Crystal Palace 1 v 0 Plymouth Argyle

WHEN Iain Dowie paid out £1.1m for Millwall's Darren Ward in the summer the centre-back's goalscoring prowess was perhaps not uppermost in the Eagles' manager's mind.

But the way in which he took his 64th minute goal would suggest Ward might be the man to turn to in the event of a striker shortage.

His goal ensured all three points for Palace for the first time this season, though in truth the performance was not the Eagles' best.

Dowie made two changes to the starting line-up which drew 1-1 at Carrow Road last week.

Wayne Andrews started alongside Andy Johnson, who had recovered from his hamstring injury.

In midfield Joonas Kolkka was replaced by Jobi McAnuff who started where he had left off against Wolves with a twisting run which left the Pilgrims' right-back Anthony Barness in something of a spin.

At the other end Nuno Mendes had the chance to hand the visitors a surprise lead after five minutes but narrowly failed to connect with Bojan Djordjic's dangerous cross.

Djordjic was then booked for suggesting his team-mate had been impeded in the box when any contact looked to have been minimal.

Still it was the home side who looked the more likely to open the scoring and they nearly did when Emmerson Boyce found himself in space in the box but he chose to pass instead of shoot and the opportunity was wasted.

A scrappy ten minutes then ensued with neither side able to retain possession for long periods.

The Eagles were struggling to break Plymouth down and their 4-5-1 formation was a sure indication of their intent.

But after 35 minutes Ward had to be alert to snuff out the threat posed by Pilgrims' David Norris and from the resulting corner Mathias Doumbe planted his header over Gabor Kiraly's bar.

Just before the break there were two chances in as many minutes, first for Johnson and then for Boyce. Nothing came from them but at least it was a sign of their ascendancy in the game.

The Eagles started the second period brightly and another mazy McAnuff run nearly ended with a goal for Johnson but the winger's cross just eluded him.

Johnson was involved again in a move which led to the game's best chance when McAnuff shaved a post via the outstretched hand of Larrieu.

Dougie Freedman came on to rapturous applause a minute later and almost made an instant impact with an audacious volley from 35 yards which nearly caught the Pilgrims' keeper by surprise.

A 64th minute volley did break the deadlock though few would have expected Ward to be the provider.

But the tall centre-back showed the composure of a striker to steer his shot in via the post and give Palace a lead they deserved.

The visitors' best route back into the game seemed to be from set-pieces but from their own corner Palace nearly extended the lead when Boyce's downward header was well saved by Larrieu.

Palace looked comfortable at this point with Fitz Hall and Ward entirely dominant at the back.

The visitors were anything but and a last throw of the dice saw Bobby Williamson throw Tony Capaldi and Scott Taylor into the fray at the expense of Djordjic and Mendes.

A rare Plymouth attack saw lone frontman Micky Evans skew a shot wide of Kiraly's goal but it was as close they came to drawing level as the Eagles recorded their first win of the campaign.

Palace (4-4-2): Kiraly; Boyce; Ward; Hall; Borrowdale; Soares (Butterfield, 87); Leigertwood; Watson (Riihilahti, 88); McAnuff; Johnson; Andrews (Freedman, 58).

Subs not used: Hughes; Speroni.

Booked: Hall (45); McAnuff (66); Leigertwood (73); Ward (90).

Att: 18,781