April 8 2002

Dulwich - Champion Hill Stadium

Crystal Palace reserves missed out on a chance to go top of the reserve league with a 2-1 defeat to Bristol Rovers.

Palace, who were one point away from leaders Portsmouth in the Combination League, started with a side which included David Hopkin, Jovan Kirovski, and Andrejs Rubins.

It also saw Tony Popovic make a welcome comeback from his injury and he came through the 90 minutes without any problems.

Coach Dave Swindlehurst was confident of another victory as his side were unbeaten in eleven matches.

In the first half, Palace were pegged back by a strong Rovers outfit, which included a number of their first team players. However, Palace did have their chances. Kirovski had a great chance early on but amazingly hit the post after rounding the keeper.

However he made amends with Palace's goal, which came soon after. A quick free kick set Rubins free on the left wing, who cut inside and whipped a cross in, which bobbled on the pitch, and found its way to Kirovski whose shot at the far post beat the Rovers keeper.

Within five minutes, Rovers were back on level terms, and then scored another shortly afterwards, to make it 2-1 - Alvin Bubb and Nigerian trialist James Okoli the scorers.

Palace had a few more chances before half time, including a strong shot from Ryan Williams which hit the bar.

View Williams shot (2.93mb AVI)

In the second half, Palace brought on 19-year-old Chelsea trialist Pat Baldwin at centre-half for the impressive Antwi.

They struggled to find an equaliser, and even the introduction of Wayne Routledge late on, couldn't turn the score in Palace's favour. Rovers could have easily made it 3-1, if it wasn't for a brilliant one-on-one save from French goalkeeper Cedric Carasso.

Overall, a disppointing performance from a second-placed reserve side in front of a watching Trevor Francis, who now only have a few games left to try and clinch the title.

Squad: Carasso, Popovic, Frampton, Antwi, Baldwin, Rubins, R. Williams, Hopkin, Kirovski, G. Williams, Hunt, Surey, Borrowdale, Routledge.