. Many fans screamed at the steward to open the gate as we were beginning to get a bit crushed in the melee to get out.
He did not however open the other section. Behind him I could see about twenty/thirty Police looking on from across the road. After I squeezed out, I went to the nearest copper, a WPC and asked her to please get the other side of the gate open as there was a likely hood of people being crushed in there. To be far, that might sound a bit dramatic now but at the time, I was aware that my seventy year old dad was in there somewhere as were other elderly people and a good many women and kids. She went over towards the gate but I don't know the outcome as I was by then walking up the road, about to turn right to go down Holmesdale Rd when I was confronted by a wall....
It stretched the length of the road from the stadium wall and onto the pavement where it met the walls/gardens of the private houses on the left. There were plenty of "WTFs" and "They are taking the ...." going on by the few fans that were beginning to congregate in front of it. You certainly couldn't have got over it, being about 8 foot+ high.
A choice now of walking all round the houses or climbing over the wall of the private house and into the gardens had to be made.A lot of people where cold and brassed off by then and this was the final straw so we started climbing over the walls/gardens and we were then faced with another 'kin wall;this wall had about ten police in front of it, although not facing us.
There were a couple of Police vehicles in between the walls that were around thirty metres apart.
As about ten of us got halfway between the walls, a couple of Police noticed us and hurried towards us, shouting to their colleagues that "The Palace are getting past the wall". The first of us were asked what we thought we were doing and we explained that our cars were the other side of the wall and others were saying that's the way they need to go home. The Police let us few carry on to then jump back into the gardens to negotiate the second wall whilst they went up to those others that were now following our lead. I don't know if they were allowed to continue, but I guess judging by the way we were greeted, that they would have been prevented from doing so.
I would say that all the nonsense added about an hour onto my journey which did annoy me. When you live quite a distance away, you have to plan your day/days around the match far more than someone local that can just finish work, have a bit of dinner and pop up to the game.
The journey home did though give me and the stepson plenty of time to reflect on whether we could be bothered to continue with the big games anymore and do we really enjoy it all as much as we used to anyway?
So for me, the experience wasn't a good one, but I wouldn't go to the trouble of officially complaining. I will be more selective on the games I choose in the future and I feel the biggest losers are CPFC in the long run until this sort of thing is handled correctly.

I've never seen that many police at a football game before and most of them stood around doing nothing. I got the train in from East Croydon to Selhurst and met my friend at the station as he came down from Victoria. At East Croydon there was about 5 or 6 police up where the ticket machines are but when I got down to the platform there was about 20 weed fans right next to me and no police. When the train arrived at Selhurst we all met on the platform and there's only 1 exit from the platform and again no police. But down by the ticket machines again there's 5 or 6 police stood about. It makes you wonder

1) If there was going to be trouble there would have been because there was no one there to stop it.
2) Why do we need so many police standing about in wrong areas? And who's paying for this?

I think some people have worded their argument wrong which seems has lost it's purpose. I agree with what you're saying that it's more than just walking a bit further to your car. We all just want to turn up and support the team and have a good time and not be treated like drunks on a Saturday night. There's a lot of older people and young children going who can't stand about on the stairs on a cold day. Also if people had to go to work early the next day. I understand the same applies to the away fans but surely that's something you expect to happen?

Anyway there is nothing we can do now that it's happened. The thing that people want to know is that it doesn't happen again but that statement from the police seem to suggest nothing will change. It's a shame because the real losers are CPFC.

Seems to me that a chunk of the problem is the lack of knowledge beforehand. If fans had known about road closures before the game then maybe they wouldn't have parked where they did. There were rumours about the temporary fence for example on other sites and although closing roads and letting the away fans out first is logical again let the fans know about it earlier.

Carpie,a great read,good to have you back on board,miss the 'ol match reports.

Good stuff all round from all on this thread,shame the result didn't match the posts here.