Connor Dymond scored a late equaliser for Crystal Palace awarding his side with a point in a six-goal thriller in a top of the table clash at Swansea’s Landore Training Academy.
The result leaves Gary Issott’s side in third place in Development League Two South following the draw against Swansea alongside Cardiff City’s 1-0 win over Bristol City earlier on in the day which keeps them at the top of the table.
Swansea came into the game on a tremendous run of form at Landore with five wins and a draw in their last six games at the academy training facility, whilst Palace were looking to put two consecutive away defeats behind them as the looked to mount pressure on the league leaders.
The young Eagles side looked to make that clear early on as after Fisayo Adarabioyo scored an early goal last week against Millwall, the player looked keen to make that happen again and after 11 minutes on the clock, he did following a deep cross to the back post from Sonny Black he took the ball down slotting it underneath a helpless David Cornell in the Swansea goal.
Both sides shared chances after the goal and it wasn’t until the 35th minute that the next significant threat on goal occurred when Swansea’s James Loveridge had his shot fizz over the bar, from inside the box as the hosts looked to draw level before the half-time break.
Kenji Gorre made that happen eventually for his side as he beat a defender on the touchline with five minutes to go in the first half before putting a shot past Palace’s goalkeeper Gregory from a tight angle, handing the momentum back to the hosts at the end of the half.
It didn’t finish there for the half either as shortly before the interval, former Manchester United youngster added a second to his tally in this fixture as a shot from 25-yards out found the back of the net through some clumsy goalkeeping from Gregory – handing the hosts the lead at half-time.
The second half got off to a sluggish start with both teams slowly getting into the half but when they did chances were created and a run from skipper Kyle de Siva ended up with the referee awarding a penalty as Swans goalkeeper Cornell fouled the young attacking player inside the box; it was no problem for the player though as after being fouled he recovered to leave the ball bulging in the back of the net, scoring the penalty from 12-yards out.
Chances were more and more after the penalty with the teams level once and again and looking for a breakthrough, Swansea had the better of the chances with Henry Jones seeing a shot whistle past the post shortly after de Silva converted the penalty he had won.
Ten minutes remained on the clock and the hosts knew they had to do something to keep the pressure on their rivals Cardiff at the top of the table, substitute Owain Jones made his manager’s words of inspiration do the talking as crossed the ball into a waiting Josh Sheehan who saw a shot hit the inside of the post before sneaking into the back of the net past Gregory, making it for an interesting end to the game.
Adam King had a late strike on goal for the hosts with his shot finding Palace’s goalkeeper with the shot heading straight to him as the game headed into added time, but it was the visitors that had the final say as Connor Dymond who had been a threat to the hosts throughout the game rose after a cross into the box to head past Cornell, allowing Palace to share the points with the hosts.
Garry Issott’s side face Ipswich Town on Tuesday 17th February at the KNK Stadium in their next fixture in the division.
