December 11 2016

Humberside Bridge, seen from the train by travelling Palace supporters

Jamesey watched the 3-3 draw with Hull in the comfort of his home while Wilf King gives the spectator's view from the KC Stadium.

The sports coverage in all media outlets has made depressing reading of late, delving in great detail into the shocking abuse of young players by those who were supposed to look after them and nurture their talents.

Once more the ugly face of the "beautiful" game has been exposed and the decision of one player to reveal his horrible experiences has opened the floodgates.

Nevertheless, life and sport carry on and the big question on the minds of Crystal Palace supporters has been: Was the 3-0 defeat of Southampton (Dec 3) a stroke of good fortune or the start of one of Alan Pardew's famous runs, this time a winning one?

A visit to Hull (Dec 10) would surely give everyone the answer? The Tigers have been in, or near, the drop zone for most of the season and, in theory, should not have been really tough opposition.

Needless to say, Palace have always been good at confounding statistics, losing games they ought to have won and beating teams that should have crucified them.

The first worrying aspect for this correspondent was the omission of James Tomkins. In his place was Martin Kelly, a player who doesn't inspire any confidence at all from this observer.

And to briefly digress from the immediate matter, do any other Palace fans wake up at 4am, sweating and shaking after a nightmare vision?

The Eagles are facing Chelsea/Arsenal/ Man U or City and are without Christian Benteke, Wilfried Zaha (both injured), Scott Dann, James McArthur, Joe Ledley, Jason Puncheon and Yohan Cabaye (all suspended).

The flimsiness of the squad is revealed in awful reality when one imagines the team that would have to run out.

Anyhow, CPFC has enough problems without imagining new ones and the way the Eagles started against Hull was very encouraging.

The sequence of goals is covered later in this article so I won't go into the finer detail here.

In general, Palace looked lively and thrusting at the start. Goody, goody, we all thought.

Hull fought back strongly and as the first period progressed Palace sank deeper and deeper with Wilf almost looking like a right-back and Benteke as a defensive central midfielder.

The formation was rejigged for the second half and the Eagles looked far more effective.

The Benteke penalty technique has great appeal. The slow shuffle, the wait for the keeper to commit and then a simple roll-in. I fear that the gambit will soon be sussed out as the season continues.

Wilf, who had probably the best game I have ever seen him play, was prevented from scoring early on by an inspired save by Marshall, the Hull keeper, but scored later with a truly tremendous strike.

Without going into all the penalty issues in the game, one must wonder how long football can ignore video playbacks on important incidents The first Hull penalty would not have been given. Dann made no contact with Snodgrass but I couldn't blame the ref because it looked as though he had. Slo-mo replays soon, please!

The forgotten man, Fraizer Campbell, like Damien Delaney, a former Hull player came on in the 80th and obliged with an elegant nodded equaliser, giving Palace a very valuable point.

There had been temperament issues with Campbell at Hull but Pardew declared that he had been a "model pro" at Palace. Well played Fraizer.

Our intrepid away reporter continues below with a Hull's-eye view of the match.

Win, lose or draw - how much longer can I cope with the drama? (writes Wilf King). Having suffered at Swansea two weeks ago I could see a repeat at the KC Stadium.

Before the match my cub reporter (Dave) and I enjoyed three excellent pints of Samuel Smith’s Old Brewery Bitter in Ye Olde Blue Bell, Market Place. Where else can you get £1.20 change from a fiver for two good pints? Not much change though from this particular match.

From the kick-off Hull pressed and seemed “more up for it”. When Palace players had the ball they continued to pass to Hull; was this Pardew’s tactic?

Wayne Hennessey made a great save on 18 minutes but there was nothing he could do about the Snodgrass penalty for Hull’s first goal. I am refraining from comment about the merits of the penalty. Half time 1-0

Justice was done on 52 minutes when Snodgrass tripped Zaha in the box and Benteke put away his trademark penalty.

Some pundits could say Palace should have had two more penalties (Zaha and Benteke) but ref Jones clearly thought he had awarded enough.

Man of the match, Wilf (Southgate are you watching?) then made it 1-2 with a sublime finish and bedlam broke out on and off the pitch. YES, an away win: NO, Palace are well practised in throwing away a lead and this time there were 20 minutes left.

Sure enough, after two defensive lapses, it was soon 3-2 with goals by Diomande and Livermore. But this time the script was different and on 89 minutes Campbell headed Zaha’s cross into the Hull City goal for 3-3.

In the last two away matches I have seen 16 goals; my nerves are frayed!

As I left the KC I said to a female steward: “I hope Hull stay up – friendly people and great beer at £1.90 a pint”. Her response was: “I know nothing about football, I’m just a steward.” That summed up my sentiments exactly.

Email Jamesey with your comments to jevans3704@aol.com

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