Saturday's 2 - 1 defeat at home to Scunthorpe really was difficult to watch at times. With an expectant crowd and a bubbling atmosphere every Palace fan was desperately hoping that the game was going to be the time that the squad which promises so much on paper, was going to stand firm against the relegation battle and deliver the result and performance which would have gone a long way to cementing our place in the Championship for another year, oh how wrong we were.
I'm not sure exactly what went wrong in the hours prior to the game kicking off, whether it was the pre-match meal the players ate, the tactics they were being asked to play, or the fact that they just couldn't get themselves up for it fully, but one thing is for sure, the performance that the team put in during the opening hour of the game was not consistent in any way with the manner in which we have played at home since our last home defeat all the way back in October.
The line-up in itself was similar to how Dougie has set the team up since he was installed as manager, two banks of four in defence and midfield, with Vaughan and Iversen partnering each other up front from the start, and, it must be said, prior to conceding the opening goal we were more than holding our own in terms of the balance of play, however, once they got their noses in front our entire side seemed to disappear from view all together.
The remainder of the first half passed us by with no sign of improvement, and even though the referee was incomprehensively awful for the entirety of the opening 45 minutes I can't say that I would attribute him with anywhere near the level of blame that could have seen us being deserving of anything more than going in behind at the break.
As has been the Palace fans will since we were plunged into the darkened tunnel of administration last January, we welcomed the team back onto the pitch after the break with the customary shouts of encouragement and enthusiasm, but it seemed to do little to lift the spirits of the players who began the second period in exactly the same way as they had finished the first, passes were being misplaced everywhere, players were being caught out of position every couple of minutes and Steffen Iversen continued to look as effective as Edward Scissorhands in a shoelace tying competition next to the ever industrious James Vaughan.
The second goal for the away side was a sickening if somewhat inevitable blow, which left the crowd perplexed as to where they should voice their anger, some opted to continue to barrack the referee, others began to turn on individual players, whilst the vast majority just appeared to watch on in a bemused state completely bewildered by what they were watching unfold in front of them, I can say from my own experience it was not a pretty sight.
Sean Scannell, Wilfried Zaha and Pablo Counago were all introduced to try and salvage something from the game, but despite their best efforts, it was all a case of too little too late from the perspective of getting a result from what was one of the most frustrating afternoons of football I have watched in many a year.
I feel I must add that despite all the doom and gloom I did take heart from the performances of certain individuals on the day, Dean Moxey was superb from start to finish and his decision to push Joe Garner from the field after he had been dismissed only served to endear him to me even further, and did, in fact lead to me think that he should be an instant selection for team captain next year (provding we can hang onto him of course).
James Vaughan was another high for me, showing as much drive and determination as any for the cause, despite the fact that he isn't even tied into a full-time contract with the club, he ran himself into the ground for the team and even battled through an ankle injury in the closing minutes rather than taking a seat on the bench, an attitude which I felt would have been well observed by some of our lesser performers on the day.
Finally though, the impact Sean Scannell had when he was introduced really was a joy to behold. He hassled and worried defenders, continuously causing all sorts of problems for the visitors down the left hand side whilst he was still on the pitch, and the composure with which he took his goal fully instilled in me the belief that Sean will be a star man for us next season no matter which division we are plying our trade in. His dismissal is not something we can have any complaints over, but you couldn't fault his enthusiasm to do well for the team and I have no doubt he will come back for us next season and play a massive role for the club.
We now have to travel to Doncaster on Friday whilst trying to banish all memory of the weekends performance from our minds, they are on a worse run of form than we are, and face the worry of dropping below us in the table if we go there and get a win. If you are looking for crumbs of comfort, I can tell you that the club are giving the home fans free tickets in the hope of enticing a bumper crowd to the notoriously quiet Keepmoat Stadium, something which highlights their realisation that the fixture really is make or break for them as well as us, we will take a very noisy following up the M1 as we always do these days, and regardless of our recent shoddy performance I will travel full of positivity that the team can secure the win which we all so badly want.
Keep your chins up, it wouldn't be Palace unless we did things the hard way!
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