A late Jack Holland goal saved Crystal Palace Reserves from a shock defeat in their first Totesport.com Combination League match at the KT Stadium, after the visitors had taken the lead within the opening minute.

The centre half climbed highest on 85 minutes to convert Ryan Smith's corner with a thumping header to cap off another fine display at the heart of defence.

Ronnie Jepson fielded a side with two changes from the team that beat Gillingham at krbs Priestfield last week, with Nick Carle coming in to the midfield in place of Hakeem Adelakun and goalkeeper Lloyd Anderson in for an injured Charlie Mann.

The young keeper could do nothing about the opening goal of the evening when Gills forward Andy Pugh capitalised on a huge gap in the Palace defence to thrash home an effort from 15 yards.

Palace laid claim to much of the game and came agonisingly close to equalising on a number of occasions, with James Comley missing from close range soon after the opener and Nick Carle smashing a fine effort in to the rib cage of Garry Richards.

In the second half Kieran Djilali made light work of his marker on the right flank and his cross only needed a simple finish from Comley, but he screwed his shot wide.

Ryan Smith then came even closer when he broke through the Gillingham defence and, in a one-on-one with Alan Julian, attempted a clever chip but the Gills keeper managed to take the sting out of it, and as it edged closer to the line it was eventually cleared.

It was turning out to be a frustrating evening for Palace's second string, and as time wore on it looked more and more likely that Gillingham would eke out the win until Holland rose brilliantly to power his header home five minutes from time.

Palace are next in action on Wednesday 18th November when Eastbourne Borough are visitors to the KT Stadium. Kick off is at 7pm.

Exclusive highlights of Wednesday's Reserve game will be available later in the week on Palace Player.

Teams

Crystal Palace: 1. Lloyd Anderson; 2. Michael Abnett; 3. Matthew Parsons; 4. Jack Holland; 5. Jerry Nnamani; 6. James Comley; 7. Kieran Djilali; 8. Nick Carle; 9. Nathaniel Pinney; 10. Kieron Cadogan; 11. Ryan Smith

Subs: 14. Jack Randall; 15. Ibra Sekajja; 16. Hakeem Adelakun; 17. Joe Goldsmith

Gillingham: 1. Alan Julian; 2. Alexander Brown; 3. Ryan Benniman; 4. Tom Brunt; 5. Garry Richards; 6. Rashid Yussuff; 7. Andy Pugh; 8. Adam Miller; 9. Amoudou Abdullei (15. Trialist, 72); 10. Mark McCammon; 11. Bradley Hudson-Odoi (12. Sam Fisher, 90)

Subs:  13. GK Darren Hawkes; 14. George Humber;