Plaudits to Crystal Palace - but the real task is staying up

It was one of those moments that makes you think that this wonderful game of football is orchestrated by some sort of higher power.

Kevin Phillips, 39 years old, scoring the winner against his old club in the so called 'richest game of football'. In extra time no less. 

Simply put, Crystal Palace wanted it more. Watford had a fine season, no doubt, but when it came to crunch time, the business end, they didn't have enough and although it took Ian Holloway's men 120 minutes to see the north London club off, the truth is they could have done it a lot sooner.

So, Premier League football for the boys from Selhurst Park and, if reports are to belived, something in the region of £100m to play with.

That money should be invested in replacing Manchester United bound starlet Wilfried Zaha as well as other additions but the real challenge for Palace now lies in staying in England football's top flight, something they haven't managed each of the last three times they have been promoted to the Premier League.

In Ian Holloway they have a superb manager whose abilities must not be assessed through only his tendency to deliver a fine quote. Holloway, to his credit, was able to gain Palace promotion despite a run of results that saw many question whether or not they would be able to even qualify for the play-offs.

Congratulations are due and I, for one, are hoping that they are able to extend their visit to the Premier League to more than a season this time round.

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