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Advantage City after Palace victory

10/05/2008

Bristol City have secured a priceless advantage in their Championship play-off semi-final by beating Crystal Palace 2-1 in the first leg at Selhurst Park.

Gary Johnson's side had David Noble to thank for the win after he drove home a stunning long-range strike in the third minute of second-half stoppage time.

The game had looked destined to be a draw after Ben Watson's late penalty had cancelled out Louis Carey's first goal of the season for the visitors.

Palace had begun the match the brighter side, but Watson failed to match his dominance of midfield possession with shooting accuracy.

City meanwhile struggled to get the ball to star striker Lee Trundle in dangerous areas of the pitch, although the game's first clear chance fell to his strike partner Dele Adebola.

Julian Speroni was up to the challenge however as he diverted Adebola's close range header over for a corner.

Adebola's header began a short spell of dominance from the Robins, which led to the side that finished fourth in the Championship scoring the game's first goal after the restart.

A well worked free-kick saw Carey afforded space to curl home a fine opener that left Neil Warnock's side reeling.

The game sprang back into life in the closing stages, with goal hero Carey felling Jose Forte in the away side's box.

Watson kept his composure to put the resulting penalty away, but minutes later Speroni was helpless to prevent Noble's brilliant long-range shot creeping in.