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Wednesday, September 13, 2006
That the Southampton starting line-up was unchanged for the visit to Crystal Palace was no surprise; it was individual moments of madness that had cost the match at Ipswich, not poor overall performances.
As they had 3 days before, Saints enjoyed an early lead courtesy of Kenwyne Jones - this time a near post header from a corner. A pity that Chairman Jordan didn't arrange enough gatemen for a high profile game so that all visiting fans could see it. Palace almost hit back within 10 minutes when Scowcroft hit the bar, but that was to be as near as they came all evening.
Nevertheless, the home side had gained the initiative by the midway point of the half and I was disappointed that Saints didn't look like capitalising by catching them on the break.
That all changed after the interval when Skacel scooted down the left and delivered an ideal cross for Rasiak to score. Kiraly foiled a lob by Jones, and when Skacel managed to get to the loose ball, Cort headed out from under his own bar. Ostlund came on for Idiakez, and with Wright moving into midfield, Saints had a better shape and were looking more likely to add to their lead as the game wore on. Indeed a 10-and-a-half man team after Jones picked up an injury with all subs used was more than enough to keep Palace at bay.
Man of the Match: John Viafara, again. Used to be a Skate but he's alright now!
