Maynard hopes his goals will fire City to promotion
Another one to cross off the list was one of the motivating factors in braving the freezing conditions present in Cider country to watch Palace take on the mighty Bristol City at Ashton Gate.
Although not the grandest as stadiums go in the Championship, in the shadow of the Clifton Suspension Bridge the home of the Robins has a certain charm to it. To liken it to our own Selhurst Park wouldn’t be too far from the truth, only a little less glamorous as it’s smaller and has no stand that can be directly compared to our Holmesdale end.
The away end would have been far from comfortable had we had to have sat down for the entire game as the seats have no backs to them and tended to lean forward slightly, apart from that on a warm day it would be good fun standing at a ground of the like we probably won’t be graced with for much longer.
As for the game itself it was settled by Nicky Maynard’s sublime strike early on. He swivelled on the edge of the box whilst firing the ball past a helpless Julian Speroni to send the crowd into raptures. Had it not been Speroni it could have been many more. Palace have played worse than this away from home and there are many positives that can be taken from the game such as Nathaniel Clyne who seems to improve every game.
Warnock must address the strikers problem though as today we looked extremely short up front and will need to strengthen in that area even if we want to make the playoffs. Alan Lee and Shefki Kuqi are not enough and someone like Leroy Lita could be picked up for under £1million which could give us a realistic shot at the playoffs. Let’s hope so eh!
