Palace Earns Invaluable Point On The Road

June 20, 2010 - U.S. Soccer Federation D-2 (USSF D-2)
Crystal Palace Baltimore News Release


Cary, Nc - Crystal Palace Baltimore halted their recent string of bad results on the road by taking a point from a stingy Carolina team at WakeMed Soccer Park. A bizarre Bobo own goal was canceled out by a well-struck Franks penalty early in the second half. However, a gutsy performance by the Palace defense ensured the Baltimore outfit returns home with a share of the spoils.

It was the RailHawks that came out blazing, peppering the Baltimore goal with four shots in the first eight minutes forcing goalkeeper, Evan Bush, into three saves. After the early onslaught though, Bush was barely troubled with most of the RailHawks' efforts from distance sailing over his crossbar.

It was an incredible own goal that broke the deadlock in the 22nd minute. A strong clearance by David Hayes from a Matthew Mbuta cross came back off Matt Bobo, and goalkeeper Eric Reed could only wave at it as it screamed off the underside of his crossbar and into the net.

It was a fairly muted offensive outing for Palace in the first half. The traditionally high-powered offense only called Reed into action once off a Yaikel Perez strike as the half ended. Cameroonian winger, Matthew Mbuta, found himself with space to burn around the Carolina 18-yard box a few times but put his efforts into the stands.

At the restart, Carolina's early pressure paid off as Floyd Franks was scythed down inside the box in the 50th minute. He stepped up and lashed the resulting penalty into the top corner leveling the tally and giving Bush no chance.

The addition of winger Tiyi Shipilane by coach Mark Rennie in the 58th minute almost paid dividends when he danced around a few Palace defenders and put a menacing ball across the 6-yard box that somehow found its way into Palace netminder Bush's grateful arms.

As the RailHawks emptied their bench, Palace continued to weather everything that was thrown at them with an organized and resolute defense. At the death of things, an uncharacteristic heavy touch saw Randi Patterson squander a rare 4-on-2 opportunity on a counter attack against one of the league's toughest defenses and allowed the Carolina defense to snuff the threat. When the final whistle blew, the teams went back into the dressing rooms all square.

"It's a point after coming off a few losses," said Palace Head Coach, Jim Cherneski. "It's a step in the right direction. To come in and take a point from a team like the RailHawks is nothing to hang your head about, but we still want to and can do better."

On August 14 the derby heats up again when Palace face the RailHawks at home. Baltimore's next game is a home fixture against the Minnesota Stars on Saturday, June 26 at the Paul Angelo Russo Stadium. Kick off is at 5 p.m.



U.S. Soccer Federation D-2 Stories from June 20, 2010


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