Rarely has a pre-season game been so packed full of incident and entertainment as Aldershot Town lost by the odd goal in seven against Crystal Palace at the EBB Stadium.

Palace boss Neil Warnock brought plenty of his Championship stars to the club where he played 37 times as a player, and the crowd were certainly given value for money with seven goals, two more disallowed, and four penalties.

The pre-match activity set the tone for the match, with last year’s Reading loanee  Scott Davies among the players who picked up Blue Square awards for their efforts.

He picked up the ‘goal of the season’ award for his stunning strike that won the crucial game at Torquay United, but his appearance sparked rumours that he was set to come back to Aldershot on loan from the Royals for another year.

Naturally, boss Gary Waddock refused to be drawn on the speculation that has rumbled on since virtually the final kick of the last campaign.

“He was back tonight to pick up an award and it was very nice to see him,” he said. “Scotty had a really good season for us. Unfortunately he picked up a few red cards and an injury, but he contributed a great deal last year and is a very talented footballer.”

Anthony Charles was also among the winners, for ‘blooper of the season’, and he delighted the crowd with a Norman Wisdom-esque tumble as he accepted his award.

Little did the crowd know that comedy moments from defenders were not going to be restricted to before the game, as both sides produced some terrible errors that contributed to the evening’s entertainment as much as some of the incisive attacking play.

But, despite the fact that reliable defending seemed a thing of the past, Waddock was pleased with another good workout for his side.

“It was a good game of football and very entertaining for the fans,” he said. “It was another good fitness exercise for us as well, and the fitness is improving as the games go on, so I’m more than happy.

“I’m pleased with where the players are at this point. There has been an edge to training and I think in the two games we have played already, the levels have been good.

“Tonight’s game was one of  penalties and disallowed goals and we looked good coming forward, so it was a good one for people to come and watch.

“We played against a good Championship side who kept the ball well. We had to cover a lot of ground to close them down. It was a good excercise.”

Waddock rotated his squad from last week’s clash with Chelsea’s reserves and trialist Lee Canoville got his chance to impress at right-back. Charles came in at centre-back, with Kirk Hudson and Ben Harding starting in midfield and Danny Hylton began up front.

Warnock fielded a number of his first team squad, with the likes of Welsh international Carl Fletcher, veteran striker Dougie Freedman and new signing Nick Carle all starting.

The game burst into life after just five minutes, when Eagles defender José Fonte rose in the box to powerfully head home a corner, only to see the goal strangely chalked off for a foul.

Moments later, Hylton looped a header past keeper Julian Speroni, but referee Mike Russell to disallow that for an equally dubious foul.

Palace looked sharp in midfield with Carle running proceedings against Harding and Scott Donnelly, but it was the Shots who took the lead after 21 minutes.

Eagles defender Paddy McCarthy twice fluffed his lines trying to clear Dean Howell’s long pass, allowing John Grant  to muscled him off the ball and tuck home a well-place shot.

But Carle continued to find space outside the Shots’ area, and it was the Australian who set Fonte free in the area. The Portuguese youngster’s run was crudley ended with an ill-advised tackle from Canoville and Freedman duly converted the penalty to level matters.

And it was the visitors who went into the break ahead when Carle unlocked the defence again, slipping the ball to Palace’s un-named trialist striker who finished with ease.

Both sides rang the changes at half time, with Waddock making five substitutions that saw trialist Justin Miller come in at right-back, and the struggling Canoville moved to centre-back.

And it took just five minutes for the Shots to draw level, when Harding played substitute Marvin Morgan in, and he was sent crashing to the ground in the box. He picked himself up and drilled a low spot-kick home.

Palace began to bring on  their talented youngsters, and the Shots took advantage when Grant was bundled to the ground jumping for Miller’s whipped cross. Grant took the penalty himself, slamming home his second of the night.

But the Eagles were far from finished, and it was Carle again, this time chipping a brilliant pass through to James Dayton who finished calmly past Mikhael Jaimez-Ruiz with 15 minutes to play.

Palace went on to get the winner on 82 minutes, when Canoville missed his header and substitute Ricky Newman’s back pass did not have enough pace on it. Jaimez-Ruiz raced from his goal and brought down another Palace trialist. Jamie Smith converted the resulting penalty to put the seal on a highly eventful night.

Shots: Bull (Jaimez-Ruiz 58), Blackburn (Miller 45), Charles (Newman 45), Canoville, Howell, Straker (Soares 45), Harding, Donnelly (Chalmers 45), Hudson (Elvins 58), Grant (Mendes 66), Hylton (Morgan 45).