May 29 2004

Shipperley sends Palace up

Neil Shipperley scored the only goal of the game to send Palace to the Premiership as they beat West Ham 1-0 in the Division One Play-off Final.

The Eagles captain bundled home from close range on 62 minutes after West Ham keeper Stephen Bywater could only parry Andy Johnson's fierce shot into his path.

It was enough to send Palace to the Promised Land of the Premiership following a six year absence and a £30m windfall.

Palace had the better of the first half exchanges. The first of which came from the head of Division One's top scorer Andy Johnson who diverted Wayne Routledge's cross wide.

But five minutes later, West Ham's Michael Carrick sent Bobby Zamora through on goal with a wonderful ball down the middle. The former Spurs striker looked odss-on to score but keeper Nico Vaesen managed to make a superb stop with his legs.

Nine minutes before the break, the Eagles nearly snatched the lead. Bywater got down to smother Michael Hughes's shot but the ball squirmed over him and Tomas Repka had to clear off the line.

The Hammers came out stronger in the second half and Vaesen produced a stunning one-handed save to deny a 25-yard Steve Lomas volley.

Shipperley netted the Eagles' goal two minutes past the hour after Johnson went on a decent run down the left, cut in and his low strike was pushed out by keper Bywater to Shipperley who made no mistake.

David Connolly and Zamora both had goals ruled out for offside, while West Ham had a penalty appeal for a foul on Carrick turned down.

West Ham boss Alan Pardew sent on Brian Deane and Nigel Reo-Coker for Zamora and Marlon Harewood as they looked to pull a goal back.

But Palace defended well and held out for a momentous victory. Bring on the Premiership!

Crystal Palace: Vaesen, Butterfield (Powell 69), Popovic, Leigertwood, Granville, Routledge, Riihilahti, Derry, Hughes, Shipperley, Johnson. Subs Not Used: Freedman, Berthelin, Black, Watson.

Booked: Derry, Hughes, Routledge.

West Ham: Bywater, Repka, Dailly, Melville, Mullins, Harewood (Reo-Coker 68), Carrick, Lomas, Etherington, Zamora (Deane 68), Connolly (Hutchison 74).

Subs Not Used: Srnicek, Brevett.

Booked: Repka, Reo-Coker, Mullins, Etherington.

Referee: G. Poll (Hertfordshire).

Attendance: 72,523.

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In Depth Palace in the Play-offs 2004