Crystal Palace 1-2 Bristol City

May 11 2008

Crystal P 1 Bristol C 2

FORMER Scotland Under-21 star David Noble struck a last-gasp goal to give Bristol City the edge in the Championship play-off semi final first leg.

But afterwards Eagles boss Neil Warnock warned cocky City stars their over-the-top celebrations at the final whistle could come back to haunt them.

Noble struck from 30 yards in stoppage time to spark joyous scenes on the City bench which a few minutes earlier had been involved in some heated exchanges with their opponents.

Warnock said: "I didn't think much of their celebrations - there was no need to go off like they did.

"They are 2-1 up but I think celebrations should be kept until you are through because football has a habit of getting you back."

Another former Scotland Under-21 star, City captain Louis Carey, had opened the scoring in the 54th minute when he finished off a training ground free-kick involving Noble and Nick Carle.

But Palace grabbed a lifeline three minutes from time when Carey was adjudged to have brought down Jose Fonte and Ben Watson stepped up to slot home the equaliser.

City boss Gary Johnson admitted he wasn't happy to see his players over-celebrating with the fans at the final whistle.

He said: "I told the lads not to get carried away. It's just half-time and there's only a goal in it.

"It was a good performance but I didn't want it to look like we were over-celebrating so I nipped that in the bud."

Johnson also praised strike star Noble, saying: "He's a big-game player and scored a fantastic goal.

"He has that ability and has shown it in the second half of the season."