Grimsby Town 2 - 2 Palace

Saturday December 2 2000 - League

The Eagles gave away a comfortable 2-0 lead in the final five minutes of the game against Grimsby Town.

Mikael Forssell, who played again for the injured Freedman, put Palace in front minutes before the half time whistle. The young Finn headed home a fine Jamie Smith cross.

Crystal Palace thought they had bagged the three points when Clinton Morrison scored their second ten minutes from time.

Grimsby Town however, pulled one back four minutes later through substitute Michael Jeffrey.

With only two minutes left on the clock, the Mariners pulled level. It was Kevin Donovan who grabbed a dramatic late equaliser and put the final score of 2-2 on the board.

Post match comments

Alan Smith was disappointed at losing two points but he was still pleased about his side extending the unbeaten run to eight games.

The Palace boss said: "It's a hard place to come for a southern team. You can dress well and have all the nice watches in the world but that won't buy us a result at Grimsby.

"You have to give credit to Grimsby, who are battling for their lives. But we have come a long way since the debacle when Grimsby beat us 1-0."

Grimsby Town manager Lenny Lawrence was happy to see his side end a four-game losing run.

He said: "Palace must be kicking themselves but over the 90 minutes we deserved a draw. We got ourselves out of jail today and there is room for improvement."

From The Terrace Photos

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