Baltimore MD - Palace got back to their winning ways in their final pre-season friendly against George Mason University on a perfect spring day in Fairfax Virginia. Having lost and drawn their previous two pre-season encounters and been held to one goal in total, this was a much-needed turnaround heading into the regular season opener on Friday at home to the Pittsburgh Riverhounds.
It was George Mason that came closest to scoring first when, on 15 minutes, a free-kick from 22 yards eluded the wall and glanced off the top of the crossbar for a goal kick, but Zach Thompson was following it all the way and would likely have kept it out had the shot been any lower.
Palace's Gary Brooks opened the scoring on 31 when he took a pass from Larry Mark after some nice work up the right side. Brooks flicked the football up in the air and volleyed home clinically.
It only took 90 seconds for the Eagles to double their lead. Matthew Mbuta lost the ball in the box after a surging run from the half-way line, but the loose ball ended up at the feet of Sergio Flores who turned and shot straight at the feet of the goalie, who somehow managed to let the ball squeeze through his hands and legs.
Alex Ughiovhe had an excellent chance to make it three goals in three minutes but couldn't quite beat the on-rushing Mason 'keeper.
Though Palace were holding the ball well, Mason looked dangerous on the break and had two chances in two minutes. On 35, a shot off a long throw into the Palace penalty area was somehow blocked by a Palace defender's body, then Mason hit the woodwork once again after a lovely run up the left wing.
Two minutes later, Palace's left back, David Feazell made his own storming run up the left from deep in his own half, beating a couple of Mason players and eventually shooting just wide from inside the box.
The second half saw more of the same pattern with Palace controlling possession and Mason looking to take their chances on the counter-attack. Cecil Lewis picked up the ball in the box after it had pinballed around for what seemed like ages, but his rocket of a shot was high. Mason came back with a header from a deep cross but it never really troubled substitue 'keeper Matt Nelson as it sailed wide.
On 15 minutes, Mason had a shot blocked by newly returned centre-back, Ibrahim Kante. The ball fell nicely to another Mason forward, but the follow-up shot was directed wide left.
Palace kept pressing and on 23, subsitute Kevin King, with a defender on his hip, shot over with just the Mason goalie to beat. Three minutes later and King should have scored when he took a nice cross from Matthew Mbuta but he tried to take one touch too many and the Mason defender had time to stick a leg in and clear the danger.
The pressure soon paid off though as on 27 minutes, an inch-perfect long ball from Shintaro Harada was converted easily by Cecil Lewis.
Mason were not ready to give up yet and nearly made Pat Healey pay for giving the ball away at midfield, leading to a run and cross from the right, which was just intercepted by Palace goalkeeper Nelson, doing well to hold on to the ball.
In the 34th minute, Matthew Mbuta ran on to Nelson's huge goal-kick, beat one defender and lobbed the on-rushing Mason goalie, but the ball bounced agonisingly wide.
With five minutes left in the game, Palace were still pushing forward, looking to extend their insurmountable lead. Pat Healey came close when he spun and fired from the edge of the box, but the shot was turned away by a defender.
The Mason defenders were on their last legs and with three minutes to go, they turned the ball over to Matthew Mbuta just outside their own penalty area, and this time he lobbed the 'keeper perfectly to make the final score 4-0.
The managers will still be looking for improvements in certain areas, but the scoreline clearly reflected the gulf between the two sides. "We were obviously pleased with the finishing," said Jim Cherneski after the match. "I think our back line was a little bit lazy with positioning and transition and we need to work on that. Too many chances were created against us."
This was the first game back for Ibrahim Kante, the keystone of last year's Palace defense, after playing indoors for the past seven weeks. Cherneski had this to say: "The back line hasn't been settled all pre-season really, so he [Kante] needs to get the indoor stuff out. It's an entirely different game, different strategy. Overall I thought it was good, we did what we were supposed to do - our attacking movement was good, especially in the second half."
Pete Medd was also pleased, especially with the depth of this year's squad: "We have a lot of talented players on this team, and there are going to be tough selection choices for the coaches, but you want a lot of options. It's a long season - there are a lot of games in a compressed timeframe and we did confirm in pre-season that we have quality guys throughout the line-up. We have twenty field players that can all play at this level, so we're pleased about that and it's up to us now as managers to make the right selection each week."
After a 8-1-1 pre-season, now it's on to the regular season opener this Friday, April 25th at 7:30pm against the Pittsburgh Riverhounds.
Meanwhile, the whole Crystal Palace USA organization is keeping close tabs on Palace in England as the London lads are in position to qualify for the playoffs for the Premier League. Medd had a message for them: "Keep it up beacuse we want to see you on Fox Soccer Channel over here next season!"
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