November 28 2010

Freezing cold for the Donny game

To put it politely, a bottom-freezing day in SE25 ended in a heart-warming 1-0 victory against Doncaster Rovers. Jamesey elaborates.

It was cold comfort for Donny at Selhurst on a crisp winter Saturday (Nov 27).

They played attractive football, created chances, and had a staggering number of corner kicks but it was Pablo Counago's superbly taken goal in the first half that gave the Eagles three precious points.

Not only did the Spaniard score the winning goal but his overall performance was an absolute revelation to me. Accustomed to seeing him on the bench or pale and wanly loitering on the periphery of the game, he seemed to be everywhere against Donny. His passing was brilliant and he popped up all over the field, creating options and giving the Eagles an extra dimension.

Not that the rest of the team played at all badly. Wilfried Zaha, as usual, put in some skilful touches, Darren Ambrose gave a sterling performance and Neil Danns was always there to come steaming out of the midfield although he seemed to have a few problems falling over his own feet.

It goes without saying that keeper Julian Speroni made his usual contribution of several impossible saves but the men who largely kept the enemy at the wrong side of the trench were the excellent central defence pairing of Claude Davis and Anthony Gardner.

It was nail-chewing stuff for Eagles supporters as we clung to our slender lead and wave after wave of Rovers attacks were broken up by the intervention of Claude and Anthony's heads and other parts of their anatomies.

But cling on, we did and the victory gave us a very encouraging third home victory on the trot and lifts us to the lofty heights (by current standards) of third from bottom of Division 2 and within a few points of mid-table security once more.

An official gate of 12,470 was not exactly brilliant but considering the weather, our poor league position, the economic gloom and the approach of the Festive Season, what can one really expect?

Our recent run of eccentric refereeing was not broken by Andy D'Urso who incurred much displeasure amongst the crowd for some of his decisions. But, hey, when you've got three points you can't complain too much, can you.

*Coming soon - another Jamesey Festive Special looking at the funny side (oh, go on, there's always a funny side somewhere) of a troubled year at Crystal Palace Football Club.

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