Gillingham, who had defender Chris Hope sent off after 54 minutes for a foul on Dougie Freedman, were still too good for disappointing Palace. Gillingham dominated the opening 45 minutes, completely outplaying Palace in all departments. A Shaun Derry free kick and a tame Andy Johnson header were all that the visitors could muster. On 54 minutes Dougie Freedman burst into the area and was upended by Chris Hope, leaving the referee with little alternative other than to show the Gillingham player the red card. Dougie Freedman, usually lethal from the spot, this time saw his penalty kick saved by Jason Brown. Palace showed some improvement after the break and on 70 minutes Johnson's acrobatic overhead kick went over the bar and 10 minutes later Kit Symons had a header tipped over by the impressive Brown. Three minutes later, substitute David Perpetuini scored the winner having been put through by fellow sub Mark Saunders to give the hosts all three points.
Palace must get out of this slump in form pretty quickly to ease the pressure on under fire manager Steve Kember. Supporters hopes were high just 8 weeks ago with Palace sitting on top of the pile with 9 points from 3 games. The next 13 games have brought just 7 points. You'd better sort it out quickly Kember, Mr. Jordan's axe is being dusted down!
