Eagles' spot of bother

A brace from Daniel Nardiello condemned Crystal Palace to their third successive away defeat and a fall to 13th place in the Championship table.

Peter Taylor's Palace, with nothing left to play for this season, were simply out fought for the three points on offer at Oakwell by a Barnsley side desperate to avoid relegation.

The Eagles started well against Simon Davey's men, allowing Barnsley in after just 35 seconds when Nardiello, showing signs of what was to come, raced clear of Gary Borrowdale to latch onto a Sam Togwell through ball.

Julian Speroni, in for Gabor Kiraly, was alert enough to race off his line to smother the ball before Nardiello could shoot.

But Nardiello soon found the back of the net and he did so in some style.

Following a good advantage from referee Andre Marriner after Mark Hudson air-kicked an attempted clearance only for the ball to strike his hand, Nardiello was gifted the ball 40 yards out from where he duly skipped past Carl Fletcher before despatching the ball past Speroni from the edge of the area.

Palace were stunned by Barnsley's opener but it was all the Tykes deserved.

From the re-start Clinton Morrison did his best to drag Palace back into the game but was well tackled as he tried to shoot from inside the six yard box.

Just before the half hour mark, Nardiello was once again bringing out the best in Speroni, firing a rasping volley goalwards that the Argentinian stopper could only fist away.

A flurry of corners came Palace's way before the break but they all came to nothing and could not hide the fact that the Eagles were lacking ideas along with motivation.

Palace rallied after the interval but Barnsley were not about to give up their lead and the game turned scrappy.

Dave Martin was bought on in the 58th minute for Ben Watson as Taylor sought a more attacking formation to grab a point, but moments later the game was effectively killed off as Barnsley won a penalty.

A miss-placed pass from Jobi McAnuff in midfield allowed former Palace man Togwell to nip in and drive forward, playing in Nardiello down the left only for Matt Lawrence to scythe the former Manchester United youngster down.

Nardiello took the penalty himself, which Speroni initially saved. However a re-take was ordered on the advice of assistant referee Jim Devine and Nardiello did not make the same mistake twice.

Hudson missed an absolute sitter with a header in the 73rd minute, while substitute Lewis Grabban hit the post with five minutes remaining just after Barnsley themselves head a chance to make it 3-0 through the Hungarian Peter Rajczi.

Palace star man: Carl Fletcher. The captain managed to rise above the levels of mediocrity that his team mates were employing.

Palace: Speroni 6, Lawrence 5, Cort 5, Hudson 5, Borrowdale 5, Soares 6, Fletcher 6, Watson 6 (Martin 58 5), McAnuff 5, Kuqi 5 (Scowcroft 72 5), Morrison 5 (Grabban 77 6)