When central defender turn striker, Jose Fonte, was felled in the area in the 87^th minute and Ben Watson calmly dispatched the resulting penalty, most would have been forgiven for expecting a 1-1 draw going in the second leg of the Play-Off semi finals at Ashton Gate. However, David Noble's late strike ended those thoughts and instead gave the Robins a 2-1 lead.

"I don't really know where that came from" admitted the City defender after the game. "The ball popped out to Nick (Carle) and I shouted for it. When it came to me I didn't want to run with it any further because my legs were gone.

"I just hit it and luckily hit it pretty well. As soon as I'd struck it and looked at the ball, I knew it was going in - and I couldn't wait to celebrate"

They were celebrations though that Eagles manager, Neil Warnock, was disappointed by and he warned that football has a way of levelling things out.

"Well I think you could see from the celebrations, the bench in particular, that they think they are already at Wembley.

"Football has a nasty habit at times and we did not like some of the celebrations if I am honest. But that is the other side of football."

One flashpoint in the game saw a hefty challenge from Marvin Elliott on Danny Butterfield leave the Palace right-back crumpled on the floor, a challenge that Warnock believes should have earned him a straight red.

"We should have been playing 10 men after that. You could see by the look on Elliott's face he thought his season was over. You get booked for throwing the ball away"

Aside from the scoreline and Warnock left the stadium proud of his players and of the strength of character they showed to bring a goal back.

"I am quite proud of the lads. I thought they fought back well under the circumstances and clawed the goal back."

Speaking on Monday afternoon, Warnock revealed that James Scowcroft will be out for the rest of the season. The forward was stretchered off after coming on as a subsitute a little over five minutes earlier. A recurrence of the hamstring injury that has kept him on the sidelines since March is the reason for his absence.

Young defender, Lee Hills, will also be out of contention as he suffered an ankle injury in training last week.

Robins' manager, Gary Johnson, has confirmed that he has no injury doubts with Steve Brooker (forward) available for selection while midfielder Lee Johnson has recovered from a foot injury and is expected to feature.

Officials:

Referee: H M Webb

Assistants: D J Cann & M Mullarkey

4^th Official: M Atkinson

Betting

CLICK HERE to place your bet on the match.