The former West Ham trainee struck in stoppage-time, shortly after Ben Watson's penalty had cancelled out Louis Carey's opener.

Carey, the Bristol-born defender and City captain, had picked the perfect time to score his first goal of the season, a stunning curling effort which gave Julian Speroni no chance.

Carey then blotted his copybook by conceding the 86th-minute penalty which allowed Watson to drag Palace level from the spot.

But Noble's stunner gives City the advantage in what is set to be a blockbusting second leg on Tuesday.

Play-off specialist Neil Warnock will have to reach Wembley the hard way if he is to put his 100% record at the national stadium on the line with Palace.

The Eagles were the form horses going into the play-offs and the only team not to have been in with a shout of automatic promotion.

But City, who only came up from League One last season, have dusted themselves down from the disappointment of blowing the lead in the final straight and could yet complete remarkable back-to-back promotions.

Their goals had boss Gary Johnson punching the air and would not have looked out of place in the Barclays Premier League.

The former Latvian national manager is now just a clean sheet from Wembley and a shot at reaching the top flight.