FOOTBALL: Dele's tasty strike

DELE Adebola ended his league goalscoring drought to help Palace claim a comfortable home victory.

Adebola had scored just once in Nationwide action this season and looked unlikely to increase that tally against Grimsby after a series of misses.

But the burly Eagles striker refused to give up and powered a low shot into the corner on the hour mark to send the home fans wild.

That strike gave Palace a two-goal advantage after they had dominated the opening 45 minutes.

Shaun Derry netted the opener on 38 minutes with a powerful drive from 20 yards.

But his shot took a wicked deflection off defender Jason Gavin to give keeper Danny Coyne no chance.

Trevor Francis' side should have gone even further ahead but Adebola was wasteful and Coyne saved bravely at the feet of in-form Andy Johnson.

Grimsby's failings in defence were matched in attack - they struggled to create meaningful moves going forward.

Youngster Darren Mansaram should have done much better with a free header from 12 yards and Alex Kolinko had to be alert to keep out Alan Pouton's long range effort.

Palace cruised to victory to boost their play-off hopes free but the Mariners remain in trouble at the foot of the table.MAN OF THE MATCH ANDY JOHNSON

Put fear into Grimsby whenever he had the ball.

CRYSTAL PALACE: Kolinko 7, Powell 7, Symons 7, Mullins 7, Butterfield 7, Thomson 7, Derry 7, Black 6 (Riihilahti 6), Gray 6, Adebola 6, JOHNSON 8.

GRIMSBY: Coyne 6, McDermott 5 (Parker 5), Ford 4, Gavin 5, Gallimore 4, Oster 4, Coldicott 5 (Groves 6), Pouton 6, Campbell 5, Mansaram 4, Livingstone 6.

MANAGER RATINGS: Francis 7; Groves 5.

REFEREE: T Parkes 7.

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