Why our first Premier League goal at Palace was so special

It came in the inaugural season of the new division, 1992/93, and was a seismic fixture in the context of Alex Ferguson's team ending the long wait for the title, that had eluded the club since 1967.

After the agony of the run-in to the final Division One campaign, nobody was ever getting carried away but, with rivals Aston Villa losing at Blackburn Rovers in a game that kicked off earlier, finally the huge travelling Red Army began to believe the 26-year wait was coming to an end.

Yet, while the atmosphere was genuinely one of the best I have ever experienced in all my time watching football, the breakthrough did not come until the 64th minute.

And, when it arrived, it was a Sparky special.

Mark Hughes had broken Palace's hearts a few years earlier, scoring twice in the 1990 FA Cup final at Wembley, as Ferguson, crucially, secured his maiden trophy with the club.

The Londoners were on the brink of victory until the Wales international latched onto a Danny Wallace through ball to beat Nigel Martyn and make it 3-3, with only seven minutes of extra-time remaining.

Hughes had also scored the only goal of the game in the reverse fixture with Palace, in an Old Trafford encounter in September 1992 that is probably most remembered for Dion Dublin breaking his leg, so soon into his United career.

It was so typical of fans' favourite Hughes to do it with a flourish and, when the opportunity arose, from an Eric Cantona cross, he did not stand on ceremony.

Moving his body into shape, the expert volleyer produced an explosive finish past Martyn, ignoring the appeals of the defenders, to really get the party started among the away supporters.

"I did think I was offside," Sparky admitted, when I spoke to him about this magical moment. "Thankfully, it wasn't. If there was VAR, it could have been ruled out but it still had to be executed and scored.

"It was my favourite way of connecting with the ball, rather than heading it in or passing it in. It was good to see it go in. That was just how I trained. More often than not, before a game, I was out there, left and right, practising. I could try to get my head on it but used to wait until it dropped on my foot.

"It was what I felt more comfortable with, that skill was more easy for me. When the ball came over in a game, it was just replicating what I was doing in training."

The nerves remained frayed, though, until Paul Ince marauded through late on, as he so often did, and produced a slick finish to settle matters with a late second.

We would return to Selhurst Park a month later, as Wimbledon also played their home games there at that time, but as champions.

The song belted out consistently into the South London sky that night was right - we were going to winning the league.