Palace win sees pair promoted

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The Rams needed to win to retain a realistic chance of winning automatic promotion from the Championship, but goals from Republic of Ireland internationals Clinton Morrison - a former Birmingham player - and Mark Kennedy ended their quest to finish in the top two.

Palace had nothing but pride for which to play, but they deserved their win against a Derby side who looked tired and ragged.

This was arguably Derby's most important game of the season, so the lack of urgency they showed in the opening half-hour was baffling. In the fifth minute, Morrison had missed a good chance to give Palace the lead, guiding the ball wide of the right post.

Derby were failing to show the form which had brought them 12 away wins in the league this season, and there was little surprise when Palace took the lead in the 29th minute.

Carl Fletcher's low shot from 30 yards fell perfectly for Morrison inside the penalty area, allowing the Irishman to beat Lee Camp from 12 yards.

Morrison almost made it 2-0 four minutes later with a powerful volley from a difficult angle which flew narrowly wide of Camp's right post.

Ten minutes before the interval, Derby came close to equalising, top scorer Steve Howard heading Darren Currie's left-wing corner just over the crossbar.

Billy Davies' side were finally beginning to discover their rhythm, and captain Matt Oakley should have done better than shoot straight at Julian Speroni in the 38th minute.

Both Jobi McAnuff and Clinton Morrison went close twice before Kennedy made the game safe for Peter Taylor's team in the 67th minute. Kennedy collected a pass from Gary Borrowdale on the left flank before beating Camp at his near post with a fierce left-footed drive from 10 yards.