Ten-man Town fell to a harsh 3-1 Boxing Day defeat at Crystal Palace. Jaime Peters put the Blues in front and Town were well on top until Jose Fonte’s equaliser was followed by referee Paul Taylor showing Jon Stead a hugely controversial red card just before the break. In the second half the numerical difference told and Palace netted through Neil Danns and Victor Moses.

Keane made two changes from the side which beat Blackpool a fortnight ago. Carlos Edwards came in on the right with Jaime Peters moving to the centre for the suspended Grant Leadbitter, while Colin Healy came in for his first game since August for the similarly banned Jon Walters, taking up the advanced role between the midfield and lone striker Jon Stead which he has occupied for the reserves and previously at Cork City.

Stern John was ineligible against his parent club, but David Norris returned to the bench for the first time since damaging knee ligaments on the opening day of the season.

Town, in their new white shirts with red shorts, started brightly and Gareth McAuley nodded Owen Garvan’s sixth minute corner over the bar. Four minutes later, Damien Delaney shot over from the edge of the area after a cleared corner had fallen to him on the edge of the box.

The Blues made their positive start tell in the 17th minute. The impressive Jaime Peters won a freekick on the right. Garvan sent in a ball which Palace keeper Julian Speroni failed to catch. Damien Delaney picked up the loose ball wide on the left and whipped in a fine cross which Speroni again failed to deal with and Jaime Peters lashed the ball into the net from eight yards for his first goal of the season.

Town were well deserving of their lead with Peters and Colback running the game in the centre of the midfield with Healy ahead of them almost carving out some early opportunities.

On 20 Shaun Derry was yellow-carded for a foul on Carlos Edwards, the game briefly threatening to boil over, apparently after Edwards reacted to comments made by the Palace midfielder while the Trinidadian was grounded.

Five minutes later, Edwards sent in a cross which Stead headed to Speroni, then Victor Moses was presented with an opportunity when no Town defender cleared a long ball, but Arran Lee-Barrett got across to his right to save.

The skilful and pacy Moses cut in from the right and forced Lee-Barrett into a save at his near post on the half hour, moments before Neil Danns got his name in referee Taylor’s book for a foul on Jaime Peters.

After a dangerous Edwards long throw had avoided everyone in the Eagles’ penalty area, Palace’s two former Blues almost combined to put their side back on terms, Darren Ambrose sending in a freekick from the left which Alan Lee headed over when he probably should have done better.

Town had very much been the better side and were deserved their lead, but in 37th minute the afternoon began to go very wrong. Damien Delaney cleared a loose ball in the area against Owen Garvan after a set piece, it rebounded to Jose Fonte six yards out and the Palace defender slammed it across Lee-Barrett and into the net. From a Blues perspective it was an unfortunate goal to concede and was very much against the balance of the game up to then.

A minute later it got even worse. Jon Stead appeared to be fouled by Claude Davis but referee Taylor waved away his protests. The Town striker lost his composure and made a rash challenge on Freddie Sears, which looked likely to earn him a yellow card. The former Sheffield United man was probably as amazed as everyone else in the ground when referee Taylor produced a red.

Again the game threatening to boil over with a bout of pushing and shoving before Stead eventually made his way to the tunnel in the corner. The tackle was clearly a foul, but wasn’t high, two-footed or dangerous and referee Taylor completely overreacted, probably due to Sears’s exaggeration of the challenge.

Town appeared a touch punch drunk by the double blow and in the closing stages of the half Moses had a shot deflected wide and Owen Garvan headed a Darren Ambrose corner from under the bar.

At the break referee Taylor was booed off by the Town support, while Roy Keane’s team were applauded from the field after what would have been a more than decent first period, but for the events of the half’s closing minutes.

With no recognised striker on the field, it was no surprise that Keane brought on a frontman for the second half, Connor Wickham taking over from Carlos Edwards with Colin Healy moving to the right of midfield in a 4-4-1 formation.

Jaime Peters hit an early shot wide but unsurprisingly given the numerical difference Town were playing deeper than in the first half.

The home side went in front on 56 after Gareth McAuley had done well to divert Victor Moses’s dangerous cross over his own bar for a corner. The ball was half-cleared from the set piece and sent back in to the far post from where Neil Danns beat Arran Lee-Barrett, although with a hint of offside.

Just after the hour mark, Claude Davis was booked for a foul on Connor Wickham, then Freddie Sears joined him in the book for a high challenge on David Wright where he appeared to catch the stooping Town defender in the face with his studs. The Blues support were in little doubt that if Stead’s tackle was worth a red card, then Sears ought to have been joining him in the dressing rooms.

Jaime Peters struck two not overly threatening efforts to Speroni, then Liam Rosenior forced the Palace keeper to make a stop down to his left from the edge of the box. Town had continued to play some decent football but hadn’t really created too much inside the Palace area, so with 22 minutes left Roy Keane switched to 4-3-2 with Pablo Couñago and Alan Quinn replacing Owen Garvan and Colin Healy.

Arran Lee-Barrett almost conceded a howler in the 73rd minute when he went chasing a looping headed half clearance to his left which he was never going to claim ahead of Shaun Derry but his overhead effort bounced wide with Rosenior on hand to clear if there had been any serious danger.

Lee-Barrett redeemed himself with a fine stop from Moses on 73, the Town keeper tipping his well-struck shot over the bar. From the corner, David Wright cleared Clint Hill’s header from inside the six-yard box.

Colback was booked for a foul on Moses with 11 minutes remaining with Town fans again unhappy with referee Taylor, feeling that an earlier tackle by the already-cautioned Derry was similarly worthy of a booking.

A Gareth McAuley error allowed Darren Ambrose a shot at goal but Lee-Barrett saved. The former Hartlepool man was forced into another stop by Derry as the game moved into its final three minutes.

Town had rarely looked like getting back into the game in the final 20 minutes, Connor Wickham’s long throws apart, but early in injury time Jack Colback sent the 16-year-old away behind the defence. However, the combined attentions of Fonte and Davis forced the youngster off the ball and the chance was gone.

The Blues were pushing McAuley and Delaney forward at every set piece and as the final whistle drew closer they were caught on the break after a corner. Eventually, with Town caught short of numbers at the back, Ambrose, who moments earlier had struck the top of the bar with a freekick from the edge of the box, found Moses and the impressive winger beat Lee-Barrett to make it three, although again with more than a hint of offside.

The whistle went soon after, signalling the end of Town’s 10-match unbeaten run and boos aimed at referee Taylor, whose first half decision to send off Jon Stead had changed the game. The Blues had controlled the game prior to the red but unsurprisingly found it harder with 10, although while still managing to play some decent football.

Jaime Peters was probably Town’s best performer, putting in an all-action display full of verve, clever footwork, strong running and a goal. Rarely can the Canadian have put in a better shift for the Blues.

Jack Colback and Colin Healy also stood out in the first half, the latter looking much more comfortable in the advanced central position he played in the first half and on the right in the second than he did in the holding role he occupied earlier in the season.

Arran Lee-Barrett had his most difficult game since he came into the side and looked less than confident on crosses, although dropped fewer than his Palace counterpart Speroni.

A defeat but one in difficult circumstances where a refereeing performance and one particular error had a major bearing on the game. Had the match continued 11 against 11, Town would probably have been the favourites to go on to win.

Town: Lee-Barrett, Rosenior, D Wright, Delaney, McAuley, Colback, Peters, Edwards (Wickham 46), Garvan (Quinn 68), Healy (Couñago 68), Stead. Unused: McLoughlin, Norris, Priskin, Smith. Att: 16,496.

Photo: Action Images

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