Palace Baltimore Look to Maintain Momentum in Bermuda

Published on June 19, 2009 under United Soccer League Championship (USL)
Crystal Palace Baltimore News Release


June 19th 2009 - Baltimore, MD - Crystal Palace Baltimore take on the Bermuda Hogges at 7:00pm tonight at the island's National Stadium. After breaking out of their troubling winless streak last Saturday at home against Wilmington, Palace will be looking to build on that impressive performance and take all three points back to Baltimore. The following evening, Palace will play a friendly against the Bermuda U-23 National Team, while representatives of Baltimore's Professional Development Academy will face their Bermudian National Team counterparts over the weekend.

Palace currently sit in fourth place in the League table, just one point off second-placed Richmond and four behind leaders Harrisburg. Bermuda prop up the standings, but have only five points fewer than Palace in what is turning out to be the tightest USL2 race in recent years. The Hogges are on a four game losing streak, but all those defeats were on the road. At home, Bermuda have only lost once and Crystal Palace Baltimore Co-Manager Pete Medd is fully aware of the challenge facing his team: "They play with high energy at home and we have to deal with that. On the other hand, we have very specific things we need to do regardless of who we're playing. Against Wilmington, we focused on ourselves, getting everyone on the same page tactically and it worked, although it could still be better."

Medd explained the friendly match that's scheduled for Saturday evening against Bermuda's U-23 side: "It's a League-wide arrangement - all the visiting teams are doing it. The Bermuda Football Association has put it together to keep developing football on the island, so we're pleased to be a part of it. The team we'll be putting out will consist of the unused substitutes from Friday's match, plus anyone who didn't see big minutes, along with a couple of reserves. As for our Academy teams, the combined Palace U14/15s will take on Bermuda's National U15s, and our U17s are going to play their National U17s. Each pairing is set to play once on Friday and then again on Saturday, so that's going to be great experience for the talented players in our youth program."

On the injury front, Palace's Bermudian striker John Nusum didn't make the trip to his homeland due to his knee injury. Larry Mark, Alex Ugiovhe and Stephen Basso didn't travel either as they recover from their injuries. Wale Adelusimi is working his way back to full fitness and is expected to play in the Saturday game against Bermuda's U23s.

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United Soccer League Championship Stories from June 19, 2009


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