October 15 2003

Gareth Williams

GARETH WILLIAMS staked a claim for a first-team call-up with a goal in the reserves' 3-1 win at Gillingham.

Palace opened the scoring in the 19th minute when Tom Soares took advantage of a mix-up between Gills' Kevin James and Mark Green and squared to Ben Surey, who fired home from eight yards.

Eight minutes before the break, WILLIAMS extended the lead by shooting past Bertrand Bossu in the Gillingham goal.

Gillingham, who had yet to lose a game this season, got a goal back in the 49th minute when Leon Johnson headed in James' free-kick.

And Palace made sure of the points with five minutes to go when Soares ran onto Nathan Simpson's ball down the left and he cut inside to score.

Palace: Cronin, Togwell, Head (Simpson 79), Dolan (Berry 87), Wilson, Granville, Riihilahti, Surey, WILLIAMS, Nabil, Soares.

Sub not used: Bashkal.

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