Eagles See Off Daggers

The opening pre-season fixture for the first team squad took place yesterday at the Victoria Ground, Dagenham.

It was a chance for a selection of first teames, fringer players, youth and trialists to begin staking their claim for a starting spot in the opening Premier League fixture against Tottenham.

Being a friendly, it was typically a game of two halves and indeed two teams. Perhaps the biggest news of the day was the debut of the new 'evil sash' away kit which looked absolutely fantastic.

The first half side featured familiar faces such as Speroni, Ward, Gabbidon, O'Keefe, Joniesta, Dobbie and Phillips. Alongside them youth player Wynter started with trialists Jerome Williams, Owusu-Abeyie and man mountain Nuhiu.

Palace dominated the play as expected but a mixture of poor finishing and the home keeper making some great saves kept Dagenham in the game. The opening goal came in the 34th minute, Phillips released the ball to Owusu-Abeyie on the right who crossed low into the area for Nuhiu to finish.

The second half Palace started brightly and in similar fashion to how the first half ended. Lots of posession brought the reward, Grandin fed right back Taylor who was brought down in the box. The referee gave the penalty and Garvan subsequently converted. 

It was bittersweet for Taylor as he was at fault for letting the home side a route back into the game. A foul on Hines in area and the resultant penalty was despatched past Fitzimons to make the score 2-1. This gave the Daggers some impotus but time was fast running out and Palace ended up securing their first win of the pre-season campaign.

Fan Steph Donovan (@stephdonovan) told The Eagles Beak;

"It was very positive. The first half lineup passed the ball well and we looked threatening. The second half lineup lacked something on the whole. Some indivuals stood out like Gayle and Boateng and it's nice to see how we are progressing. It was good to see the players that were not playing sitting with the fans in the stand. Dagenham were a worthy test to start pre-season, didn't lay down and their keeper pulled off some great saves."

Palace 1st half:  Speroni, Ward, Wynter, Gabbidon, Jerome Williams, O'Keefe, Jonny Williams, Owusu-Abeyie, Dobbie, Phillips, Nuhiu. 

Palace 2nd half: Fitzsimons, Taylor, Inniss, Ramage, Moxey, Boateng, Grandin, Garvan (De Silva 88), Sow, Gayle, Wilbraham.