James Scowcroft scored a hat-trick to lead Crystal Palace to an emphatic opening-day victory at Southampton - only the second time they have beaten Saints away from home in the league since 1964.

Scowcroft's treble, and Clinton Morrison's effort for the fourth, all owed much to dire Saints defending, whose only reward for plenty of possession was Marek Saganowski's strike in first-half stoppage time which briefly made the score 2-1.

The need for Southampton boss George Burley to add defenders to his squad became even more pressing after today's Coca-Cola Championship encounter, which left the home fans - who saw their team miss out in the play-offs last season - voicing their fury.

Forward Kenwyne Jones, who has been strongly linked with a £5million move to Premier League newcomers Derby, was not even included in the 16-man squad for Saints, who gave debuts to recent signing Youssef Safri and on-loan duo Alan Bennett and Gregory Vignal.

Palace, meanwhile, gave Tony Craig - a summer capture from Millwall - his first competitive start.

The first noteworthy moment of the match came when Saints striker Grzegorz Rasiak collected Andrew Surman's perceptive pass in the 14th minute before unleashing a fierce 15-yard volley which drew a fine save from Julian Speroni.

The game swung on the half-hour mark, however, when Scowcroft scored twice inside a minute to put Palace in command.

First, the former Ipswich striker - who played under Burley during their spell at Portman Road - rose unchallenged to head in Stuart Green's corner from 10 yards after Bartosz Bialkowski had denied Clinton Morrison, and seconds later he outmuscled the shaky Bennett to reach Matt Lawrence's long ball and lift it over the stranded Bialkowski from 20 yards.

It could have been worse for Palace in the 35th minute, but Bialkowski did well to save from Tom Soares after the midfielder had glided through the middle.

Southampton finally pulled a goal back when Saganowski smacked the ball in off the crossbar following Safri's ball into the box.

The home side began the second half well, but they were undone once more in the 55th minute when Bialkowski misjudged the bounce of Speroni's huge kick, succeeding only in palming onto the head of Scowcroft, who nodded in for his hat-trick.

Two minutes later, Saints' misery was completed when Mark Kennedy's free-kick from the left was cleared only to Morrison, who swept in an angled volley from 10 yards.

One angry Saints fan was led away by stewards after he had run onto the pitch following Morrison's goal, while his peers chanted "what a load of rubbish" at the disconsolate players.

Teams:

Southampton Bialkowski, Ostlund, Bennett, Makin,Vignal (Skacel 67), Viafara (Hammill 63), Wright, Safri,Surman, Saganowski (Wright-Phillips 76), Rasiak.

Subs Not Used: Davis, McGoldrick.

Booked: Viafara, Makin.

Goals: Saganowski 45.

Crystal Palace Speroni, Lawrence, Cort, Hudson, Craig, Green,Watson, Soares, Kennedy (Butterfield 68), Morrison (Kuqi 62),Scowcroft (Freedman 75).

Subs Not Used: Flinders, Martin.

Goals: Scowcroft 30, 31, 55, Morrison 57.

Att: 25,054

Ref: L Probert (Gloucestershire).