Stiliyan Petrov headed home the late equaliser for
Aston Villa but Crystal Palace can be proud and the club's administrator
delighted after a battling FA Cup performance.
A replay a week on Wednesday will pay off another chunk of Palace's
£30 million debts and the way Neil Warnock's side scrapped
no-one should write them off reaching the quarter-finals just yet.
How cruel football can be.
It looked as if Darren Ambrose had given Palace the cup shock they
craved when he fired the strike of his life past goalkeeper Brad
Friedel from more than 30 yards.
The Palace faithful sang 'We're going to Wembley' and manager Warnock
was a picture of animation on the touchline. And they looked good
value for the optimism as Villa struggled to conjure an attacking
threat in a lacklustre second half.
But then came Petrov's winner three minutes from time which leaves
Palace hoping they can cash in on another televised encounter to
bring in another £250,000.
To say Palace were up against in this tie was an understatement.
The club went into administration a fortnight ago with those staggering
debts. The players' futures are uncertain, manager Warnock does
not know if he will be in a job from one week to the next and the
canteen lady has not been paid for two months.
There have been lots of beans and toast on the menu at the club's
Beckenham training ground but you cannot fault the spirit in the
side.
And for long periods in an entertaining, at times pulsating cup
tie, they gave as good as they got. As good as Warnock had promised,
in fact, when he predicted they would not go down without the mother
of all scraps.
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