Crystal Palace 0 Rotherham 0

Last updated : 19 April 2003 By Footymad Previewer

Crystal Palace had to be content with a point as life begins at Selhurst Park without Trevor Francis.

Francis was fired on Friday as chairman Simon Jordan promises changes to get the club back into the Premier Leauge.

Steve Kember together with Terry Bullivant were put in charge until the end of the season but it was still the same old story as the Eagles produced another below par performance.

Rotherham had Palace in all sorts of problems in the early stages as Alan Lee hit the post inside the first minute before Richie Barker put a header just wide and Hayden Mullins nearly put through his own goal attempting to clear.

The Eagles had a good 15 minute spell before the break as Ian Gray made two spectacular saves from 17-year-old Ben Watson and Dele Adebola.

After the break Palace continued to plug away but despite having good possession they were unable to hurt the Yorkshiremen.

Two clear chances fell Palace's way with Julian Gray stumbling with the goal at his mercy, and Tommy Black at the very end dribbling past Ian Gray but placing his shot across goal and wide.

Afterwards Kember said: "I wasn't happy with the result but the performance was okay, as we played some good football. But a goalless game doesn't make good viewing for the spectators.

"We had a poor first ten minutes, but after that we settled down and did quite well. Their keeper made a couple of good saves and at the end we wasted a few chances." Rotherham boss Ronnie Moore claimed: "We made a good start and created some good chances but they pushed on us a bit in the second half. I was very pleased the way we played and we kept the crowd quiet.

"I was a bit concerned when I heard about the managerial change at Palace as normally this can have an effect of the team bouncing back."