The Championship game between Queens Park Rangers and Doncaster Rovers at Loftus Road on Saturday Feb 20 2010.
Mired in uncertainty off the pitch, Crystal Palace failed to regain their bearings on it. Administration has dissolved their promotion assault and they are struggling to keep their heads above water in every sense.
Ipswich’s triumph at Sheffield Wednesday condemned the south London club to the relegation zone and an arduous campaign of survival beckons.
Neil Warnock, whose future as Palace manager has been shrouded in conjecture, looked relaxed as he posed for photographs before kick-off, although calmness quickly evaporated when asked about Queen’s Park Rangers’ interest in him. “I’ve said enough about that. I’m fed up with it,” he replied with agitation.
A fixture riddled with sub-plots, marked by the return of Chris Coleman and Clinton Morrison to Selhurst Park, was not the breeding ground for expressionist football or a Palace recovery.
Coventry performed in a practical 4-4-2 and Palace, whose conveyor belt of talent has reeled off exciting players, largely failed to bring imagination to their play. Sean Scannell and Darren Ambrose were systematically stifled.
Yet there was transitory hope. Once marginalised by Warnock and seemingly on the way out yet liberated by Victor Moses’ departure, Nick Carle’s effervescence ignited Palace. In the first half he drifted past a couple of challenges and created space for Ambrose, whose shot ricocheted off Kieren Westwood and dribbled wide.
Carle was lithe and hungry for the ball, an appetite whetted by the promise of regular football. Both sides were competitive but stodgy going forward, although the Australian’s energy remained throughout.
Here was a player with designs on gracing this summer’s World Cup with Australia and rejuvenated by the prospect. Just minutes into the second half he weighted a pass into Ambrose, who burst into the box but was stopped by Stephen Wright.
Carle bristled with an exuberance generated by a new-found confidence. Soon he drifted out to the right and delivered a cross which Johannes Ertl headed off target.
The past, though, tugged uneasily at Palace. Morrison, so often their saviour, released Aron Gunnarsson with a nonchalant flick but, with just Julian Speroni to beat, his finish was tame.
Coventry did not exude adventure but menaced on the break and, five minutes from time, substitute David Bell played a one-two with Jonathan Stead and left Speroni stranded with a deft chip.
“You’ve got to feel sorry for them,” offered Coleman. His old club need to muster fantasy and resistance to the backdrop of hideously unpredictable times.
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