It was a night where football was secondary to another event at Selhurst Park. Tonight was about celebrating the Crystal Palace career of a true legend. A player that had been with the club for ten years and who wanted to celebrate it with those that made it possible - the fans. Fulham provided a much needed opposition but even their Premiership status could not outweigh the meaning of the evening's real purpose - Dougie Freedman's Testimonial.
The night began with Palace legend, Dougie Freedman, coming out onto the Selhurst Pitch to a rapturous applause. With his future uncertain, thousands of fans made the trip to watch their hero for, possibly, the last time and show their gratitude for his years of service to the club.
With his children by his side, and with the fans belting out classic Freedman chants, he received a comemorative plate to recognise his services to Crystal Palace Football Club.
With the formalities out of the way, Dougie took to the field against a Fulham side boasting some big name stars but , in the first 20 minutes, it was Palace who shone the brightest.
A speculative effort from Clint Dempsey after two minutes signalled early intent, however that soon fizzled out and Fulham's forwards had to work hard to forge any sniff of chance.
Instead it was Palace who looked the most dangerous in the opening exchanges with new signing Nick Carle providing a real threat through the middle. His quick feet and boundless stores of energy meant that he was constantly hassling the opposition players, winning the ball and playing nice touches into the forwards' path. Indeed it was his brilliant pass in the fourth minute that almost led to Freedman opening the scoring. Picking the ball up just infront of the Fulham defence, a casual look forward saw Freedman's run and the outside of his left boot flicked the ball into his path. Unfortunately, Freedman had looked across to the linesman and, in doing so, checked his run just enough to let the ball skip on past him. If that was to be the first goal at Selhurst Park this season, it would have been a sublime way to begin.
Carle continued to cause problems and, on 11 minutes, he picked the ball up midway into Fulham's half and used his strength to hold off defenders while he flitted past them. His final touch took him a little wide and his eventual shot, from 15 yards out and on the angle, was blocked by Robert Milsom's outstretched leg.
Palace were looking good. Working as a unit they hassled Fulham when they were without the ball to win it back and counter-attacked with a fervency somewhat unusual for a friendly game. Indeed it seemed too good to be true and the game soon deteriorated into a scrappy affair as both teams struggled to keep any sort of rythmn.
Fulham came closest towards the end of the half when striker Eddie Johnson turned and shot from the edge of the area only to see his shot deflect of McCarthy's leg and run just wide of Speroni's post.
Palace had their best chance of the half through new striker Calvin Andrew in the 38th minute, who had risen highest to head a Danny Butterfield cross goalwards. However, he could only watch as it flew just wide.
As the half seeped into its final minutes, Freedman was replaced by a lucky auction winner who donned the number nine for the final few seconds. As he walked off he took a moment to enjoy the applause of the fans that had been with him since the beginning, who had experienced the highs and lows of his ten years at Crystal Palace and were determined to be there as it began to draw it to an end. But the magic was not over just yet as Freedman was straight back out on the pitch at half-time to welcome the plethora of guests he had invited to celebrate with him. With unofficial legend Rob Fox introducing, he welcomed the likes of Mark Bright, John Solako, Jim Cannon, Geoff Thomas and Andy Johnson.
Unfortunately, the second half could not carry on where the half-time's entertainment left off, with the game taking on a rather atypical friendly manner. Both sides, riddled with substitutions, struggled to excite, which left chances while guilt edged, at a premium.
The first fell to the visitors with striker, Erik Nevland, somehow managing to direct his header wide after Wayne Brown had literally put it on his head.
Seven minutes later and they carved out their second. Steven Davis, rather tame until then, played an exquisite reverse pass to Brown who beat Butterfield for pace and clipped the ball underneath an advancing Speroni only to see it nestle in the side netting.
It was to be their only chances of the half as Palace began to work their way back into the game, slowly it must be said, but they began to close their lines and reduce Fulham to endless amounts of build up play without much of an end product.
But Palace forged their chances too and, just short of the hour mark new striker, Simon Thomas, will be wondering how he managed to miss when it was seemingly easier to score. A cross in from the right found Thomas, who managed to beat his marker and connect with the ball six yards from goal. However he headed too hard into the ground, which took the pace out of the ball fell and it harmlessly into the keeper's arms.
Three minutes later and Victor Moses had an even better chance as he managed to screw a free shot from 10 yards over the bar. Special mention must go to Scannell who did brilliantly to work the ball into space on the by-line and drag it back to his teammate.
On 72, Carle came close with a rasping drive that had plenty of fizz but it was always climbing as it flew just over the right post.
As the half drew to a close, Palace carved out two brilliant chances to grab the win. The first, on 87 minutes, fell to James Dayton, who came close with a right footed strike from just inside the area. The second year professional collected a stray ball, took it round one defender and aimed a strike on goal. However, his final touch took him slightly off balance and he ended up screwing the ball over the bar.
The second, and arguably the best chance, came on the stroke of full time when Thomas threw himself at a Butterfield cross just six yards from goal but failed to make any contact at all.
It was a performance that Neil Warnock will take plenty of heart from as the season creeps ever nearer but he will almost certainly be looking at Leicester's visit on Saturday for a more polished performance. To book your tickets for Saturday you can either book online or call our box office on 08712 00 00 71
TEAM NEWS
There were starts for new signings Nick Carle, Paddy McCarthy and Calvin Andrew, while man of the night, Dougie Freedman, starts upfront wearing his famous number 9 shirt.
The full teams were as follows:
Crystal Palace
1. Julian Speroni, 3. Clint Hill, 4. Shaun Derry, 5. Patrick McCarthy, 6. Jose Fonte, 9. Dougie Freedman, 10. Nick Carle, 18. Calvin Andrew, 19. Tom Soares, 20. Danny Butterfield, 23. Paul Ifill
Subs: 14. Sean Scannell, 17. Simon Thomas, 22. Johannes Ertl, 24. Ben Watson, 31. Jamie Smith, 35. Rhoys Wiggins, 39. James Dayton, 16. Kieron Djilali, 2. James Comley, 1. Victor Moses
Fulham
1. Pascal Zuberhuler, 2. TJ Moncur, 3. Robert Milsom, 4. Chris Baird, 5. Toni Kallio, 6. Steven Davis, 7. Clint Dempsey, 8. Alexey Smertin, 9. Eddie Johnson, 10. Erik Nevland, 11. Lee Cook
Subs: 12. David Stockdale, 14. Joe Anderson, 15. Lewis Cumber, 16. Matthew Briggs, 17. Wayne Brown,18. Hammeur Bouazza , 19. Jordan Wilson, 20. Lewis Smith
