Cheerio to the Shrimpers...

...but they were pretty handy in the first half! Yes, Southend United FC were the visitors to Selhurst Park last night and proved themselves to be a very determined outfit in the quest for survival in the Coca-Cola Championship. They were so determined that they ended up going one-nil up in their favour by the end of half time, courtesy of bright young thing Freddy Eastwood.

However, Taylor and his men regrouped for a stunning comeback that left most of the travelling away fans nearly speechless, as we came back in the second half to score three goals without conceeding any more. A blistering trinity of goal scoring was accomplished by Leon Cort (52 minutes), vintage fave Dougie Freedman (55 minutes) and Mark Hudson (61 minutes).

It seems that we are starting to see a more coherent style of play at Selhurst and I believe it's down to Peter Taylor's influence. Optimism isn't rare for many fans at the start of the season, but I feel that we will be playing better than last season if we put in more work. We need to be quicker too, as last night's clash with Southend proved. They are a hungry team wishing to make the most from their current position in the Championship and they will not be looking to go back down to League One if they can help it. Also, watch out for Southend's gutsy midfielder Jamal Campbell-Ryce. This guy is fast as well as skillfull and has a very bright future ahead of him.

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About five minutes before the final whistle, I decided to leave early to avoid the fall-out crush of supporters flooding out from the Arthur Wait stand so that I could nip in to the club shop. I had spotted the above advert in the programme and was keen to purchase a copy of this book. It's a collection of Palace related memories written by the fans themselves and it's a good read to boot (and not only because Uncle Istvanski has muscled in and got his own entry in it, but it's another valid reason to celebrate my very first published essay) . You can buy it online from the CPFC shop for a paltry £9.99. C'mon, what are you waiting for? Get yer festering wallets out you tight nobs!