Maryland Derby To Feature Familiar Faces On Both Sides

Published on May 8, 2009 under United Soccer League Championship (USL)
Crystal Palace Baltimore News Release


Baltimore, MD - Crystal Palace Baltimore make the short trip to Rockville, Maryland tomorrow to face in-state rivals Real Maryland at 6:00pm at Richard Montgomery High School. Palace are coming off a testing weekend that saw them triumph 2-0 over last year's regular season champions Charlotte on Friday evening, then travel overnight to Wilmington where they succumbed 3-0 the following night. Palace will be looking to top Real Maryland for the second time this year after their 1-0 pre-season victory in the DeOrsey Maryland Cup on April 10. Last year Baltimore won both home and away regular season encounters by single-goal margins.

There's an added element of interest to the local derby this year with each side boasting two players who used to be with the rival squad. New Palace center back Stephen Basso was with the Monarchs for the entirety of their inaugural season last year, while left back Mateus dos Anjos - who had originally been with Palace in 2007 - started 2008 with Real Maryland but rejoined Baltimore midway through the season. Veteran striker and last year's top scorer for Palace, Gary Brooks, signed for Real last month and he'll be playing alongside Sean Rush, who was with the Baltimore squad in its debut season back in 2007.

"It's going to be a big game down at their place and I'm looking forward to it very much," remarked ex-Monarch Stephen Basso. As for facing the threat of Gary Brooks, he added "Strangely enough, I've never played against him. He didn't play in either game when we played them last year, but he's going to be up for it against his old club, so it's going to be a battle and hopefully we'll win it."

Palace Co-Manager commented: "The bottom line is we're expecting to get back on track. We had a great win at Charlotte, then the disappointment of losing at Wilmington so we're looking to get the bad taste out of our mouths. We're 100% focussed on getting three points tomorrow. It'll be interesting facing Brooks because he's a threat, but we'll take care of him tactically and shut him down, especially on set pieces, like we did with Jacob Coggins at Charlotte." On the injury front, Medd stated: "John Nusum is questionable for the game, and Larry Mark is close to being back and available. Wale Adelusimi has finally been cleared by the doctor to play, so he may be on the bench tomorrow."

The game is scheduled to be broadcast live via streaming video on the USL Live website - www.USLlive.com - where fans can watch for free after completing the online registration process.

Palace return to UMBC Stadium next weekend with another challenging schedule of back-to-back fixtures. The Western Mass Pioneers visit Baltimore on Friday May 15 at 7:30pm, then it's Charlotte's turn the following evening at 7:00pm. Tickets are available for both matches at www.crystalpalaceusa.com or by calling 410.933.TEAM(8326).

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United Soccer League Championship Stories from May 8, 2009


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