Crystal Palace have booked their place in the Championship playoff final courtesy of a 2-0 win over Brighton & Hove Albion in the second leg of their semi-final tie this evening.
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The visitors could have taken the lead after just five minutes when Owen Garvan's long-range strike was helped on its way by Aaron Wilbraham, but the striker got too much on his effort and sent it wide.
Brighton had a chance of their own shortly afterwards when Wilfried Zaha lost possession on the edge of his own box, allowing Will Buckley to shoot. Julian Speroni got across well, however, beating it away from his goal.
Dean Hammond came close to grabbing the opener in style when his strike looked goalbound, but it flew just wide of Speroni's post.
The visitors should have taken the lead just three minutes after the restart when Zaha released Jonathan Williams on the counter-attack, but the 19-year-old could only fire wide with just Thomas Kuszczak to beat.
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Ashley Barnes came close twice in quick succession just one minute after coming on as a substitute. First he latched onto Leonardo Ulloa's flick before lifting the ball over Speroni, who got a vital touch to tip it onto the bar and over.
Then from the resulting corner, Barnes was left unmarked at the back post, but his header was cleared off the line by Dean Moxey.
It was Palace who finally broke the deadlock when Yannick Bolasie turned his man inside out before crossing to Zaha, who nipped in front of Wayne Bridge to send a diving header past Kuszczak.
Zaha and Bolasie almost combined to add a second for Palace late on as the duo set up Wilbraham, but the striker's shot flashed just past the post.
Zaha secured the win and a subsequent trip to Wembley for his side in the 88th minute when he received the ball from Kagiso Dikgacoi before turning his man and rifling a fine finish in off the crossbar.
Palace will now face Watford in the Championship playoff final.
Barney Corkhill
