Palace 4 Town 1 - Report and pictures

In taking their hosts to extra-time Micky Mellon's men demonstrated the desire and discipline which is going to be crucial to a successful League One campaign.

But for a penalty which was at best debatable, they might have returned to Shropshire with more than just pride.

The spot-kick allowed Dwight Gayle to cancel out Matt Tootle's fine opener and, ultimately, Palace's extra strength told during the additional period.

Goals from Glenn Murray, with a less contentious penalty, Lee Chung-Yong and Wilfried Zaha gave the scoreline a terribly unbalanced look considering what had gone before.

Mellon opted to make three changes to the side which drew 1-1 at Oldham on Saturday, ditching the midfield diamond.

Liam Lawrence was restored to the side as captain, alongside Woods and Ogogo. Junior Brown was also handed a start in the left-wing back position, Akpa Akpro joining James Collins up front.

Palace boss Alan Pardew made nine changes to the side which defeated Villa 2-1 at the weekend.

The home side's starting line-up still packed plenty of firepower in the likes of Wilfried Zaha, Patrick Bamford and Dwight Gayle.

But they paid the price for a slow start as Town stunned them to take the lead on just nine minutes with a superbly worked goal.

The hosts lost possession inside their own half and Woods burst forward before feeding Akpa Akpro.

His deft touch sent the ball into the path of Tootle, coming in from the right, who slid a cool finish past goalkeeper Wayne Hennessey.

Palace (4-4-2): Hennessey, Ward (Souare HT), Kelly, Mariappa, Hangeland, Zaha, Jedinak (Mutch 51), Ledley, Lee, Gayle, Bamford (Murray 74).

Subs not used: McCarthy, Dann, Puncheon, Kaikai.

Town (3-5-2): Leutwiler, Grandison, Ellis, Sadler, Tootle, Woods R, Lawrence (Wesolowski 90), Brown, Ogogo, Akpa-Akpro (Barnett 87), Collins (Whalley 103).

Subs not used: Woods R,, McAlinden, Clark, Halstead (gk).

It was no more than Town deserved for an excellent start, in which they played with a passionate verve and no little skill.

Woods and Ogogo in particular impressing and Brown more than once chasing back to dispossess Zaha, as the winger looked to break down the flank.

Palace, by contrast disjointed and sleepy, had only a Martin Kelly cross which had just too much on it for Zaha to show for their efforts in the opening quarter as they were unable to find a way past the disciplined visitors.

Woods looked like causing problems every time he had the ball and set Akpa Akpro up, for a shot which the striker sent over the bar from 25 yards.

Gradually Palace, and Zaha in particular, began to find their stride but were still to seriously test Town keeper Leutwiler before drawing level four minutes before the break.

Zaha exchanged passes with Patrick Bamford and then tumbled under pressure from Ogogo, with referee Darren Bond pointing to the spot.

Gayle drilled the spot-kick hard and low into the bottom corner for a goal the hosts barely deserved.

There was little to choose between the sides early in the second period, though a wayward pass required Mark Ellis to be sharp and prevent Gayle from shooting on the edge of the box.

With Woods again pulling the strings, Town were continuing to carry a threat and Akpa Akpro saws a shot from distance deflected wide.

Bamford should then really have put the hosts ahead just before the hour mark but blazed over from ten yards out after Zaha had shown superb control to bring a long ball down on the edge of the box.

The striker got closer with an audacious overhead kick from Gayle's cross which sailed just over the bar as the game entered the final quarter.

Gayle also drilled over from the edge of the box as, for the first time, some gaps began to appear in the visiting defence.

Bamford was replaced by Murray, who drove a low shot from 20 yards out wide of the post.

Zaha, who had been relatively quiet, almost found the breakthrough with a 50 yard dash which took him past three defenders but that ended with a shot pulled wide of the upright.

With Town visibly beginning to tire Leutwiler almost came a cropper when he tried to save a dipping Gayle free-kick with his legs and was relieved to see Lee send the rebound wide.

Gayle almost ended it in stoppage time when he sent a 20 yard drive off the top of Leutwiler's bar, but extra time was the least Town deserved for their gritty display.

Five minutes into the extra period, Palace got their second. Sadler failed to clear after Murray brought down a long pass and dragged down the striker, who got up to fire the spot-kick past Leutwiler.

Two minutes later it really was game over as Lee took advantage of a tiring defence to slide home. Zaha's header, six minutes from time, from a Pape Souare cross, only rubbed more salt in the wound.