August 17 2015

A colourful start in the Holmesdale at the Eagles' first home game of the 2015-16 season

It was time to trek down to Selhurst again for the first time since May. Jamesey was hoping for a spirited showing against the Arsenal.

The first home game of the season is always a bit special and a sunny Sunday in mid-August saw the visit of a venerable name in world football - Arsenal.

I can't recall the exact statistic but the Eagles have a dismal winning rate against the Gunners. Nowadays since English football has been split into a small group of billionaire clubs (of which Arsenal are a prominent member) and the rest of us, even to scrape a draw against one of them is regarded as a triumph.

Were we worried? Not especially. We are on a wonderful run at Selhurst and our 10th spot in the Loadsamoney League last season was a tremendous achievement. And we now have, in Alan Pardew, a former Palace player and manager with bags of top division experience.

But, and there's always a "but", this supporter believes that we must improve our win rate at home. Despite last season's excellent showing, only six league wins at Selhurst makes a pretty dismal statistic. That's a lousy reward for our widely admired home support.

Last week the 2015-16 proceedings kicked off with a 1-3 win at Norwich, a result that gives a false impression. The disallowed Canaries goal when the score was 1-2 was extraordinary. On later analysis it turns out the referee thought he was justified on the grounds of dangerous play.

In all my decades of football I have never seen what looked like an excellently taken goal by Cameron Jerome ruled out. It could well have changed the game.

But three points are three points and although the home side were better on the day, that's the way games sometimes turn out.

At home to the Gunners it was obvious who were the most skilled and expensive side and the only way Palace could win was to summon up all the grit and determination that were shown in the second half of the '14-15 campaign.

The visitors lost no time in demonstrating that they meant business and wasted several opportunities in the opening stages until the inevitable goal was scored by Olivier Giroud in the 16th minute.

The home side were playing in a worrying way with a defensive style that almost begged the Gunners to come forward.

Yannick Bolasie was either carrying an injury or just having a bad day at the office while Wilfried Zaha was reverting to many of his old bad habits - trying to beat to many tackles and losing the ball.

At times it seemed as though we were going to get a real pasting until Petr Cech failed to reach a lame looking shot from Joel Ward just before the half hour. It must be said that it looked like a shot that the helmeted keeper should have saved in his sleep. But it gave the home side hope and the reaction from the crowd was ear-splitting.

Then the Eagles seemed to gain more momentum and after the break a Connor Wickham effort hit the woodwork but a Damien Delaney own goal made it 1-2 and that's how it stayed.

It was a thoroughly enjoyable match and the visitors oozed class. Maybe it was just as well for the home side that their intricate movement and reluctance to give the ball away were so attractive that the killer punch to capitalise on their style so rarely occurred.

It is certainly no disgrace to lose to an extremely accomplished team and for the first time since his appointment in January, I found Pards' harping on about how Francis Coquelin should have been sent off rather irritating. Had that happened I think the Gunners would have changed up a gear and won the game anyway.

On my way home afterwards, sitting in my favourite Wandsworth hostelry, I was intrigued by two local young men sitting at the bar watching the afternoon Manchester City v Chelsea game on a smart phone's postage stamp sized screen.

I felt like waving my Palace programme in their faces and saying; "Why don't you try going to a real game like the one I've just watched - 100% HD and fullest screen you can get? Full crowd stereo too."

Maybe that would have been unfair as tickets for Pilesodosh League games are expensive and sometimes difficult to get hold of. Then, I reflected, surely if you can afford to swill down numerous pints of Italian chemical at £5-plus a time, a ticket to a real game shouldn't be beyond reach.

Wisely I kept my trap shut and carried on contentedly sipping my Youngs Special ale and dreaming of three points against Aston Villa (fingers crossed) on Saturday...!

Email Jamesey with your comments to jevans3704@aol.com

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