Promotion winners, century scorers and now record breakers – Albion’s stunning season is still getting better.

The Baggies treated their travelling fans and TV viewers to a Championship corker at Crystal Palace last night.

And they left London with 90 points alongside the club’s name for the first time in their history.

Having already sealed a return to the Premier League and reached 100 goals, all that remained for Roberto Di Matteo’s men was to achieve something their promotion predecessors had never managed.

A thrilling draw at a crackling Selhurst Park sealed a unique place in the Hawthorns record books for the Italian and his players, who must now be considered at least the equals of Gary Megson’s promotion battlers or Tony Mowbray’s stylish Championship winners – and possibly more.

The statistics now suggest Di Matteo has allied the best attributes of Megson’s and Mowbray’s sides to produce a superior side.

Few who have witness them sweep all before them at the business end of this fourth promotion to the Premier League would disagree.

The record itself might be just a number. But Di Matteo has used it skilfully to keep appetites whetted in a dressing room where motivation might have otherwise waned once promotion was secured more than a fortnight ago.

The consequence last night was a pulsating match against a Palace side with much more at stake than stats.

The spectacle was a fitting reward for the 1,227 Baggies fans forced to make the Championship’s most arduous away trip on a Monday evening, due to the demands of Sky television.

The only mystery was quite how a game as open as this yielded just two goals – one each in the space of four frantic first-half minutes.

Only the brilliance of Palace goalkeeper Julian Speroni combined with his team-mates’ lack of cutting edge prevented a hatful more.

Di Matteo’s men were the better side by a distance. On another night a fabulous, breathless contest could have ended 8-4 in their favour.

As it was, Gabriel Tamas’s second goal in Baggies colours spared the blushes of team-mate Steven Reid, who blighted an otherwise excellent night’s work with the most bizarre of own goals.

The Romanian’s headed equaliser not only set a new points record, but it ensured his side will end a fine campaign with just three away league defeats on their record.

For Palace the evening was about survival and collecting the one win their needed to preserve their Championship status and condemn Sheffield Wednesday to relegation. They came up short.

But, such was their contribution to a cracking night’s entertainment, none of the Baggies supporters in attendance can surely wish them anything but good fortune in Sunday’s do-or-die showdown at Hillsborough.

There was a jittery start for the Baggies but they thought they had sneaked ahead early when Chris Brunt whipped in a fabulous first-time cross from the left and Simon Cox nipped ahead of Paddy McCarthy to force the ball home.

But the officials combined effectively to spot that the Baggies wide man had made use of his hand and Brunt was booked for his troubles.

Palace then made their visitors pay on 17 minutes thanks to Reid’s moment of misfortune.

Youssouf Mulumbu was penalised for a foul on Johnny Ertl and Darren Ambrose’s testing free-kick was turned in bizarrely by Reid, under no pressure a couple of yards out.

That sent Selhurst Park into raptures, but it took Albion just four minutes to dampen their enthusiasm with an equaliser.

Robert Koren was fouled wide on the right, Brunt whipped in a vicious free-kick to the near post and Tamas steamed in ahead of Clint Hill to divert it into the roof of the net with his head.

Moments later came a fine chance for the hosts to regain the lead as a long throw-in found Neil Danns, whose shot on the turn hit goalkeeper Scott Carson and bounced up off Jonas Olsson for Calvin Andrew, who put his header at the far post wastefully wide.

Cox then received a pass from Dorrans and surged away from Matt Lawrence but was denied by Speroni.

Albion should have been ahead moments later when Roman Bednar’s header from Dorrans’ cross hit the bar and Koren prodded the rebound over with the goal at his mercy.

Pressure continued from the visitors and Bednar did well to hold up play and find Brunt with a clever reverse pass, but Speroni was equal to the winger’s cross-cum-shot.

The Baggies had improved throughout the first half and they almost took a spectacular lead on the stroke of half-time when Brunt’s header hit the ground and sat up for Dorrans, whose blistering 25-yard volley was dipping beneath the crossbar until Speroni’s outstretched hand pushed it over.

They maintained their dominance as the second-half began but there was a scare just before the hour mark as they missed a couple of tackles and the ball fell to Ambrose but his shot from the edge of the box was held low down by the diving Carson.

There was more pressure from the visitors when Palace made a hash of dealing with a long clearance from Tamas and Bednar raced clear, only for Speroni to again rescue his side.

But Palace should have regained their advantage when Ambrose delivered a free-kick into the goalmouth and Carson was caught out, but McCarthy headed wide at the far post when he should have hit the target.

There was a potential flashpoint on 70 minutes when Olsson was caught by the knee of substitute Alan Lee and went down injured, before apparently being targeted with a missile from the crowd as he limped off.

But the Swede disarmed the situation by collecting the object from the turf and placing it down his sock.

Sadly, the defender’s mood was to turn ugly again soon afterwards as he earned a booking and was replaced by Di Matteo before he could do more damage.

But it was Palace whose temper would snap first as Neil Danns became involved in a grapple with Dorrans, before thrusting his head in the direction of the Scotland international with six minutes remaining. The contact was minimal, but the intent was clear and the red card that followed was inevitable.

The desperate hosts still fashioned one more chance in stoppage time, with Ambrose popping up at the corner of the box with a shot that looked to be sailing in.

That was until Marek Cech appeared at the far post to make a goalline clearance that heightened Palace’s frustration and secured Albion’s new piece of history.

By Steve Madeley