Cakovec 0 - 2 Palace

Sun Jul 15 2001 - Friendly

Palace ended their brief pre-season tour of Spain with a 2-0 win in a bad-tempered match.

The victory left Palace unbeaten and they did not concede a goal in their two games out there.

Hayden Mullins gave the fans an early scare, when he was lucky not to give away a penalty in the third minute as he handled in the box.

In a very physical game, a number of players were booked from both sides with a lot of rash challenges flying about, particularly from the Croatian side.

Clinton Morrison, who returned to action after a shin injury, had the biggest chance of the half, but his 20-yard effort was well saved by the Croatian keeper.

A few minutes later, Steve Thomson failed to net a rebound from a long Julian Gray cross, who was playing well down the left side.

Cakovec then had a shot just wide and Matt Gregg produced a good save shortly after.

Dougie Freedman then broke the deadlock after 39 minutes. He collected a pass from Jamie Smith, found himself one on one with the keeper and clinically put the ball into the corner of the net.

Cakovec, who finished seventh in the Croatian league last season, saw a goal disallowed for offside.

Midway through the second half, David Hopkin fired a 25-yard free kick into the wall which defelected, what the Palace players believed to be, over the line. But the referee chose not to award the goal.

With two minutes remaining, a Wayne Carlisle cross on the right was met by Stephen Kabba, who passed to the on-running Gray and he smashed the ball home to seal the win.

The Palace side included Jovan Kirovski, who showed good touches and is on trial at the club from Sporting Lisbon.

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