The Eagles were resilient in the face of an aerial bombardment from their Norwegian hosts, who took every opportunity – throw-ins, free-kicks, and even goal kicks at one stage – to get the ball as close to Palace’s goal as possible. Whilst Palace did create a handful of good chances in the end, it was the Eagles’ defensive display – backed by a roaring 1,700 Palace fans who had made the long journey from South London – which sealed a 1-0 win on aggregate in the tie, and with it, our first qualification for a major European competition. “But on the other side, there are those days – and also we could see a few players were struggling with the AstroTurf. Then it's important to keep the clean sheet, and this is what we did. It's not easy playing against Fredrikstad: all their long balls, getting the game into the final third, it’s very simple, but it's a good thing to do, and then with the long throw-ins, with the set-plays, they're always having five or six players and creating chaos in our box.