September 1 2013

Crystal Palace (Photo: Andy Roberts)

Sunderland at home was an important game for CPFC and the team really turned up trumps for the occasion, reports Jamesey.

If you really want to irritate a resident of Sunderland, call him a Geordie. You will swiftly and sharply be told that the correct nomenclature is "Mackem" and that Geordies come from Newcastle a few miles up the road.

And if you want to irritate a resident of Sunderland even more, you could play him a video of his team's 3-1 defeat at Selhurst Park (August 31).

To talk about a crunch game so early in the season is somewhat over-egging the pudding but after three defeats on the spin in league and cup, this was a match which would give a clear indication of how the Eagles might fare among the Big Boys in the coming months.

A glorious late summer day saw a crowd of 22,671, the Palace majority wildly enthusiastic as is the norm these days.

Two acquisitions, new to this supporter, started the game - Jason Puncheon and Jose Campana - and both looked like excellent purchases right from the start.

A somewhat fortuitous goal (attributed to Danny Gabbidon) which pinballed into the Mackems' net early in the first half sent the Palace crowd into ecstasies and, we all asked ourselves, could we hang on to a lead this time?

Regrettably the answer was No. A 64th minute header from Steven Fletcher made the scores even at 1-1 and our faith was tested yet again.

Jon Williams, who came on early in the second half, looked excellent and seems to improve with every appearance and gradually the team gained in confidence, keeping the ball well, always looking dangerous and defending resolutely.

I was reminded of the home game against Sheffield Wednesday in September of last season when Dougie Freedman had brought together a new-look team including Yannick Bolasie, Andre Moritz and Damien Delaney.

The new players seemed to blend in together right away and their performances laid the foundation for our eventual ascent into the top division.

Circumstances and personnel are different now but the current group of players grew in stature and understanding as the game progressed.

So instead of hanging on to a draw or even conceding a Sunderland winner we went on to score two more - a nerve-shredding Dwight Gayle penalty and a late Stuart O'Keefe screamer into the roof of the net.

Job decidedly done - 3-1 to the Eagles.

Even most of the media pundits gave us their seal of approval, we played well, prospects of staying in Moulah-land were improving and the best team won. Considering they all had us practically relegated by Christmas last week, that is a distinct shift of opinion.

Needless to say Black Cats boss, Paolo "Il Duce" di Canio begged to differ, avowing that our first two goals were "absolute rubbish" and that "three very, very pathetic goals conceded didn't give Sunderland the chance to get the points".

Well, I have to disagree on the standard of the Palace goals. So tough parmesan, Paolo...

Email Jamesey with your comments to jevans3704@aol.com

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