October 29 2008

Shefki Kuqi

Crystal Palace produced a below-par performance as on a wind and rain swept night, Forest emerged with all 3 points, writes Simon Pophale.

After the battling performances at Birmingham and Blackpool, hopes were high that we would return to winning ways against a Forest team bereft of confidence and languishing at the bottom of the table.

Neil Warnock made one change from the match against Blackpool, bringing in Rhoys Wiggins for his first Championship start.

From the first whistle, it was clear that Colin Calderwood put the wind right up his team as Forest took the game to us. In the first 2 minutes, Wiggins had to cut out a dangerous cross from Joel Lynch and Julian Speroni had to make a save from Rob Earnshaw.

While we struggled to get a foothold on the game and the players doing the same on the pitch, we never put Lee Camp under any pressure and he did not have a shot to save.

Meanwhile, possession may have been even but Forest were putting us under more pressure and while they did not look like scoring themselves, on 27 minutes they took the lead in rather comical circumstances.

A free-kick was awarded about 20 yards out and Chris Cohen’s cross-cum-shot ended beating every Forest head and a bemused Speroni as it nestled in the bottom right hand corner of the net.

Paul Ifill mustered a shot just after the half hour, but it was wide and didn’t force Camp into a save. Earnshaw could have made it two, after battling with Matt Lawrence, but Speroni saved his effort.

Conditions may have played a part but after battling so valiantly at Blackpool, it was no excuse and just before the break, Speroni’s throw out to Beattie ended up going out for a throw, after the Scot failed to control the pass.

If we had hoped the 2nd half was going to bring a revival, it only brought us more of the same, but this time with heavier rain. We just never got going – Forest were first to everything and battled for every ball.

Palace on the other hand, were just not at the races. Passes were misplaced, there was a lack of invention from the midfield and with the forwards starved of any service. Camp was having a quiet evening.

Warnock had brought on Shefki Kuqi at half time and he was a bright spot on an overcast night. His constant running and flick on’s were going for nought, until the 75th minute, when he set Selhurst alight with a deft piece of skill to bring us level.

A long ball was controlled on his chest and a sharp turn and shot from outside the box flew past Camp for our equaliser.

But, as so often in the last few games, we conceded late on and following a goalmouth scramble on 82 minutes, with numerous chances to clear, Matt Thornhill poked the ball in the empty net, to give Forest all 3 points.

The facts were clear - with not enough created up front, Camp having to save only one shot all night (from Ifill) and the only other chance falling to Watson from 5 yards out – we were just not good enough.

Palace: Speroni, Butterfield (Ertl 80), Lawrence, McCarthy, Wiggins, Watson, Derry, Carle (Djilali 67), Ifill, Moses, Beattie (Kuqi 46).

Not Used: Scannell, Oster.