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Your support makes all the difference.In this season's Championship, which is likely to end in a mass sprint finish for promotion, the danger of being left stranded in the starting blocks is not to be underestimated. After harvesting only one point from the first three games, Palace had been talking about the problems of adjusting to life in a lower division. The trouble is that unlike the Premiership, this is a battleground in which the difference between top and bottom is too close to risk conceding anything to anyone at any time.
Plymouth were disappointed that international clearance had still not be obtained for the former Milan player Taribo West while Palace were relieved that Andrew Johnson was passed fit after a hamstring injury.
Johnson was left to his own devices as Hasney Aljofree and Mathias Doumbe created a solid barrier in his path and Plymouth began looking marginally less ordinary than Palace. It took half an hour to manoeuvre Johnson into an optimistic position and even then he stabbed his shot into the side netting, albeit from a difficult angle, but Plymouth kept possession more confidently than Palace and Nuno Mendes was unlucky with a searching header that slipped past the post.
When Emmerson Boyce threaded a ball through the Plymouth penalty area, Johnson was quick to see it but the goalkeeper Romain Larrieu was even quicker and thrashed it away for nothing more damaging than a corner. Palace responded to the half-time reminder from their manager, Iain Dowie, that a goal or two would not come amiss. Jobi McAnuff, in particular, caught Dowie's mood and began the second half brightly and with troublesome pace. He almost broke the deadlock when his low shot deflected off the post.
After an hour, Darren Ward, who had been a pillar of reliability in the Palace defence, suddenly moved up into the opposition's penalty area when they unnecessarily conceded, and badly defended, a free-kick. Johnson had driven a follow-up shot into the goal area and Ward managed to turn the ball in off the post.
Palace replaced the ineffective Wayne Andrews with Dougie Freedman and the attack looked more imposing. It would not have been unjust if Boyce had succeeded with a powerful header but Larrieu again acted quickly, flinging himself down to push the ball away. For Palace, the victory was more convincing than the performance.
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