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Merson
chopped and changed the starting line up again. He set it up so we would keep it
tight at the back, then hope to hit the Eagles on the break.
The
Walsall back 5 looked extremely solid. It was an unusual system deployed by
Merson. Something we haven't really seen before. Wrack and Wright were being
used as wingers, only to move in to more attacking positions when we had the
ball.
Zigor
and Bazeley were deep wing backs.
Neither
side got off to a flying start, but we did well in frustrating Palace.
Palace only had 2 noticeable efforts inside the opening 20 minutes, and they
were long range shots from Julian Grey.
Darren
Wrack registered our first shot on goal on 25 minutes. He hammered a Julian Grey
clearance way over the bar.
Palace
should have broken the deadlock on the half hour mark. A sustained period
pressure saw Popovic, Derry and Shipperley all miss good chances from set piece
situations. Jimmy's save from Shipperley was out of this world.
Walker
went on to make another fine save, denying a close range effort from the
dangerous Andy Johnson. The Saddlers had done well keeping tabs on the divisions
hottest marksmen.
Our
best chance of the half came courtesy of some good work from Mark Wright, who
sent in a dangerous cross which Darren Wrack was centimeters away from
connecting with.
Walsall
fans were left holding there breath when Paul Ritchie chased Andy Johnson down
the right flank before sliding in taking Johnson and the ball out of the game.
(We all know the kind of the typical Ritchie challenge). Ritchie was awarded a
Yellow Card.
HT
- Palace 0-0 Walsall
Palace
had most of the possession in the second half, but we looked as solid as ever at
the back. For once our defence was playing as a single unit. Zigor and Bazeley
were making challenges, rather than letting their opponents whip dangerous balls
in to the box.
Palace
had a succession of Second Half corners, but Jim Walker came out plucked most of
them out of the air. A point was beginning to look a serious possibility.
We
managed a few good efforts on goal ourselves. Bradbury hit a shot straight n to
the arms of Vaesen. Wright went on a run which ended in a speculative effort
that had the Palace fans hold their breath as the ball dipped dangerously on to
the roof of the net. Our final chance of the game came courtesy of Jorge Leitao
who went on a long run down the touch line, cut in to the box and sent the ball
wide of the post.
With
five minutes left to play Palace were awarded a penalty. Having had a couple of
good shouts prior to this one , it was hard to take. This was the dodgiest
of them all. Blacks path was blocked by Ritchie as he tried jink his way around
the Walsall defence. Black fell over rather theatrically. He could have
kept his feet. However, there was denying that Ritchie had blocked his path. Had
it been in the other penalty area we would have wanted the same.
Jimmy
managed to save Johnson's initial effort, but AJ slammed home the rebound to
send the Selhurst faithful wild. We threw on Matty Fryatt and pushed
Emblen up front but we never looked like getting back in to the game. This
defeat was hard to stomach. We had done everything right. Kept it tight, been
sensible, tried to hit them on the break.
The
players showed more commitment in this one game than they had under Colin Lee
since January. We played on the edge. Wright, Osborn and Ritchie were all lucky
not to have seen red. All three made some pretty rash challenges. Ritchie's
reaction to the penalty decision should have got him his second Yellow.
Those
fans thinking of criticising the Ref should praise his leniency. Some of the
Clowns we have seen this season would have made this one a card fest.
The
performance on Jim Walker was simply outstanding. He was head and shoulders
above any other player on the pitch.
FT
- Palace 1-0 Walsall |
