Football / Round-Up: Kitson sits out Derby defeat

PAUL KITSON, who has been the subject of a pounds 2.3m bid by Newcastle, was last night left out of the Derby County side beaten 3-1 by Reading in the first leg of their Coca-Cola Cup second round tie at Elm Park, writes Clive White.

'With all that was going on I decided that it would be in the best interest of the club and the player himself not to play him,' Roy McFarland, the manager, said. 'As far as I'm concerned he is still a Derby player - until I hear any different.'

Crystal Palace, one of four Premier League sides beaten, had only themselves to blame as they went down 1-0 to Lincoln, missing a string of chances in the first half at Sincil Bank. The result left Palace without a win in seven games. 'I have never seen so many chances go begging like tonight,' Alan Smith, the Palace manager, said.

The Imps had looked shaky as George Ndah and John Salako hit post and bar, but once David Johnson scored in the 61st minute the Third Division side played with admirable confidence.

The action was nothing if not incident-packed at Craven Cottage - the second half that is, which saw five goals goals and two missed penalties as Third Division Fulham came from behind to beat First Division Stoke 3-2.

Wimbledon, watched by a crowd of 2,451, were denied a scoring spree by a keeper not old enough to celebrate his heroics with a beer. Third Division Torquay's Kelvin Davis, 17, pulled off numerous saves in the 2-0 defeat to give the Plainmoor side hope for the second leg.

Wolves' striker Steve Bull provided a comprehensive performance at Chesterfield, scoring two and making one as Graham Taylor's team came from behind to win 3-1.

At Stockport, Dane Whitehouse bagged himself a hat- trick and Jostein Flo a brace as Sheffield United romped home 5-1. Middlesbrough's second leg against Scarborough is similarly a formality after their 4-1 win. The home team's misery was compounded by Steve Charles being sent off seven minutes from time.