An injury-time screamer from David Noble gave Bristol City a 2-1 win at Crystal Palace in the first leg of their Championship play-off semi final.

Palace had only just equalised through a Ben Watson (pictured to the right of Noble) penalty with four minutes of normal time remaining.

The spot-kick was given away by City defender Louis Carey, who brought down makeshift centre-forward Jose Fonte.

Carey had given City the lead on 53 minutes with his first goal of the season when he rifled into the top right after a well-worked free-kick routine started by Michael McIndoe.

Australian midfielder Nick Carle got the assists for both Robins goals, first feeding Carey from just inside the area and then bravely stooping to head the ball to the feet of Noble, who sent an unstoppable strike into the top left that gave Palace goalkeeper Julian Speroni no chance.

It was a fitting end to a relatively even match that City edged in terms of clear-cut opportunities, with Speroni the busier of the two South American keepers.

A quiet start between two unlikely promotion contenders saw Bristol City create the first opening through the impressive Dele Adebola, who out-muscled Shaun Derry to feed Lee Trundle in the box.

Trundle then held the ball up before sliding McIndoe through, who demanded a penalty after a slide tackle by Fonte appeared to catch him.

That was 19 minutes into proceedings, and not long afterwards on-loan Chelsea forward Scott Sinclair had a great opportunity to put Palace ahead when he flicked the ball over Bradley Orr to play himself through.

But, while the youngster managed to slide the ball under Brazilian shot-stopper Adriano Basso, the finish was weak and City's defence were able to get back and clear off the line with relative ease.

Argentine keeper Speroni was then forced into one of the saves of the season after Adebola sent a perfect, powerful downward header from close range towards the bottom right corner after an excellent cross from full-back Orr.

But Speroni showed wonderful agility and reflexes to get down and tip the ball behind, which led to a spell of pressure from corners for the Robins that saw Clint Hill block bravely from Carey.

A goalless half-time score was a fair reflection of the first 45 minutes, but City - who played a counter-attacking version of their typical passing game - took the lead through a training-ground routine finished by Carey after Trundle initially won the free kick.

The luck was not in for Palace as, soon after they went behind, Sinclair's low drive took a wicked deflection off team-mate and substitute James Scowcroft that could have sent the ball past the stranded Basso but instead forced it inches wide.

And almost immediately afterwards, experienced striker Scowcroft - who had been rushed back from injury for the game - was hauled off on a stretcher after pulling his hamstring chasing the ball into the left corner.

Winger Paul Ifill - himself recovering from long-term injury - was brought on and Sinclair pushed inside from the roaming, wide position he had been occupying.

Eventually Neil Warnock threw Fonte up front as his side searched for an equaliser. And the decision appeared to have reaped dividends when, on 85 minutes, Fonte tried to flick the ball over Carey who - after heading the ball clear - slipped and was forced to bring down the centre-half.

Watson made no mistake with the subsequent penalty, which he hammered into the left-hand side of the goal despite a valiant attempt by spot-kick expert Basso to reach the ball.

Palace thought they had gained parity going into the second leg but the joy was short-lived, spoiled by Noble's cracking effort that sent the visiting fans and bench into delirium.

The second leg will be played at Ashton Gate on Tuesday.

Reda Maher / Eurosport