Freedman praises resilience after Leeds draw (From News Shopper)

Crystal Palace 1-1 Leeds

10:24am Monday 16th January 2012 in Crystal Palace By Nick Gentry

SELHURST boss Dougie Freedman has paid tribute to his Palace side who held on to a draw against Leeds despite having Sean Scannell sent off on the stroke of half-time.

Palace started brightly when they raced into an early lead thanks to Norwich loanee Chris Martin’s sixth minute strike.

The home side continued to dominate but then came the turning point.

Scannell, who had been booked after a quarter of an hour for a mistimed tackle, tangled legs with Danny Pugh in an innocuous looking challenge on the halfway line.

Referee David Cootes showed no hesitation in brandishing a second yellow to the astonishment of just about everyone in the stadium.

It was a decision which left the Palace boss dumbfounded Freedman: “I felt that the decision was made too quickly and looking back it probably wasn’t a sending off.

“The referee has got to make these decisions in real time and I think that is when referees have got to realise that the four or five seconds after they blow their whistle is extremely crucial to them and I don’t think he gave himself enough time to make that decision.”

Scannell’s sending off may have disappointed Freedman but the reaction of his team did nothing but delight the manager, despite Robert Snodgrass’s leveller on the hour.

He said: “It’s unfortunate but we didn’t use it as an excuse.

“We don’t use excuses, we got on with it and put on a fantastic display that got us a point.

“I was a little bit disappointed with the goal we let in.

“It was a little bit sloppy letting them get in behind our defence, which isn’t like us, but with the circumstances we found ourselves in today, I was quite happy with that point.”

Freedman added: “It did take a deflection but when you are playing at the top level, you have got to make sure that until the ball is cleared you stay in that position and these lads understand that.

“So we are a little bit disappointed with how they got in but that is due to the high standards we set ourselves.

“But I felt for all the pressure and crosses they had, they didn’t really open us up and I had a strong feeling that the lads didn’t want to give up everything today and we didn’t.”

Follow us on Twitter @NewsShopperSprt