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Palace Baltimore take bite out of Wilmington

June 13, 2009 - United Soccer League Championship (USL)
Crystal Palace Baltimore News Release


Baltimore MD - Crystal Palace Baltimore snapped out of a worrying winless streak tonight with a well-deserved 2-1 defeat of the Wilmington Hammerheads at UMBC Stadium in front of a announced crowd of 1,673. Recent signing Machel Millwood scored the first goal of his Palace career to give Baltimore a first half lead, with Val Teixeira knocking in an insurance goal in the second. The Hammerheads made it interesting for the last few minutes of the match when they pulled one back through Jyler Noviello but Palace weathered the storm to come away with all three points.

Wilmington applied plenty of pressure in the opening couple of minutes of the game, forcing a corner and a free kick in quick succession. But Palace soon starting playing with more intensity and Jordan Seabrook notched Palace's first shot on seven minutes as he, Val Teixeira and Pat Healey began to develop a productive attacking rhythm.

Just as Wilmington was coming more into the game, Pat Healey lofted a lovely diagonal ball over the Wilmington back line. Machel Millwood beat his marker, timing his leap perfectly to head the ball over the helpless Hammerheads 'keeper for his first goal in a Palace uniform to give Palace the advantage, which held up for the rest of the half.

Baltimore came out with all guns blazing in the second half and Palace captain Teixeira nearly doubled the lead with a powerful header on 48 minutes but the effort missed its mark. Five minutes later, Millwood held the ball up well 30 yards out then found Teixeira running into the box. The Portuguese striker made no mistake, burying the ball with a deadly left-footed strike.

Straight from the kick-off, Wilmington marched up the field catching the Palace side off guard but Brian Rowland in the Palace net pulled off a strong save to deny Jamie Watson.

The middle stretch of the second half saw both teams create chances in a back and forth affair, but eventually Wilmington gained the momentum and in the 87th minute, Jyler Noviello pulled one back to unsettle the Palace side. For the final eight minutes of the game - including five minutes of injury time - the Hammerheads pushed everyone forward, laying siege to the Palace goal. But fortunately for the home side, Rowland remained sharp and Palace held on for the much needed win.

"Scoring is good," remarked Val Teixeira after the match, "but it's better to win, especially after such a long time." The Palace captain continued: "We need to keep winning - making the playoffs is the team's focus right now."

The win moves Crystal Palace up to third place in the standings. Palace travel to Bermuda for their next fixture on June 19, returning home the following weekend for another clash with local rival Real Maryland.

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