Iain Dowie, the new man with the mission to find life at Crystal Palace, saw his side come from behind to demolish Ipswich with three second-half goals and provide him with a significant first victory at his new club.

"That win means a lot," said Dowie afterwards. "It's a relief and it gets a monkey off my back because I didn't want to have to wait too long to get that first win."

The new man at the Palace may have been smiling but it will be a miserable new year for the Royle family.

"I can't explain why we're capable of that kind of performance," said the exasperated Ipswich manager Joe Royle after seeing his team dissolve in the second half in front of their own fans. "We think we look comfortable and then it's a disaster very quickly."

Royle will be glad to see the back of the Palace striker Andrew Johnson who has scored five times against Ipswich in the last four games between the two clubs. Johnson made one goal and scored the other two to take his season's tally to 15 in all competitions - already surpassing last year's total of 14.

Ipswich took the lead in the 11th minute, thanks to some slack back-stick defending. Jim Magilton's deep corner was met by an unmarked Jermaine Wright who somehow stabbed the ball past the not-so-innocent bystanders on the line to score his third of the season.

Back came Palace. A Michael Hughes run joined the dots between the centre spot and the penalty spot but his fierce shot flew just over the bar. Then, on the hour, Johnson controlled Julian Gray's first-time cross with one touch before spinning like a figure skater and firing home with his right from 12 yards.

Johnson emphatically volleyed his second goal four minutes from the end to secure all three points, after Kelvin Davis had parried Gray's initial effort.

Between times, Johnson returned the compliment for Gray, after rounding the goalkeeper. Richard Naylor's attempt to clear off the line almost sent the ball over it before Gray charged through to score with a two-yard tap-in. It was his first goal since his return to Palace from a loan spell with Cardiff City.

After a dispute over his contract earlier in the season, Gray was told by the Palace chairman Simon Jordan that he would never play for the club again.

All that has clearly changed with Dowie's arrival at Selhurst Park.

"It's a clean slate," said Dowie. "I want good players at the club and Julian fits into that category."

Dan Rookwood (The Guardian)