EAGLES columnist DANIEL GRIGG was a happy man after Saturday's 2-0 win over Burnley.

SELHURST Park may not have been packed to the rafters but just nine minutes into the first home game of the season, Crystal Palace supporters found a new fan favourite.

Norwegian international Jonathan Parr may still be living in a hotel, but he quickly settled into his new surroundings after heading the opening goal of the match from a perfectly shaped Ryan McGivern cross.

Dougie Freedman called Parr a “bargain” as he spoke highly of his new signing’s enthusiasm and ability to play in three different positions.

Despite a hectic last few months for Parr, he ran harder and longer than anyone, lifting crowd and team-mate alike with his sheer directness and exuberance, even when things didn’t come off.

In a match where Burnley had a slight territorial advantage as Crystal Palace mainly counter attacked, getting the early lead was massive.

Julian Speroni critically kept it intact, diving brilliantly down to his left after Jay Rodriguez got the better of the Palace defence for probably the only significant time in the whole match, having been kept quiet by a dominating Paddy McCarthy performance.

In a complete turnaround from a week earlier against Peterborough, Freedman’s defence were excellent.

Ryan McGivern handled the dangerous Ross Wallace and tireless Kieran Trippier superbly and was the best player on the pitch after Parr, for whom his stunning cross set up the opening goal.

Peter Ramage was typically no nonsense in style and came into his own in the second half when Burnley started to pour crosses into the area, while Aleksandar Tunchev stayed strong and headed plenty of balls clear.

Although Burnley pushed forwards in the second half, Palace crucially were able to keep passing through to their attacking players.

Jermaine Easter had a great double chance saved by Lee Grant and brilliantly blocked by Andre Amougou, which had all started with McGivern controlling the ball in his own area and playing it along the deck to Scannell near the halfway line.

Soon afterwards, Palace were at it again.

This time Easter was the middle man, collecting possession in midfield and playing it down the right for Scannell to take on Ben Mee for pace.

Driving into the box, Scannell’s only option seemed to be a run and cross, but Mee lunged in recklessly to gift a penalty.

Owen Garvan’s left foot was firing well all day and it didn’t disappoint from 12 yards, sending Grant the wrong way to double the lead.

Another home win, and poor starts from some of the Championship’s perennial strugglers, should give Palace a bit more confidence going into their next few matches, starting with Coventry at Selhurst tonight.

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