Bristol City storm past Palace
by Joseph Caron Dawe, 13 May 2008
Bristol City beat Crystal Palace 2-1 after extra time at Ashton Gate on Tuesday evening to record a 4-2 aggregate result over their Championship rivals and progress to the play-off final.
A spectacular goal won the first leg for City at Selhurst Park on Saturday and that was the case again on this occasion as they deservedly beat their opponents on the night.
Ben Watson had given Palace the lead midway through the first half to level the scores on aggregate and he then missed a second-half penalty, before Lee Trundle’s impressive finish in the first half of extra time gave his side the advantage with 15 minutes left to play.
Then, with 10 minutes left Michael McIndoe stepped up and drilled a low free-kick home from 25 yards to book a Wembley final for his side on May 24.
The home side wasted no time in settling at the start of the game and after just two minutes Mark Hudson was forced to head off his own line after Julian Speroni’s poor punch clear allowed Marvin Elliott a header on target as Gary Johnson’s side made a bright start.
Trundle headed straight at the Palace keeper shortly after as the hosts built up a head of steam, and in a rare one of their sporadic forays forward Palace had a penalty appeal turned down as Scott Sinclair tricked his way into the area and stumbled over.
As Palace tried to force their way back into the reckoning after their opponents’ brisk start, they were gifted the opener when Jamie McCombe and Adriano Basso’s communication failed when both went for the ball inside their own area. The keeper came to punch but McCombe headed away. Only as far as Watson though, whose header from the edge of the 18-yard area flew over the scrambling Basso and in for a 24th-minute lead for the visitors.
Nick Carle had a shot deflected over after a fleet-footed run and McCombe looped a header just over the bar as he looked to make amends for his earlier mistake.
The second half saw The Robins start as they had in the first and Dele Adebola had a header saved immediately, but for all their dominance in the opening quarter of an hour of the second period they could not find a way through when they reached the final third of the pitch.
Palace youngster Sean Scannell’s explosive run drew a saving challenge from Hudson and at the other end Adebola was denied a similarly tantalising chance with a last-gasp tackle from Clint Hill.
The tie looked to have reached a major turning point in the 72nd minute when Tom Soares won a penalty – a contentious one at that – out of Carle. Watson stepped up but struck the base of the left post as the hosts survived the scare.
Scannell had a shot deflected just over the bar as the tension mounted towards full time with both teams knowing a goal either way would surely win it, and in the 89th minute Trundle curled a masterful effort onto the bar from the edge of the area as he so very nearly snatched it in normal time for The Robins.
Extra time got underway and there was a notable air of tentativeness from both sides, but after the initially cagey opening minutes the home side pushed forward and went close as Adebola had an effort blocked.
Penalties were becoming a possibility as half time in extra time approached, but Trundle blew any prospect of that away when he fired in an equaliser that sent his side ahead on aggregate.
A long ball was lumped forward and as Adebola challenged for it, it dropped to the former Swansea man on the edge of the area. He bent an effort around a forest of bodies which flew past Speroni, who may well be disappointed with his positioning – something which will take little gloss off the significance of the goal however.
The tie was wrapped up five minutes into the second half of extra time when McIndoe nailed a set piece to truly end Palace’s hopes of a comeback.
Ivan Sproule drew a good save from Speroni late on as the home fans waited pitchside to invade the playing surface in celebration, and the full-time whistle signalled their release for scenes of jubilation in the West Country.
| Bristol City |
Team Statistics |
Crystal Palace |
| 2 |
Goals |
1 |
| 8 |
Shots on Target |
7 |
| 10 |
Shots off Target |
5 |
| 7 |
Blocked Shots |
4 |
| 10 |
Corners |
2 |
| 12 |
Fouls |
11 |
| 5 |
Offsides |
1 |
| 1 |
Yellow Cards |
2 |
| 0 |
Red Cards |
0 |
| 50% |
Possession |
50% |
|