Townsend strike voted Carling Goal of the Month

Crystal Palace claims March accolade after brilliant individual effort

Andros Townsend’s wonderful solo efffort against West Bromwich Albion on 4 March has earned the Crystal Palace winger the Carling Goal of the Month award.

After dispossessing Jonathan Leko on the edge of his own box, Townsend ran the length of the field and beat Gareth McAuley with a piece of skill before slamming home to complete a 2-0 win.

Describing the goal, Townsend said: "It was after I shrugged off Leko and Christian [Benteke] ran away so he left me the space. Even though I had nothing left I thought 'I'm going to have to go for this'. It ended up a 2 v 2 attack and thankfully I scored the goal."

Townsend’s goal was chosen from a shortlist of eight contenders from the combined votes of a panel of experts and the public, who picked their favourite via the Carling Tap and website.

See: Past Carling Goal of the Month winners