Trevor not wonderland

The Crystal Palace boss will have some pretty nightmarish memories of the Bantams this season.

Who can forget City's first away trip of the campaign to Selhurst Park when Francis clobbered reserve goalkeeper Alex Kolinko for sniggering at the same split second that Andy Tod had put the visitors one up?

Then there were two wasted journeys to West Yorkshire only for the pitch to be frozen off on each occasion.

Now Francis has something new to grumble about after seeing his side sunk in the pouring rain by a spirited two-goal fightback.

City rounded off a week of home games with their first win on their own patch in five. Palace, on the other hand, must have been relieved to finally wave good riddance to the M606 - at least until next season.

On another day, Saturday's game could have been called off because of the waterlogged surface.

But having shelled out nearly £10,000 already to cover Palace's travelling and hotel costs on two abortive trips, the last thing City wanted was yet another postponement.

"The pitch was like a paddy field," admitted Nicky Law. "That's not having a go at the groundstaff, it's just we've had that much rain that there was surface water on it.

"I said to Trevor before the game that at least we were going to get this one on. But I'm not sure he wanted to play it."

Francis viewed that it was "just about playable", although another heavy downfall before kick-off would have given referee Eddie Evans a tough decision to make.

The conditions dictated last-minute selection tinkering in both dressing rooms. Law reluctantly left out Danny Forrest for the added power and experience of the fit-again Ashley Ward, while Francis gave a debut to loan signing Noel Whelan, who was pencilled in for the bench.

Whelan's elevation in place of Tommy Black looked an inspired call when the former Leeds hitman, who once turned his nose up at an offer to join City under Paul Jewell, struck first after 24 minutes.

We'd already seen the players struggling to cope with the greasy surface and there were problems for City in the build-up. Danny Butterfield's throw-in skipped off Andy Myers' head, David Wetherall tried to hook it clear and the ball just stuck and Whelan managed to engineer a quick swivel to rifle home from close range.

City's all-round play was too intricate in the first half. Instead of keeping it simple, they were trying short, clever passes, which more often than not were holding up in the puddles.

Claus Jorgensen had Mark Bower to thank after one under-hit backpass only made it as far as Whelan, then Ade Akinbiyi added another gilt-edged miss to his huge collection when he wasted a free header. Francis knew at half-time that his side had let City off the hook. He also feared the effects of three long-haul away games in a week would start catching up, particularly on those players coming back from long-term injuries.

City found a second wind after the break once Aidan Davison had bailed them out with a critical sprawling save to deny Hayden Mullins.

Peter Atherton was winning the battle of strength with Shaun Derry in midfield and the home side started to push forward with conviction, particularly on the flanks. Even the fans began to make some noise.

Palace had shot their bolt and it was no surprise when City levelled midway through the half, although the scorer would have fooled a few.

It had been a long time coming but Atherton picked an opportune moment to break his three-season duck with a precise finish after Lewis Emanuel's corner caused panic in the Palace ranks.

From then on, there would only be one winner.

"It was as if a dam had burst and we couldn't stop the flow once the first goal had gone in," said Francis with an appropriate metaphor. "The opposition found energy that they hadn't had in the first hour. They played with great drive and determination and were totally committed." The second biggest cheer of the afternoon heralded the arrival of Forrest for Andy Myers, who had slogged away manfully in his first game for nearly three months.

The youngster must have been disappointed not to start and immediately put forward his case for a recall.

With his first touch, Forrest slipped away from Butterfield to reach the left by-line before sliding a pass across the danger area. Andy Gray converged on it with Gary Borrowdale, who stretched to just get there first.

Gray caught the Palace full back as the ball ran loose to the edge of the penalty area where Claus Jorgensen, the poacher supreme, was perfectly placed to strike again. But the Dane stepped aside and instead there was Simon Francis to make it a day of scoring firsts with a clinical finish into the bottom corner.

Francis said: "I thought there might have been a foul or something when Claus just left it to me. But I carried on anyway and didn't look around."

His namesake in the opposing dug-out was not amused. Wisely, there was no trace of a smile from the back-up keeper.

The Palace boss grumbled about the challenge from Gray. "Do they play rugby here?" he asked sarcastically. "It would be funny if it wasn't the winning goal and cost us the game."

He must have been wonderful company on the coach back to London.