October 19 2008

Ben Watson

Crystal Palace made it 3 wins on the spin with a comfortable 3-0 win over Barnsley in front of a nationwide audience, writes Simon Pophale.

If there were any concerns about whether the International break would halt the recent resurgence of form, this was dispelled in a performance which saw us dominate from the first whistle and left last season’s surprise FA Cup Semi-finalists on the defensive for much of the game.

Neil Warnock gave a debut to Nathaniel Clyne at right back and the youngster put in a performance which belied his years, not looking out of place and Warnock has unearthed another gem from the Academy conveyor belt.

It would be our youth products, past and present that took centre stage. Victor Moses shot into the side netting on 4 minutes and shortly after, Watson tested Muller with a free kick.

Not 10 minutes was on the clock and Clyne with a cute pass set up Ifill, but he overran the ball and the chance was lost.

Barnsley, when they did get possession, failed to test Speroni in any way and their first effort on goal, a close-range header from Maceo Rigters, came on 24 minutes. Speroni saved comfortably and with it, set up the move which led to our opening goal.

A long ball from the Argentine was latched onto by Moses who burst through and rounded Heinz Muller, who brought down our starlet and the referee, had no option but to give a penalty. Muller was fortunate to stay on the pitch, but Watson gave him no chance from 12 yards, sending him the wrong way.

Just after the half hour, Clint Hill headed inches over from a Watson corner and Craig Beattie also headed over as we looked to increase our lead.

The 2nd half saw no change as we again asserted control of the match. Watson and Derry pulled the strings in midfield and Moses, Carle and Beattie were running riot up front and when the 2nd goal came on the hour, it all but killed off the match as a contest.

Nick Carle, whose tireless running had yet reaped little reward, drove into the penalty area and his measured cut-back from the by-line saw Watson coolly slot the ball home from inside the penalty area.

Simon Davey threw on substitutes but it made no difference. There was no cutting edge for the visitors and what half chances they created, Speroni dealt with comfortably.

As the final quarter of the match approached, Clint Hill drew a fantastic point-blank save from Muller and Warnock, just as he did in the previous match, brought on Shefki Kuqi.

The Finn proved that lightning does strike twice as almost a carbon copy of what happened at the City Ground, occurred again as on 82 minutes, from yet another long goal kick, Kuqi reacted fastest and lobbed Muller from 15 yards to put the icing on the cake.

Kuqi, leaner, fitter and chasing everything like a butchers dog, epitomised everything good about the teams performance as we celebrated not only a third win, but also a third clean sheet.

Palace: Speroni, Clyne, Lawrence, Fonte, Hill, Derry (Oster 76), Carle, Watson, Moses, Ifill (Kuqi 74), Beattie (Ertl 86).

Not Used: Scannell, Danns.