Derby 1-1 Crystal Palace: Stern John swoops late on to steal precious point
By Oliver Pickup (mirrorfootball.co.uk)
Stern John came off the bench at Pride Park to score four minutes from the end and earn Crystal Palace what could prove to be a vital point as they continue to feel the chill from a winter of discontent.
The Trinidad and Tobago striker wasn’t started by manager Paul Hart, who sent young Sean Scannell to forage up front alone, initially in an ineffective 4-2-3-1 formation.
But the 33-year-old was put on at the break and crashed a superb effort against the crossbar minutes before firing a rasping shot into the bottom left-hand corner to level the game.
Palace had gone a goal down to Derby centre-back Russell Anderson’s header after only six minutes. The Scottish international, who joined from Burnley in the summer, rose to meet captain Robbie Savage’s free-kick and managed to bundle the ball home to register his first goal for the Rams.
But the home side failed to take advantage of the Eagles’ poor first-half performance and allowed them to get back into the match.
“It was a game of two halves,” said former Portsmouth boss Hart.
“We were disappointed not to win, we had to regroup very quickly at half-time. I was not surprised when Stern scored, he is an experienced striker, but I have no regrets about not starting him.”
Palace, in administration, with 10 points deducted, forced to sell star Victor Moses and left by manager Neil Warnock last month – whose QPR side beat them last week – sit one place above the drop zone with two games remaining.
And Hart, who has notched up only 13 points from a possible 36 since taking charge, admitted that his men will be watching today’s Sheffield derby in the hope that Wednesday – two points behind Palace with a game in hand – slip up.
“I will be listening or watching in a darkened room,” he added.
Derby manager Nigel Clough, whose club have all but confirmed their Championship status for next year, was annoyed that his team failed to score a second.
“We probably warranted more than the one goal after a great first half,” he said.“And I was disappointed that in the second half we did not put our foot on the ball.”
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