June 9 2004

Steve Coppell

Simon Pophale continues his round-up of the 2003-04 season in part three...

March

We witnessed the return of the King, with Steve Coppell bringing Reading to Selhurst Park. Despite getting a standing ovation, the match ended 2-2.

Worse was to follow, as a trip to relegation-haunted Nottingham Forest, who themselves had got a new manager in Joe Kinnear, ended in a 3-2 defeat which had all the hallmarks of our early-season form.

What didn't help was on paper at least, this was going to be a long month with both Norwich and West Brom, the two runaway teams at the top, still to play.

Wayne Routledge ensured that Norwich was put out to pasture, and despite the efforts of former Palace men Matt Svensson and Leon McKenzie, we took the points with a 1-0 win.

Another strong performance came at West Brom, but two late goals from the Baggies meant we left the Midlands empty handed. We only managed 4 points out of a possible 12.

Despite this, being rooted in midtable and the league so tight, a play-off place did not look out of reach. With Millwall and Sunderland reaching the FA Cup semi-finals, both teams had games in hand over their rivals, but with time running out now, they were facing fixture congestion.

This month also saw a change in the goalkeeper once again, as Thomas Myhre's loan expired. NICO VAESEN came in on loan from Birmingham City and made his debut against West Brom.

Still, six weeks to go and despite the media dismissing our chances of making the top six, the signs were there. But it was going to be very, very tough.

April

This was always going to be a tough month. Testing trips away to Rotherham and Crewe, plus games against all the sides above us in the division, would mean that we would have played the top six teams in the space of five weeks.

What price would you have got at the bookies on the play-offs then? If memory serves, 33-1. The mandate was clear. Eight games left, if we win the lot, we could be in the play-offs.

A sobering thought but we started the month off well with a 2-1 midweek win at Rotherham, with Shipperley and Gray scoring the goals. Easter was now upon us and the holiday season provided us with a real test of our play-off ambitions.

First up, on Good Friday was Cardiff away, followed by West Ham at home on Easter Monday. An outstanding performance at Ninian Park gave us a 2-0 win, before a tense affair on Monday saw Dougie Freedman score the winner against West Ham.

The following Saturday, we were denied all three points by the width of a post against Wigan, as we drew 1-1. It was also to be the last game for Mark Hudson, as Fulham scuppered any chance of us signing him permanently.

However Dowie had already invested £125,000 in Mikele Leigertwood so it was clear that he was going to play a bigger part in the campaign now. Next up were Sunderland at home in a re-arranged fixture. They came on the back of losing the semi-final to Millwall, but their league form had not suffered.

However they did not look like a side pushing for promotion as they looked tired and jaded. Mart Poom was sent off for a foul on AJ, and he calmly slotted the penalty home past Thomas Myhre, who got one of the best receptions for an opposition goalkeeper from the Palace faithful I have ever seen.

It seemed to work as we went on to register a 3-0 win, with Freedman coming off the bench to score a volley which has to be a contender for goal of the season. Memories of Wolves in 1997 came flooding back.

We rounded off the month with an away trip to Crewe, seeking to make up for the defeat inflicted on us at home back in December. AJ managed to get another hat-trick, which put him on 30 goals for the season all told so far, in a 3-2 win.

It not only earned us three points, but Iain Dowie got Manager of the Month award for April after netting 15 points out of a possible 18 and Johnson was named the Evening Standard Player Of the Month.

We were now seventh and the play-offs were a real possibility. Only two games left now, and six points would see us guaranteed a spot in the play-offs.

Final part tomorrow