The Crystal Palace fan who caught Christian Benteke’s penalty against West Ham has described the moment as “perhaps the most bittersweet of my life”.

Alan Pardew’s Eagles fell to a 0-1 defeat at Selhurst Park, ending a five-match unbeaten run and potentially heralding one of those mad losing streaks Pardew sides tend to embark on every six months or so.

But it was a day to remember for the home supporter left clutching the ball to his bosom following Benteke’s ballooned effort.

He said: “As bittersweet moments go, that was a doozy.

“On the one hand, I got my mug on telly and momentarily felt like some sort of chosen one, as ordained by our new terrace hero.

“On the other, it lost us the game and almost certainly heralded one of those mad losing streaks you described in the editorial above.

“All in all, it’s even more bittersweet than that time I fell into a skip full of rat traps just moments after proposing to my wife.

“My chosen location of a rooftop terrace on a gloriously windswept day was probably enough to edge her decision in my favour, so on balance it was worth a punctured lung or two.

“Then of course there’s the time I thought I’d spent an hour chatting to Chris Coleman down the pub but it turned out to be the singer out of Hard-Fi.

“But the Benteke ball-catch really takes the bittersweet biscuit.”