Ward seals Eagles’ first win

PLYMOUTH ARGYLE 0Well it certainly was not a classic, but Crystal Palace finally earned their first three points of the season against Plymouth on Saturday.

Bobby Williamson's men were clearly looking for a draw, playing with a packed midfield that never let Palace settle.

But after playing the waiting game for over an hour, summer signing Darren Ward popped up with an unexpected goal to reward his side's patience in a frustrating game.

Assistant manager Neil McDonald said: "It's very pleasing to get the first win under our belts and I thought that throughout the game there was only going to be one winner and that was us.

"It was just a matter of time until the first goal game and when it did we defended resolutley and kept them to only one or two chances."

Iain Dowie made two changes from the team that drew with Norwich the previous Saturday, with the returning Jobi McAnuff preferred to Joonas Kolkka and Wayne Andrews was given his first Palace start in place of the injured Jon Macken.

But both sides started sluggishly, as Plymouth sat back expecting an Eagles onslaught that never really got going in the first half.

Emmerson Boyce had the first real opportunity in the 11th minute when he latched on to a looping Ward pass inside the box but chose to attempt to square to a lurking Andrew Johnson rather than shoot himself.

Boyce tried his luck again a minute later when he fired a rasping drive just over the bar from the edge of the box.

The visitors had their first attempt in the sixth minute, but failed to test Gabor Kiraly as Paul Wotten's free kick sailed well over.

Jobi McAnuff's influence increased as the first half wore on, looking dangerous with his direct running making him look like the Eagles' main threat.

Johnson went close on the half hour mark when his shot on the turn hit the side netting, before Plymouth midfielder Bojan Djordjic had his side's best attempt of the half when he curled a long range effort from the left hand corner of the Palace box just wide of Kiraly's left hand post.

Johnson then missed the Eagles' best opportunity of the game so far when he failed to connect clinically to Boyce's low cross and saw his effort go harmlessly wide.

Boyce again was in the thick of the action just before the break when he hit the Plymouth side netting for the second time in the half.

Plymouth were pleased to go into the break all square and were half way to achieving manager Bobby Williamson's game plan.

The second half, much like the first took an age to get going, as Plymouth made no attempt to infiltrate the Palace backline as the Selhurst crowd started to become frustrated with Palace's lack of penetration.

The Eagles finally tested Plymouth keeper Romain Larrieu in the 57th minute, when Boyce found Watson, who's deflected first time pass to McAnuff was latched on to by the Jamaican international, but his shot was finger tipped on to the post and behind for a corner.

But the game changed for the better in the 60th minute, when Dowie replaced the ineffective Andrews with Dougie Freedman to help link the midfield and attack.

Freedman nearly made an immediate impact when his looping shot on the turn from 40 yards caused an awkward moment for Larrieu.

But it was not long before the Plymouth keeper was picking the ball out of the back of the net, when Palace took a deserved lead in the 63rd minute.

Ben Watson's deep free kick found Darren Ward at the back post who headed the ball back across goal towards Boyce, which found its way back to the former Millwall man who made no mistake with a rasping low volley which went in off the post.

The goal enabled Palace and the crowd to relax, as Plymouth would now be forced to attack and leave more space in what was a crowded midfield.

McAnuff and Norris were then booked for a scuffle after the Palace winger's late tackle, before McAnuff was fed by Freedman and saw his shot deflected wide.

Wotton then had Plymouth's first attempt of the second half with a header which failed to seriously test Kiraly, which was soon followed by Palace hitting the side netting for the third time in the match, through Andrew Johnson's neat shot on the turn.

Plymouth signalled their attacking intentions by bringing on Tony Capaldi and Scott Taylor, but were still having no luck getting the better of the impressive Fitz Hall and Ward.

Veteren striker Micky Adams saw his shot saved by Kiraly, as nerves set in among the crowd who sensed a late disappointment.

Dowie replaced Tom Soares with Danny Butterfield to stifle the midfield, which was further strengthened with Aki Riihilahti's arrival in place of Ben Watson.

In the 92nd minute Plymouth had a penalty appeal turned down when Ward handled the ball on the edge of the box, which referee Paul Walton rightly judged to be outside.

Much like they did the whole game, Plymouth failed to create anything from the resulting free kick which was easily cleared by Palace's defence as the Eagles held on to earn a deserved victory.