Palace 0 Fulham 0

I thought testimonials were there to provide a feast of goals!

Well last nights proved different, I guess it bucked the trend but nevertheless it was still entertaining.

With Fulham travelling to Selhurst Park to play a testimonial for Dougie Freedman, I guess two London clubs in direct opposition was always going to provide a feisty encounter.

With ex-Palace old boy Andrew Johnson (and probable Fulham new-boy) Andrew Johnson paraded beforehand, I got the feeling it tokk a little bit of the gloss off of Freedman`s entrance.

Roy Hodgson chose the occasion to blood a few of the players who`d not normally feature probably due to the fact that jet-lag was still a problem for the main squad who`d returned from Korea earlier this week.

This meant we saw Trialist goalkeeper Pascal Zuberhuler, Chris Baird, Steven Davis, Clint Dempsey, Alexey Smertin, Eddie Johnson and Erik Nevland all featuring.
As previously stated the game was a competitive affair with two Fulham players being on the end of crunching tackles in the first fifteen minutes. The first saw Soares flatten Edie Johnson whilst the second saw Derry leave Cook in a crumpled heap. Thankfully, both were able to continue after treatment.

Just before the interval, the hero of the night, Dougie Freedman, was replaced to a standing ovation ass Palace welcomed several of their old codgers, sorry legends onto the pitch in the shape of Mark Bright and Ray Houghton with Andy Johnson also making an appearance.

Any chance of Fulham breaking the deadlock appeared to be via the flank with Bouazza proving to particularly lively. One cross found the head of the airborne Nevland but he couldn`t direct his header under the bar.

All in all, a fair result, an entertaining ninety minutes but only a bit part for what lies ahead.


Fulham FC

Pascal Zuberhuler (Trialist GK), TJ Moncur, Robert Milsom, Toni Kallio, Chris Baird, Steven Davis, Clint Dempsey, Alexey Smertin, Eddie Johnson, Erik Nevland, Lee Cook

Subs:

David Stockdale, Joe Anderson, Lewis Cumber, Matthew Briggs, Wayne Brown, Hameur Bouazza, Jordan Wilson, Lewis Smith

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