01 / 07
Pape Souare continued his recovery from injury with another 70 minutes in Monday’s Development defeat against Sheffield United at Bramall Lane.
Chances were few and far between in the first half for either side, with Levi Lumeka getting the best Palace chances in the opening period but he couldn't get either effort past goalkeeper, Marcus Dewhurst.
At the other end a free kick for the home side was headed wide of the target by Ben Heneghan.
Palace couldn’t failed to create anything from a Jordon Mutch free kick just before the break and both sides went into the interval with the deadlock still not broken.
The home side had the better of the chances in the second half but struggled to take advantage of any opportunities that came along before they finally got the winning goal.
Nathan Thomas had a speculative left footed effort from distance which didn’t trouble Dion Henry in the Palace goal and then further chances fell to Leon Clarke and Nathan Thomas but both couldn’t capitalise on their opportunities.
The goal was not long in coming though as Clarke, unmarked, headed home a well delivered free kick from Thomas as United took the upper hand in a game that was always going to be decided by a narrow margin.
There were a couple of later chances in the game as Tyler Smith got the better of his man in the box but put his shot wide of the target and Clarke blocked a header on the line from his own player, Ben Heneghan in the closing stages of the game.
Teams:
Sheff Utd: Dewhurst, Baldock, Gilmour, Graham, Slater, Lundstram, Thomas, Clarke, Hallam, Carter-Vickers, Heneghan.
Subs: Bennett, Cantrill, Ferguson, Smith, Warhurst.
Palace: Henry, Tavares, Souare, McGregor, Phillips, Woods, Bissaka, Husin, Ladapo, Mutch, Lumeka.
Subs: Coker, Tupper, Diedrick-Roberts, Mitchell. Hungbo.