Houghton caps Palace comeback

Crystal Palace made a remarkable comeback at Tranmere last night, scoring three times in 29 minutes to win 3-2 and extend their unbeaten run in the Endsleigh League First Division to 10 games.

Dougie Freedman, Jeroen Boere and Ray Houghton scored the goals that lifted Palace to eighth place in the division after Rovers had made a superb start with two goals in the first 25 minutes from Gary Bennett and John Aldridge.

It could have been worse for Palace, with Bennett missing an easy first- half chance and their goalkeeper Nigel Martyn pulling off fine saves to keep out a Bennett header and a shot by Alan Rogers after the break. Palace's manager, Dave Bassett, made a double substitution in the 55th minute, with Tony Gale and Jamie Vincent making way for Leif Anderson and Boere, and that turned the game.

Bassett's former club, Sheffield United, lost 2-1 at home to West Bromwich, who scored early goals through Darryl Burgess and Andy Hunt to move above their opponents in the race to avoid relegation.