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Trundle strike puts Bristol City in playoff final

13/05/2008

Bristol City reached the Championship Playoff final after extra time goals from Lee Trundle and Michael McIndoe gave them a 4-2 aggregate victory over Crystal Palace at Ashton Gate.

Trundle unleashed an unstoppable left foot shot into the top right hand corner of the net just before half time in extra time to make it 1-1 on the night and 3-2 on aggregate and McIndoe's free-kick secured the victory.

The game went into extra-time after Ben Watson's first-half strike had levelled the tie.

Confusion in the Bristol City defence allowed the midfielder to loop a header over Adriano Basso and give Palace a lead after 24 minutes.

The game threatened to boil over mid-way through the first period when Clint Hill lost possession and seemed to dive in two-footed on Louis Carey.

Howard Webb deemed a yellow card sufficient but sent Bristol City assistant Keith Millen to the stands after a fracas on the touch-line.

The second-half continued at a frantic pace with both sides trying to gain an advantage and Dele Adebola causing particular problems for the Palace defence.

Tom Soares was brought down in the box by Nick Carle prompting Howard Webb to point to the spot but Watson, who had scored a penalty in the first leg, could only strike the post.

Trundle hit the bar in the dying moments of the 90 minutes before justifying his £1 million transfer tag with the crucial goal in extra time.

McIndoe's free kick ensured the home side booked a place at Wembley while Palace must spend another season out of the top flight.