Blog Extract Seven:
19/10/11
It is not even Christmas time yet but it was Easter time for Palace at Vicarage Road last Saturday. A cracking injury time strike from substitute Jermaine Easter wrapped up a comfortable 2 – 0 victory. A sunny autumnal Saturday afternoon at struggling Watford began around midday as this is a local away day for me, and a refreshing English breakfast at the Vicarage Road Cafe with a nice cup of tea really set me up for the match. Indeed this was the first match that I had my new manual/joystick wheelchair and although I tried it out more on Tuesday when I used it to get to Selhurst for the Bristol City match, of which more later. Anyhow I tested my new chair at Watford by meeting the players and management off the coach and indeed imagine my delight that while wishing David Wright well my arm was captured by TV cameras to appear on TV later that night. – How good is that!
The game itself was an example of how Palace has improved under Freedman. To be fair to Watford they are obviously struggling but tactically Palace were set up well from the back and without making the best of their chances in the first half Palace were in control and were never really threatened. The building of pressure in the second half eventually told and it was a moment of individual brilliance from Wilfrried Zaha who is fed in off a Scannell through ball and a wonderful first time finish won the game. The result was underlined by an equally good stoppage time goal from Jermaine Easter a player who is always smiling and it was a great way to cap the performance in a professional display, and it shows the great spirit existing around the club at the moment. It is also nice to see the clubs young players playing football with smiles on their faces and enjoying their football.
Following on from Watford I went to Selhurst with my new wheelchair to watch the Bristol City match under lights on Tuesday night. Unfortunately the game was notable for being ruined for both sides by the referee. I do not like criticising referees as we all know they have difficult jobs to do but in all honesty I do not think there are any good referees in the Championship. Yes some referees are better than others, and others produce okay performances but recently I become more resigned to leaving matches thinking about bad refereeing decisions. A 1 – 0 win secured by an 81st minute penalty by the fantastic Glenn Murray was probably the least we deserved thanks to the youthful creativity and pace of Sean Scannell and Wilf Zaha. The fact the penalty was won by the tenacity of Williams, even if it was soft, was an example of the poor refereeing on show as bad decisions had already disallowed two legitimate Palace goals. On the basis of chances created despite its attritional nature this was a match Palace deserved to win.
Our good start is due in no small measure to the creative brilliance and pace of Wilfried Zaha. It will test the resolve and ambition of our new owners both in January and at the end of the season as they deal with big offers from the Premier League for the likes of Zaha, Clyne, Scannell, and Williams. It would show true ambition if they could turn down good money to see the academy products develop at the club. The fact we are financially secure and do not need to sell is a real advantage because if they do decide to take up an offer and sell it will be for proper money, and in Zaha’s case any transfer fee would be in excess of £10 million. My point here is this there will be no knockdown sales like Victor Moses to Wigan in 2009 when Palace were in administration and financially on its knees.
I close by saying good luck to the lads in what is a massive week next week for Palace. A league cup 4th round tie Vs Southampton on Tuesday night, and before that an away trip to Ipswich on Saturday afternoon I always enjoy Ipswich away because as a disabled fan I am sat by the tunnel and you never know which Palace players you can meet, but you usually get to talk to a fair few players. Southampton in the cup is the exciting one for me, the prospect of a league cup quarter final whilst beating Southampton (my university town) at the same time and getting one over on my saints supporting mate who will be watching the match with me should be very exciting. Good Luck Palace! S B.
No comments:
Post a Comment