December 20 2009

Victor Moses

It was yet another 1-1 when Barnsley came to Selhurst but Palace played with style and invention, writes Jamesey.

It was a freezing day (Dec 20) for the visit of Barnsley FC but the official gate of 14,279 was probably not much more than the actual crowd who braved the elements to watch. A small but enthusiastic group of Tykes occupied the away section and congratulations to them for making the effort.

Well, we all knew that Victor Moses had abundant talent but it was a question of whether he could drop some of his greedy habits, calm down and play for the good of the team.

Certainly, in this match, and to a degree in other recent encounters, he did the business in a big way. He terrorised the Barnsley defenders, showed some incredible bits of skill, laid on intelligent balls for his team-mates and, to cap it all, "bicycled" in a superb equaliser.

That is not to take any credit away from the others although Darren Ambrose's penalty miss was a shocker. Well, the boy's only human.

If we had converted that penalty and taken one or two of several other clear-cut opportunities, we could have won the game at a canter. Nevertheless it was gratifying to see what our players can do when the mood takes them and that Jekyll rather than Hyde is the presiding influence for the day.

Even our Argentine magician, Julian Speroni, had little to do apart from retrieve the ball from the back of the net once and make yet another world-class save. How many times have his superb saves earned us a draw or three points this season?

Regrettably, I will miss the Ipswich fixture on Boxing Day but if we carry on in that vein and resist the return of Hyde we could start creeping up from mid-table.

But, of course, the spectre hanging over the club is the January sales when we will almost inevitably lose some of our talent in order to pay a few bills and the taxman, who has joined the hovering queue.

Last Thursday (Dec 17) a small but hardy band assembled at the Barrowboy and Banker, near London Bridge, to celebrate this website's 10th birthday.

I have to admit that crowded pubs are not really my cup of beer and the B and B was crammed to the gunwales with thirsty City types, all apparently intent on drowning their bonus sorrows with lashings of beer.

However, the group of us, including the grand architects, Guntrisoft and Penge Eagle, formed a solid phalanx and had a good old chat about all things Palace.

It was unnerving to see a blizzard raging outside but mercifully the snow didn't stick and maroon us all in a white hell at London Bridge.

It was good to see Neillo again, never a man to shirk shifting a few drinks in a City venue. And Moose, always ready with a droll remark, had fought his way from the wilds of Purley to attend.

And so, as they used to write on lavatory walls in the days when public loos existed, a merry Christmas to all our readers. Oh, and a prosperous New Year too.

Email Jamesey with your comments to jevans3704@aol.com

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