A FLASH of invention and a moment of class sent Leeds United through to the quarter-finals of the FA Cup at Selhurst Park yesterday, but it was a blunder by the officials that eliminated Crystal Palace.

Julian Gray had equalised for Palace within two minutes of Gary Kelly giving Leeds a first-half lead from a quickly taken free kick, and five minutes later, they were convinced that they had scored a second. However, although television replays showed clearly that a shot by Tommy Black had crossed the goalline, neither Dermot Gallagher, the referee, nor his assistant signalled a goal. To make matters worse for the Nationwide League first division team, they felt that they should have been awarded a penalty just before Harry Kewell settled the match with a goal of individual brilliance.

Trevor Francis, the Palace manager, was in no doubt that his team had been robbed. “The players have given me even more than I’ve asked,” he said. “That performance is as good as you’re going to get in terms of our attitude, our passing and our commitment and it’s a performance that shouldn’t see us out of the FA Cup.”

“We got a break when we needed one,” Terry Venables, the Leeds and former Palace manager, said. “It’s a long while since we’ve been to a quarter-final, I believe. It was a great result for us and our boys worked really hard. No one expected us to get this far and it gives everyone a lift.”

One thing everyone did expect was a hot reception for Venables from the Palace supporters, who blamed him for troubles at the club after his second spell in charge, in 1998. He delayed his entrance until just before kick-off and at first one wondered whether he had arrived incognito inside the large bulldog costume worn by the sponsor’s mascot, but he eventually emerged to take an unhurried but also unsmiling walk along the touchline to the dugout.

He could have stayed away a little longer and not missed much. The opening stages attempted to redefine the word “scrappy”, but Leeds’s superior movement in forward areas ensured that what scraps there were fell their way. Kewell sent a low shot wide and forced a fumbling save from Cedric Berthelin, Danny Butterfield clearing.

Leeds looked comfortable in defence and it was after Michael Duberry had seen off a threat from Black that they took the lead in the 33rd minute. The defender’s clearance found Alan Smith charging into Palace territory until he fell under a challenge from Shaun Derry, 25 yards from goal. Berthelin was still at his right-hand post lining up his defensive wall when Kelly curled the ball into the vacant far corner for his first goal for the club for six years.

Palace, who had shown little until then, were provoked into an immediate response. They had been behind for only two minutes when Derry’s corner skimmed off the head of Darren Powell and dropped on the edge of the penalty area for Gray to hit a swerving left-foot volley that was deflected in off Lucas Radebe. If not as tidy a strike as his effort away to Liverpool in the previous round, it was at least as welcome.

Not so the failure of referee and assistant to award a goal five minutes afterwards. Aki Riihilahti played in Butterfield, whose low cross found Andy Johnson at the near post. The forward’s shot was blocked by the heel of Danny Mills, but the ball ran along the goalline to Black. His effort struck the outstretched arm of Duberry and bounced over the line before rebounding clear off Mills’s shin.

“I got it wrong,” Francis said. “I thought it was six inches over the line, but if you see it, it’s about two foot over. We went behind to a clever bit of play by Gary Kelly, the sort that can really rock you, but our reaction was superb. If we’d gone in at 2-1, it might well have been a different story. There was a handball there, but when you handle the ball and it’s two feet over the line, you give a goal. They’ve been talking about introducing television replays for years and years, but it’s like anything in this country, it takes a long time to bring in. They’ll probably bring it in when I’m finished with management, in about ten or 15 years. But at the moment, too many games, good contests, are being decided by referees and linesmen. On something like that, we have got to look at technology, and I would be saying the same even if it was the other way round.”

Palace had the greater share of possession after the break and even threw Berthelin forward as they launched a late salvage attempt, but Duberry and Radebe stood firm, allowing Kewell to win the game after 73 minutes.

Francis complained that his team were not awarded a penalty when Derry was brought down by Mills seconds before, but he had only praise for the quality of the goal. Kewell collected a long clearance down the right, cut inside Hayden Mullins, accelerated past Darren Powell and hit the ball beyond Berthelin with his left foot.

For Kewell, it was a second goal to remember within the space of five days, after his strike for Australia against England. Venables played down reports of a row with Soccer Australia over the duration of Kewell’s appearance in that game, and his hamstring held out yesterday. “A brilliant goal to win the game,” Venables said. “He’s a match-winner.”

Crystal Palace (3-4-1-2): C Berthelin 4 — D Powell 5 (sub: A Akinbiyi, 89min), K Symons 5 (sub: D Granville, 50 6), H Mullins 6 — D Butterfield 6 (sub: D Freedman, 78), S Derry 7, A Riihilahti 7, J Gray 7 — T Black 7 — D Adebola 5, A Johnson 7. Substitutes not used: A Kolinko, S Thomson.

Leeds United (4-4-2): P Robinson 7 — D Mills 6, M Duberry 7, L Radebe 7, I Harte 6 — G Kelly 6, P Okon 3 (sub: J Milner, 59 5), S Johnson 4, J Wilcox 5 — A Smith 5 (sub: T Lucic, 85), H Kewell 6 (sub: N Barmby, 75). Substitutes not used: N Martyn, M Kilgallon. Booked: Johnson, Duberry, Kewell.

Shots on target: (h) 8 (a) 6. Fouls: (h) 10 (a) 20. Offsides: (h) 2 (a) 5

Referee: D Gallagher 4. Attendance: 24,512

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