December 29 2003

Iain Dowie

Iain Dowie was overjoyed with his first win in charge of Crystal Palace in a 3-1 victory at Ipswich.

"Getting my first win as manager is a huge boost, Ipswich is a daunting place to visit so to come away with all three points is really pleasing," he said.

"You could say the first win gets that monkey off our backs - you could see at the end of the match how delighted everyone was.

"They had craft and guile and were no surprise to us, we knew we faced a tough task. We started the game really well and were disappointed to concede the goal from a set piece but I did feel their goal came against the run of play."

He added: "We reacted in the right way and I felt were unfortunate to go in at the break behind. We worked hard as a team and did more than well to get the result.

"When we are possession we have quality players who can pass the ball well but it was also good to see the team working hard when we didn't have posession.

"It was good to see Andy Johnson net two and he got his reward for chasing what appeared lost causes, particularly with the second goal. I am left with plenty of positives to take from the game none more so than the three points."