Crystal Palace 2, Bradford City 0: Now they know how Greece must have felt at Old Trafford or Bayern Munich in that Champions' League final a couple of years back.

To those ridiculously unjust results, now add Crystal Palace 2 Bradford City 0.

The morning after the night before, the scoreline from Selhurst Park still takes some believing.

Football can be a cruel game at times, none more so than the way City were handed their fourth loss in the last five league outings.

In boxing terms they won every round, doing everything right bar finding that elusive knock-out punch. Instead Palace sneaked it with a couple of knockdowns during brief lulls from the Claret and Amber barrage.

"Travesty" was how Jim Jefferies attempted to describe it, while the bewildered faces of the players as they trooped onto the coach afterwards told the story. The 250-mile haul back to West Yorkshire will never have felt so long.

At the final whistle, Palace belted out their club anthem "Glad All Over" and you thought the visitors would burst. Talk about rubbing their noses in it!

It goes without saying that the only reason that City didn't get any scrap of reward for their exertions was down to one man, Matt Clarke.

Fans had been saying it for weeks that the keeper would choose his first reunion with the Bantams to revive the sort of form that brought the chants of "Clarkey For England" cascading from the stands 12 months ago.

Too right he did. Just ask Ashley Ward, David Wetherall and Andy Tod - all victims of Clarke's elastic-limbed shot-stopping.

He was beaten in the end by two buxom blondes who streaked across the goalmouth in injury time. But anyone with a shirt on was rebuffed by a human barrier.

Clarke served notice this was going to be his night with the left-handed tip-away to deny Ward late in the first half.

Gunnar Halle missed a good early chance for City before Palace went one up through Clinton Morrison after Robbie Blake was caught dallying on the edge of his own area.

But even then Morrison's crucial diversion of Jamie Smith's cross was more of a top edge off his knee than deliberately-placed shot.

With that lucky break in the bag, the Palace team sat back and left Clarke to it. He didn't let them down.

Blake, trying desperately to atone for his defensive error, wriggled into a shooting position at the near post only to cannon the ball against Clarke.

It was cleared as far as Halle who nodded it back towards goal where Ward got a thick enough header to push it in the corner. Alas, Clarke was up and aware of the danger and flicked it away one-handed.

Into the second half and with Gareth Whalley starting to pull the strings after coming on for the jaded Gary Locke, an equaliser surely beckoned. Not if Clarke had anything to do with it.

After 55 minutes the goal looked certain as Whalley swung a free-kick into the danger zone where Ward dived to head it beyond the Palace keeper - only to watch in agony as the ball pinged off the foot of the left post.

Eight minutes later Clarke was at it again to arch back and palm away a flick header from Wetherall. It was the sort of reaction save where the ball could have gone anywhere - just City's luck it flew to safety.

City forced all seven of their corners after the break but somehow the Palace goal remained intact.

Eoin Jess shot wastefully wide after Blake had slipped the ball invitingly in his path 12 yards out and then when Whalley's pass gave Tod brief daylight in front of goal, Clarke was on him in a flash to block the angled drive with his legs.

The late arrival of the under-dressed young ladies failed to lift City's mood. And the despondency increased right at the end of the five minutes of added time when sub Gregg Berhalter found Morrison on his own in the penalty area - and a good ten yards offside - to knock home the Palace second.

Even the home bench looked embarrassed to accept that one.

Two shots at goal, two goals. You can't do better than that - and City couldn't despite having four times as many efforts against Matt Clarke.

But let's try to think positive, at least Steve Bruce has used up all his luck in one night. If he's Birmingham boss by Saturday, surely he can't expect any more breaks at City's expense at St Andrew's.