Crystal Palace (2) v West Bromwich Albion (2)

Up To Second
By Stuart Kidson
September 20 2003

A sunny day in South London was the setting for this encounter between Palace and The Baggies but it all ended honours even despite Palace having the better of the game.

Crystal Palace (2) v West Bromwich Albion (2)
Selhurst Park, Saturday 20th September 2003

There must be some weird football god unhappy with the Baggies this week as he has decreed that two former Blues players were set to break Baggies hearts. First it was Geoff Horsfield at Wigan on Tuesday night and today it was Andrew Johnson who nicked a draw for Palace in the 6th minute of injury time.

Four changes were made by Gary Megson for this tie in South London, with Alassane N’Dour making his first team debut in place of Neil Clement while Phil Gilchrist started for the first time this season replacing Joost Volmer at left back. Artim Sakiri did not make the squad due to a twisted ankle as predicted by the national daily newspapers and Andy Johnson and Lee Hughes returned to the starting line up.

It was the home side who had the first chance when Danny Butterfield crossed for Neil Shipperley but the former Dons player saw his header sail over the crossbar. Minutes later Albion were again pressed back and it was ex-Bluenose Andrew Johnson who let fly with a stunning drive from 20 yards but Baggies shot stopper Russell Hoult was equal to the attempt and dealt with the shot with ease.

Albion’s reply came courtesy of Lee Hughes when he was picked out by Andy Johnson with a quick throw in. The ex roofer beat Jamie Smith and found himself with only Cedric Berthelin to beat but directed his shot straight at the Eagles keeper. Referee Mr. Paul Danson, who up until today had shown a total of 22 yellow cards this season, added to his tally when he booked Curtis Mullins for a heavy challenge on Jason Koumas. This was quickly followed by the Baggies first booking for Thomas Gaardsoe for a challenge on former Dingle Dougie Freedman.

Albion lacked any form of unity in the opening 20 minutes of the half and the game was controlled by Palace. The three man attack of Palace was causing problems for the Albion defence and Palace were unlucky not to have taken a commanding lead. The Baggies finally started to come to life after 28 minutes when Koumas saw his shot go inches high over the home side crossbar.

Larus Sigurdsson was the next player to be booked after his challenge on Johnson and it was the Baggies defender who came out of the encounter worse off, requiring treatment from Physio Nick Worth. The Icelandic international was unable to shake off his injury and the Albion were forced into their first change. James O’Connor came on which meant that Captain Sean Gregan moved back into defence. Gregan then became the next player to be booked following a tackle on Shipperley as both sides played out a tedious round of head tennis in the centre of the park.

Albion were unlucky not to go into the break in the lead when Koumas hit a speculative shot from outside of the area. His effort hit the far post and rebounded back into play but it was Palace who reacted quicker and cleared their lines. Rob Hulse then managed to get himself booked following a tussle with Tony Popovic which saw Freedman run a full 40 yards back to try and get Hulse into deeper trouble by pointing out that this was Hulse’s third infringement.

The second half saw Albion again pushed back by the home side and Freedman had his half hearted appeals for a penalty dismissed when he took an acrobatic dive in the box straight from the kick off following a collision with Bernt Haas. Freedman almost punished the Baggies minutes later though when he reacted quicker to a very tame back pass by Johnson. Hoult came running off his line and somehow managed to beat Freedman to the ball and managed to clear the ball.

Hughes got behind the Palace back line but somehow managed to scuff his shot and sent the ball flying wide of the mark. Following the goal kick Freedman again found himself with acres of space but his shot was pushed away by Hoult for a corner. The first goal of the afternoon came against the run of play when debutant N’Dour played a perfectly weighted chip over the |Palace defence for Hulse to run onto. Hulse beat the oncoming Palace keeper to the ball and poked home to send the 3000 strong away support through the roof. Hughes could have doubled the score line minutes later but his shot was wayward and went into the Holmesdale Stand.

Shaun Derry became the next victim of Mr. Danson’s little black book for his challenge on Hughes which saw the Baggies striker requiring treatment. Palace equalized just on 59 minutes when Freedman pounced on a low ball from Johnson to score from close range. The goal shook the Baggies and Palace almost took the lead a few minutes later when Shipperley headed wide.

Gary Megson decided that Hughes had contributed enough to the afternoons activities and sent on Scott Dobie for the injured frontman, while Palace also made a change and replaced Popovic with Kit Symons. Albion were continually pushed back by Palace with blonde striker Johnson causing no end of problems for the Baggies defence.

The most bizarre incident of the game occurred in the 70th minute when Mr. Danson was laid out cold following a collision with O’Connor, Johnson and Palace’s Michael Hughes. It appeared that Mr. Danson was caught by a stray elbow and collapsed in a heap, lying motionless for a while until both Pyshios and the St. John’s Ambulance could get to him. The referee was carried off the pitch and into a waiting ambulance with what turned out to be concussion. His replacement Mr. S. Tomlinson restarted play and Johnson kicked the drop ball back to the Palace keeper.

The game continued and in the 87th minute the Albion were awarded a free kick some 30 yards from goal. Up stepped Welsh wizard Koumas who casually slotted a stunning kick past the static Palace keeper and again sent the away fans barmy.

However, the aforementioned football god with the twisted sense of humour soon put a stop to the celebrations when Hoult could only parry a shot from outside the box into the path of Johnson who made no mistake in leveling the score in the last minute of the 8 minutes of injury time.

Palace were unlucky not to have taken all three points from the game and the Albion faithful realized just how lucky they had been to come away with a draw. The saying goes that the sign of a good team is one that plays badly and still gets something from the game, well so far this season the Baggies have proved this statement to be correct.

Outside the stadium Palace fans went looking for trouble with stray Albion fans. No surprises when they chose a 13 year old girl and a 14 year old boy to be the victims of their hard man image. Prompt action by the Police prevented the situation escalating and the sight of the Palace ‘hardmen’ stood in a line against the wall by a petite WPC from the Met gave the Baggies fans on the coaches with a good laugh as they pulled away.

Man of the Match, selected by Joe Evans aged 16 of Smethwick – Rob Hulse

Teams:
PALACE: Berthelin, Smith, Popovic, Mullins, Borrowdale, Buttefield, Derry, Hughes M.,Freedman, Johnson, Shipperley
Subs: Fleming, Symons, Watson, Routledge, Cronin

BAGGIES: Hoult, Sigurdsson, Gaardsoe, Gilchrist, Haas, Johnson, Gregan, Koumas, N’Dour, Hughes L., Hulse
Subs: Dobie, Clement, O’Connor, Dichio, Murphy