Crystal Palace came into today’s match with two goals in mind, to secure a winning record in their first season of play and to clinch fifth place in the USL’s Second Division. They accomplished both in style with a 3-0 whitewash of the Wilmington Hammerheads at a muggy but jubilant Navy Marine Corps Stadium.

The crowd of 673 was treated to a first half in which Palace dominated but could not push the ball past Wilmington keeper Dan Ruch. The best chance of the half occurred when Sergio Flores passed the ball to Gary Brooks who broke free down the left side and took a point blank shot that was smothered by Ruch to keep Palace off the board. Palace outshot the Hammerheads 11 to 3 in the half but only forced Ruch to make three saves.

The second half started with Palace’s dominance continuing and finally it netted results when in the 56 th minute when Harold Urquijo was pulled down and a free kick was awarded from 25 yards out and to the left of the Wilmington goal. Ibrahim Kante made a low hard pass that bounced once and both Matthew Mbuta and Gary Brooks attempted to head the waist high ball. Mbuta was successful with his diving header that put the ball into the back of the Hammerhead’s goal for a 1-0 Palace lead.

In the 69 th minute Sergio Flores made a cross field pass that caught the Wilmington defender flat-footed. Harold Urquijo streaking from the left took the pass in stride and dribbled past the Hammerhead’s keeper to slide the ball into the net for the second Palace goal of the afternoon. Seven minute later to the delight of the hometown fans, Matthew Mbuta headed a pass across the face of the goal from left to right to a waiting Gary Brooks whose resulting chip over Ruch’s head made the final 3-nil Palace.

After scoring just one goal in their first six matches a Navy Marine Corps stadium, Palace concluded their home schedule by scoring 11 goals in their last two home games while allowing only one. Palace out-shot Wilmington by a 23 to 12 margin and Brian Rowland notched his 7 th shut-out of the season with a five save performance.

Palace finished the home portion of their season with a 4-5-1 record and have gone 8-2-5 after an 0-4 start. With eight wins, Crystal Palace has guaranteed themselves a winning record for the campaign and today’s win clinched a spot in the top half of the Second Division table. Palace will conclude their 2007 campaign on Saturday August 11 at 7:05 PM in Harrisburg. Harrisburg, Cleveland and Richmond are all still in the running for the top spot in the Division. Cleveland and Richmond are scheduled to kick off in Richmond at 7:00 PM Saturday.