Crystal Palace v Scunthorpe United

Saturday, April 12, 2008

Football League Championship

Crystal Palace :
Speroni, Butterfield, Hudson, Fonte, Hill, Soares, Derry (Fletcher 74), Watson, Sinclair, Moses (Scannell 66), Morrison (Robinson 83)
Subs not used:
Reid, Hills

Scunthorpe United :
Murphy, Byrne, Iriekpen, Butler, Williams, Forte, McCann (Hayes 62), Goodwin, Morris, Paterson, Horsfield (Weston 71)
Subs not used:
Lillis, Hobbs, May

OPPOSITION VIEW

FROM THE SOUTH LONDON PRESS

ALAN Hansen once famously said you can never win anything with kids - but you probably won’t find anyone at Palace subscribing to that view.

Because the Eagles’ hopes of being in next month’s play-offs would have been dead and buried long ago if it wasn’t for the youngsters.

Prospects such as Sean Scannell and Lee Hills really got Palace out of a fix during Neil Warnock’s early months in charge - taking their chance with real gusto and injecting much-needed freshness and enthusiasm into a side that had been floundering.

And now the South Londoners seem set to rely heavily on the impudent talents of Victor Moses and Scott Sinclair to ensure they do finish in the top six.

Employed wide by Warnock, the pair are tormenting opposing defences with their pace and trickery.

Moses, in particular, seems to take devilish pride in harassing his marker into a state of weary submission, the latest victim being poor old Cliff Byrne.

The Palace young gun roasted the Scunthorpe right-back so many times that Byrne was in danger of becoming chargrilled - and from two such runs he supplied crosses that left Tom Soares and Clinton Morrison with the simplest of close-range finishes.

But Moses went off midway through the second half, just as he did in last Monday’s big win at Stoke after suffering an ankle injury. And Warnock’s side looked far less potent without him, a similar story when he was forced off at the Britannia.

Although to be fair to Palace, they perhaps eased through the second half. But if that was the case it could prove costly.

You could make the point that with testing trips to Watford and Hull coming up, there was no need to expend extra energy into rattling in a few more goals. But with seventh-placed Ipswich having an inferior goal difference by just two, it might be a factor.

There was no gleeful post-match punch from Warnock, perhaps due to the fact that this result relegated Scunthorpe, one of his former clubs.

But the Iron, sportingly applauded off the pitch by the home fans at the final whistle, went down with the quietest of whimpers and, apart from the final 10 minutes, with a startling lack of urgency. Palace could have won by a greater margin, especially in the first 45 minutes when they played some of the best football seen at Selhurst Park this season.

And the second goal of the afternoon showed the confidence which is coursing through them. Morrison and Sinclair both flicked the ball on with their heels before Soares got the ball out to Moses, who drove it across for Morrison to head over the line.

When the Eagles don’t have James Scowcroft available they lose the option of going more direct in their approach and they played to their strengths, bringing the ball down and continually looking for Moses and Sinclair.

The current system also suits Soares, who prefers a more central midfield role where he can drive at the opposition.

But if Scowcroft does recover from his hamstring injury before the season finishes, that also looks another great option for the Eagles - you could see Sinclair and Moses thriving on the big man’s knockdowns and flicks.

Everything just seems to have clicked at the right time for Palace, now unbeaten in nine matches, and that bodes well for their play-off hopes.

Their defence looks solid, keeper Julian Speroni keeping his 11th clean sheet of the season, the midfield full of invention, with Soares beginning to weigh in with goals, and Morrison, whose poaching abilities in the box could be key in the high-pressure games to come, boosting his confidence by ending a seven-game lean spell.

Palace have yet to score more than two goals at home under Warnock but could easily have surpassed that tally after the break.

Morrison’s delightful reverse pass to Sinclair was disappointingly blazed over the bar and the former went much closer when Byrne’s horribly sliced clearance fell into his path.

Scunthorpe’s best chances came when they finally sparked into life in the closing moments, Izzy Iriekpen’s header crashed against the post and Andy Butler fired a great opportunity over the bar.

Palace made it five games at home without defeat but only a disappointing 15,975 - a couple of thousand more than the March matches against Cardiff and Colchester - were at Selhurst to see it.

The majority of fans who have drifted away in the past couple of years are not showing signs of returning yet, even if Warnock’s men - and kids - are giving their all to make it back to the Premier League.