WATFORD 2 v 0 CRYSTAL PALACE

Hello and welcome to this afternoon's game at Vicarage Road as Palace look to avenge their FA Cup exit here last month and reignite their play-off challenge.

Neil Warnock makes three changes to the side that drew with Birmingham in midweek. Out go the suspended Nick Carle, the injured Victor Moses and the dropped Rui Fonte, in come Danny Butterfield, James Scowcroft and Paul Ifill. Shaun Derry and Claude Davis haven't recovered from their hamstring injuries in time.

Palace: Speroni, Clyne, J Fonte, Lawrence, Hill, Butterfield, Danns, Oster, Ifill, Lee, Scowcroft. Subs: Scannell, Hills, Ertl, R Fonte, Comley.

Watford: Loach, Cork, DeMerit, Cowie, Rasiak, McAnuff, Doyley, Smith, Mariappa, M Williamson, Jenkins. Subs: Lee, Hoyte, L Williamson, Harley, Hoskins.

Interesting decision from Warnock to start Scowcroft and I wonder if he will partner Lee up front in a 4-4-2 or play wide in a 4-3-3. Expect Butterfield to fill in the holding role in the absence of Derry.

1 min: Watford get us off an underway.

3 min: Palace waste an early free kick and it looks like Ifill is up with Lee and Scowcroft is on the left wing.

6 min: Not much happening at the minute. Palace just concentrating on hitting the heads of Lee and Scowcroft - who as I write this gets a shot in from 20 yards but he doesn't catch it very well and it bobbles through to Lee.

9 min: Ifill gets in behind the defence from Lee's clever pass but under pressure from DeMerit he stumbles and his shot bounces wide.

11 min: Clyne has to rely on his pace to get back and block Cowie as he prepares to shoot. It was the youngster's mistake that put the Watford man through in the first place though.

14 min: Scowcroft lets McAnuff run inside on into space but his 20 yard shot is blocked by Fonte.

16 min: Two corners a row for Palace. The first is well defended by Rasiak at the back post ahead of Fonte and Hill gives away a foul at the second. This is not pretty.

19 min: Rasiak gets free down the right and crosses for Cowie but he doesn't connect well with the shot.

20 min: Palace go down the other end and Oster puts Lee through on goal. He waits too long to shoot though and Mariappa gets in a superb last ditch challenge six yards out. Lee should have done better though and Palace should be ahead.

21 min: GOAL. Instead it is Watford who take the lead and Warnock is livid. Rasiak controls a long ball and flicks it through to Cowie who runs on to it from just past the half way line and slots it through Speroni's legs. The entire Palace defence stopped and appealed for an offside flag that never came and referee Hegley has to have words with Warnock to calm him down. From here I couldn't really tell if it was offside or not.

27 min: Poor goal for Palace to give away but they are playing so high up the pitch which is a dangerous game when the only speedy defender Palace have is Clyne and he can't be expected to catch everyone.

31 min: Watford go close again and this time it is Smith who speeds away from Fonte and crosses to Rasiak. Hill blocks his first shot and his second goes just wide. Watford looking very good now. Palace the opposite.

35 min: Butterfield, who has been quiet so far, tries a volley from 20 yards but it goes wide. A minute later Ifill tries his luck as he collects a long ball and finds space 18 years out but blazes high and wide. Should have hit the target really but that will offer Palace some encouragement.

40 min: Hill's long throw is nodded back out to Clyne but his shot is blocked and cleared. That summed up Palace's tactics really with three players on the edge of the box expecting the throw in to be cleared. Not very imaginative.

HALF TIME: Palace go in behind and they don't really deserve to be level. Lee had the great chance he should have scored but it is very very unimaginative from Warnock's men.

46 min: Palace get us under way again and there are no changes.

47 min: Attendance: 15, 529 - 1,412 from Palace.

51 min: All a bit boring at the start of this half.

55 min: Chance for Palace as Watford temporatily down to ten men but Cork gets a great block in a Danns, who blasts over from the corner.

55 min: SUB: DeMerit off injured, Harley on.

57 min: Super save from Speroni. McAnuff escapes beyond the defence as Lawrence and Fonte fail to clear. Butterfield can't get back at him but somehow Speroni claws the ex-Eagles' shot out of the air. He might just have kept Palace in the game there.

60 min: Clyne gets lucky as Cowie robs him on the half way and breaks. Oster comes to his rescue and eventually clears.

62 min: A bit of pressure from Palace as Fonte sees his shot deflected wide. Loach gathers the corner. There's still no quality from the Eagles, there is urgency but no quality.

66 min: YELLOW CARD. Butterfield booked for the latest in a series of late challenges.

68 min: Speroni keeps Palace in it again saving from Cowie at point blank range. Clyne was down in the middle of the park then having got a finger in the eye and Watford used the space well.

70 min: GOAL. Watford double their lead. Lawrence is caught in possession by Cowie in the left corner who runs to the box before crossing to McAnuff whose bundled shot hits Speroni, then McAnuff and crosses the line, May even have gone in off Fonte.

70 min: DOUBLE SUB: Warnock responds by bringing on Rui and Scannell for Ifill and Scowcroft.

71 min: Immediate impact from Scannell as his tricky run into the box sets up Lee but he flashed his shot wide.

75 min: Speroni makes another good save, this time from Harley who escapes down the left. Rasiak was free in the middle if Harley had chosen to cross it.

76 min: Good work from Clyne and Scannell down the right see the former cross for Danns who shoots wide.

80 min: SUB: Oster off, Hills on.

83 min: Speroni and Jose get in a muddle before the latter has to clear from Rasiak. All came from a very simple Watford free kick.

86 min: SUB: Rasiak off, Hoskins on

89 min: Rui has a shot blocked and then Butterfield blasts over.

90 min: Three minutes added on and it's three minutes too much.

90 min: YELLOW CARD. Lee booked for a late challenge on Roach that sparked a mini melee.

FULL TIME: Poor from Palace and that's that as far as the play-offs go. Next up is Wolves on Tuesday, see you then.