April 21 2001

Crystal Palace

Crystal Palace only picked up one point in the important away game at Tranmere Rovers today. David Hopkin opened the score after 25 minutes, but Parkinson scored the equaliser right after the interval.

With this draw The Eagles sent down Tranmere, but they are still in the relegation dogfight themselves.

Palace went ahead after 24 minutes with a well-taken goal by David Hopkin set-up by Clinton Morrison.

Minutes later it was Morrison who had the chance to double the lead, but his shot hit the upright and his second effort went high over the bar.

Six minutes before the break Morrison had another opportunity to score but his shot was well saved by Tranmere keeper Joe Murphy.

Tranmere's equaliser came only two minutes after the interval. It was Andy Parkinson, who was just brought on for Micky Mellon, who levelled the score.

The Merseysiders tried their best to score the winner and cling on to their First Division status in the closing period, but failed to find the Palace net for the second time.

Post-match comments

A confident Alan Smith said: It is still in our own hands to survive. If we are tough enough and good enough, which I think we are, we will stay up.

"It was always going to be tough today. Tranmere were not going to go down without a fight.

"It was important not to be beaten today. We were very committed and gave it our best shot."

Caretaker boss Kevin Sheedy of the relegated Tranmere said: "We did not have the cutting edge to finish them off even though we piled on the pressure.

"It is soul-destroying to be relegated. We needed to win today to give ourselves a fighting chance.

"The players have given their all but our frailties have let us down. It was always going to be difficult to turn it round overnight.

"We did not get the results we deserved and we have not got great strength in depth.

"But we still have some pride to play for in the closing matches."